Bayern's Hoeness slams 'killjoy' Van Gaal

AFP, BERLIN, April 11: Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness took a parting swipe at coach Louis van Gaal, who was sacked on Sunday, describing the Dutchman as a killjoy who had alienated his players.

The 59-year-old Van Gaal was fired in the wake of his side's 1-1 draw at Nuremberg on Saturday which left the Bavarian giants fourth in the table and outside the Champions League places for next season.

Hoeness first voiced criticism of Van Gaal last October when he said the Dutchman was hard to work with and the Bayern boss did not waste the chance to put the boot into the departing coach.

"Success is one thing, fun another, but there has been no fun at this club for a long time, not amongst us (the board) and not with the players," said Hoeness in a press conference on Sunday.

"The idea they were behind the coach is already a fairytale."

Hoeness pin-pointed the incident which alienated the board, when Van Gaal decided to bring in experienced goalkeeper Thomas Kraft in January for ex-Germany international Hans-Joerg Butt.

"The whole crap started after the decision to replace Hans-Joerg in goal," said Hoeness.

"The board repeatedly advised Louis van Gaal against doing that, but he went ahead regardless.

"He didn't learn anything from this subject.

"That led to complete unrest in the whole defence."

Bayern face second-placed Bayer Leverkusen at Munich's Allianz Arena this Saturday and defeat would almost certainly see them miss out on a guaranteed Champions League place next season.

Hoeness expects a instant reaction from the team with Van Gaal's assistant Andries Jonker in charge until the end of the season and Bayer Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes set to take over as head coach for next season.

"I expect the players to come out fighting," he said.

"They have been put in a straitjacket for a months and if you had watched them for the last few weeks, there had been pure fear behind their actions.

"I assumed that will all end immediately."

After 40 years at the club as player, general manager and now president, Hoeness is on rocky ground with Bayern fans for lending financial support to bankruptcy-threatened neighbours Munich 1860.

Fans are also disgruntled that Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is set to join Bayern for next season in a move heavily influenced by Hoeness.

The hardcore fans on the Munich stadium's south curve protested against Hoeness during recent home games, but the president refused to acknowledge any blame for their disgruntlement.

"You'd need to ask the fans about that," he said.

Kroenke set for Arsenal takeover - report

AFP, LONDON, April 11: American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke is set to launch a full takeover of Arsenal after agreeing a deal to increase his majority shareholding in the Premier League club, according to reports on Sunday.

Kroenke already owns 29.9 percent of Arsenal's shares and a BBC report claims he has negotiated the acquisition of the 16.1 percent stake held by Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith's 15.9 percent stake.

If the Denver-based billionaire does manage to buy those shares he would own 62 percent of Arsenal and would be obliged to make an offer for the remaining shares.

The BBC report says Kroenke has agreed to pay £11,000 per share, which would amount to a £225 million ($368,527 million) outlay and values the club at £750 million.

Russian steel magnate Alisher Usmanov is Arsenal's other major shareholder, holding a 27 percent stake through his Red and White Holdings.

Last month Kroenke, 63, increased his stake in Arsenal to within 10 shares of the threshold that forces him to make a takeover bid when he acquired seven more shares at a cost of £8,500 each.

Kroenke, who first bought a 9.99 percent stake in Arsenal in April 2007, also owns the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, the NBA's Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche.

Boswell leads Dynamo over Whitecaps FC 3-1

AP, HOUSTON, April 11: Bobby Boswell scored the go-ahead goal and added an assist to lead the Houston Dynamo to its first win of the season, 3-1 over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday night.

Boswell put the Dynamo ahead 2-1 in the 42nd minute, deflecting a pass from Danny Cruz into the left net from eight yards out.

Rookie Will Bruin scored his first MLS goal in the 76th minute, getting a breakaway pass from Brad Davis on the left sideline and knocking it over Whitecaps FC goalkeeper Jay Nolly, who was sliding out of the box.

After Cruz hit a shot off the crossbar in the 28th minute, the Dynamo capitalized off a Davis corner kick in the 37th. Davis sent the ball to the right box and Boswell headed it to Cam Weaver, who sent it into the right net for a 1-0 lead.

Camilo answered for Vancouver a minute later.

Soccer-Larissa relegated from Greek Super League

Reuters, ATHENS, April 11: Larissa were relegated from the Greek Super League on Sunday after slumping to a 3-2 home defeat against AEK Athens in the penultimate round of matches.

The Thessaly club are the only team outside of Athens and Salonika to win the Greek title - a feat they achieved in 1988.

"The team was completely demoralised when I came. We had an opportunity to try to reverse the situation but it was not possible. In some matches we played well and I believe we did not lose any matches easily," said coach Nikos Kostenoglou who took charge in early January.

Despite opening an impressive 16,000-capacity stadium in December, Larissa struggled with poor form throughout the season and made three coaching changes.

Asteras Tripolis were also relegated on Sunday after a 1-0 defeat at second-placed Panathinaikos.

Toronto FC, Earthquakes play to 1-1 draw

AP, SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 11: Toronto FC's Alan Gordon and the San Jose Earthquakes' Simon Dawkins both scored for the second consecutive match as the teams played to a 1-1 draw Saturday night.

Gordon took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Earthquakes in the 27th minute to give Toronto (1-1-2) the lead.

San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch rushed from the net to grab a deflection, but Earthquakes midfielder Sam Cronin, apparently unaware of Busch's move, tried to head the ball clear. It landed 4 yards from the goal, where Gordon pounced for his for second score of the season.

Dawkins responded in the 38th minute for San Jose (1-1-2) as he took a pass from Chris Wondolowski, held off defender Ty Harden and sent a shot past Stefan Frei.

The rugged match was marked by eight yellow cards.

Wondolowski, the MLS' leading scorer in 2010, almost put the Earthquakes up in the 51st minute, but Frei stopped his shot from 13 yards, and Wondolowski's attempt on the rebound was blocked by Harden.

Gordon had a chance in the 56th when Ramiro Corrales' back pass fell well short of goal, but Gordon couldn't get much on the shot, and it was easily controlled by San Jose center back Brandon McDonald.

McDonald created a chance at the other end 4 minutes later when he dribbled through Toronto's midfield and sent a through pass for Ryan Johnson, who tried unsuccessfully to dribble around a charging Frei and lost possession without getting off a shot.

Crew, Chivas USA play to scoreless draw

AP,CARSON, Calif., April 11: Chivas USA's Dan Kennedy and the Columbus Crew's William Hesmer both had two saves as the teams played to a scoreless draw on Saturday night.

Chivas USA (0-2-2) got its first shutout of the season and remained unbeaten against the Crew (1-1-2) at the Home Depot Center since its debut in 2005.

Columbus had its best opportunity in the 74th minute when midfielder Eddie Gaven broke away on the counter attack, but Kennedy stopped his chance.

Chivas USA nearly scored in the 79th minute as Justin Braun who sent in a dangerous cross for Nick LaBrocca that was easily saved by Hesmer.

Davies converts penalty, DC ties 1-1 with Galaxy

AP, WASHINGTON, April 11: Charlie Davies converted a disputed 90th-minute penalty kick and D.C. United tied the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 Saturday night.

The goal, Davies' fourth of the year and third on a penalty, came 78 minutes after Mike Magee put the Galaxy ahead on a header off David Beckham's corner kick.

Davies drew the penalty by falling to the ground inside the 18-yard box after pushing the ball past Omar Gonzalez.

Television replays showed Gonzalez stretched his arm and made contact with Davies, but that Davies made the most of it. Several Galaxy players rushed toward referee Abiodun Okulaja to protest after he blew for the foul.

The Galaxy are unbeaten (3-0-3) in their last six matches against United, but failed to score more than one goal for the fifth straight match this season.

United, which snapped a two-game losing skid, got its first point against the Galaxy since the 2009 season, when the teams drew both meetings.

Torres scores to give Union 1-0 win over Red Bulls

AP, CHESTER, Pa., April 11: Roger Torres scored within a minute of coming on as a second-half substitute and gave the Philadelphia Union a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.

Torres entered the match in the 67th minute and then found himself in perfect position less than a minute later. New York's Tim Ream passed the ball directly to Philadelphia forward Danny Mwanga, who then took a couple of dribbles and left Torres an easy ball to send into the net.

Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon earned his third victory and third shutout this season. Philadelphia already has more shutouts than in all of last season.

The Union (3-1-0) moved into first place in the Eastern Conference with nine points.

White scores again, Sounders beat Fire 2-1

AP, SEATTLE, April 11: O'Brian White scored his second goal in two games and set up another to give the Seattle Sounders their first Major League Soccer win of the season, 2-1 over the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Steve Zakuani scored the go-ahead goal in the 25th minute after Diego Chaves tied it for Chicago.

The Fire are 0-3-2 against the Sounders since Seattle joined the league in 2009.

On his goal, Zakuani got behind his defender down the left sideline, and White found him with a pass. Zakuani took the ball into the box against Fire defender Jalil Anibaba and, from near the left post, sent a shallow shot across the goalmouth into the back right corner behind goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

Seattle got on the board first early in the seventh minute when Mauro Rosales crossed a target ball from the right side into the penalty area, and White went up for a header from 16 yards away that sailed into the upper right corner.

Barely more than a minute later, Chicago tied it when Chaves, from 10 yards in front, redirected a short pass from Gaston Puerari into the back left corner past goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Cartoon birds, bunnies rule world box office

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 11: "Rio," the 3D animated misadventure of a Brazilian macaw, soared at the international box office, earning about $55 million in its opening weekend, its distributor said on Sunday.

Ahead of its Friday debut in North America, the 20th Century Fox release got an early start in 72 countries, opening at No. 1 in nearly all of them.

Top markets included Russia ($10.4 million) and, naturally, Brazil ($8.3 million), where it ranked as the biggest opening ever for an animated cartoon.

The cartoon revolves around Blu, a rare blue macaw (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg of "The Social Network"), who returns to his native Brazil after a coddled existence as a smuggled pet in America.

It was directed by Carlos Saldanha, the Rio de Janeiro-born director of the "Ice Age" trilogy. Both those films and "Rio" were produced by Blue Sky Studios, and distributed by News Corp-owned Fox.

Animation also ruled in the United States and Canada, where the Easter-themed romp "Hop" was No. 1 for a second weekend, overcoming a challenge from a middling band of newcomers.

The live-action/computer-animated hybrid earned $21.7 million during the three days beginning Friday, taking its 10-day total to $68.2 million. Brash English comedian Russell Brand voices the teenage son of the Easter Bunny who dreams of becoming a rock'n'roll drummer in Hollywood.

The family picture was produced by Illumination Entertainment, the animation firm behind last year's hit "Despicable Me," and distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp's NBC Universal.

Brand also claimed the No. 2 spot in North America with the costly new remake of "Arthur," which opened with a disappointing $12.6 million.

PORTMAN COMEDY DISAPPOINTS

But at least it did better than newly minted Oscar winner Natalie Portman's medieval stoner comedy, "Your Highness," which opened at No. 6 with just $9.5 million.

Also new were two films with young heroines. "Hanna," an action movie starring 16-year-old Saoirse Ronan as an assassin, was No. 3 with $12.3 million. "Soul Surfer," the true-life story of a teen who lost her arm to a shark, was No. 4 with $11.1 million. Both were in far fewer theaters than "Arthur."

Stepping in for Dudley Moore, the star of the 1981 original, Brand plays a childish playboy. Helen Mirren fills in for John Gielgud as his quick-witted nanny. The film's distributor, Warner Bros. Pictures, said it had hoped for an opening in the mid-teen millions. The film cost in the mid-$60 million range to make.

The Time Warner Inc unit said older audiences rushed out to see it -- almost two-thirds of viewers were aged 25 and over -- but those under 25 gave it a better rating in exit polls. The studio said it will tweak its marketing to focus on younger moviegoers during the spring break school holiday.

"Hanna" drew a younger audience, with almost two-thirds of viewers aged under 35, said distributor Focus Features. The studio also noted a strong support from Latino and black moviegoers. Focus is also part of NBC Universal.

"Soul Surfer," an inspirational tale targeted in part at religious audiences, exceeded expectations and received a rare "A-plus" rating in exit surveys conducted by tracking firm CinemaScore, said Sony Corp-owned distributor TriStar Pictures.

AnnaSophia Robb stars in the $18 million picture as Bethany Hamilton, a surfer who overcame the odds to become a champion again after losing her arm. Women accounted for 80 percent of the audience, and 56 percent of viewers were aged under 25.

"Your Highness," on the other hand, cost about $50 million to make and received an ominous "C-plus" CinemaScore rating. The spoof follows two royal brothers, played by Danny McBride and James Franco, on a quest to rescue the former's bride. Portman plays a mysterious warrior. Universal Pictures said it was disappointed that its "bold idea" fell flat.