Soccer-Corinthians 1 Al-Ahly 0 - Club World Cup result

TOYOTA, Japan, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Corinthians (Brazil) 1 Al-Ahly (Egypt) 0 - result of Wednesday's first semi-final at the FIFA Club World Cup at Toyota Stadium. Goal: Paolo Guerrero 30 Halftime: 1-0

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Chelsea are tighter under Benitez, says Cahill

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Chelsea have become more compact defensively under interim manager Rafael Benitez as they prepare for the soccer Club World Cup in Japan, defender Gary Cahill said on Wednesday. The English Premier League side, who face Mexico's Monterrey in their semi-final in Yokohama on Thursday, took four games to register their first win under the Spaniard. However, nine goals in their last two matches have given Chelsea a boost for a tournament they are under pressure to win after an embarrassing group-stage exit from the Champions League. "Since (Benitez) came we have tightened up as a unit defensively and as a team," Cahill told reporters. "That's given us a platform to build on. It was hard at first to get his points across because we were playing games almost every other day. "Now the players are adapting, they know what's expected of them and it's working well at the minute." Cahill said the Chelsea players had realised the significance of the Club World Cup since flying out to Japan following Saturday's 3-1 win at Sunderland. "Since coming here it's sunk in now how big it is," the centre-back said. "It's hard to get into the competition in the first place. "We've come all this way and want to win it. Our Brazilian players have said it's absolutely huge for them and we saw the send-off (Corinthians) got at the airport." Some 15,000 Corinthians fans saw off their team in Sao Paulo, waving banners and letting off fire extinguishers in the airport lobby. DREAM CHANCE Chelsea have Brazilians David Luiz, Ramires and Oscar among their ranks and Benitez echoed Cahill's sentiments about how much the Club World Cup meant to them. "They said it was a dream for them to play in the tournament," said Benitez, who won the trophy with Inter Milan in 2010 and was a runner-up with Liverpool in 2005. "I intend to win the tournament," said Benitez, who replaced the sacked Roberto Di Matteo last month. "I will use the best team possible - you can't leave it for the final. You have to win your semi-final." While club captain John Terry remained in London for treatment on a knee injury, Frank Lampard is likely to play a part after overcoming a nagging calf problem. "Frank Lampard will be available," confirmed Benitez, who knows any slip-ups in Japan could prompt trigger-happy Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to hire a new coach. "My main focus is to get the players to sleep for more than four hours. "My experience with this tournament is to look at the condition of the players in training. Some are fresher than others. We have plenty of options." With Fernando Torres rediscovering his touch after an alarming drought and scoring four goals in the last two games, Benitez even cracked a joke about Abramovich. Asked if he had received any message from the Russian tycoon, Benitez said: "Not at the moment. But I'm not planning on playing Abramovich at centre-forward; I prefer Torres."

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Wenger not embarrassed by cup defeat to lowly Bradford

LONDON (Reuters) - Arsenal's quarter-final League Cup exit at the hands of minnows Bradford City left manager Arsene Wenger questioning the power of his strike force but the Frenchman refused to label the defeat as an embarrassment. Despite playing almost an hour with five attackers, Arsenal failed to break down the League Two club who went on to claim Tuesday's match 3-2 on penalties after a stubborn defensive display. Wenger started German international striker Lukas Podolski alongside Gervinho and finished the match with attack-minded players Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marouane Chamakh and Tomas Rosicky on the pitch, but it was left to captain and centre back Thomas Vermaelen to send the match into extra time when he equalised in the 88th minute. Gervinho squandered a glorious chance in front of goal and Francis Coquelin hit the woodwork in the 38th minute. The end-of-match statistics showed Arsenal had registered 28 shots with 12 on target compared to Bradford's five shots with three on target. "We played with a very offensive team. What is disappointing is (we played) basically over an hour with five strikers and couldn't score," Wenger told club website www.arsenal.com. "We created a lot of different situations. You have to say they defended very well. It's difficult to play this kind of game. "I know people will say: 'it's League Two', but a cup game is a cup game. In football you always have a chance if you give everything." Asked whether he was embarrassed by the defeat, Wenger said: "You feel embarrassed when you don't give everything. I feel the team did fight and will be more disappointed and frustrated. "I cannot fault the effort. We have put the effort in (and) have given absolutely everything until the last minute. It was a typical English cup game and Bradford got on top of us in the end. We missed three penalties - that's a lot to take." Arsenal have not won a major trophy since the FA Cup in 2005 and the latest setback in a disappointing season could trigger another departure at the club with Britain's Telegraph newspaper reporting on Wednesday that Manchester United have their eye on Theo Walcott. Walcott, who did not play against Bradford, has yet to commit to Arsenal after contract talks broke down in August and the 23-year-old becomes a free agent at the end of the season when his current deal expires. Striker Robin Van Persie went to Old Trafford at the start of the season. Arsenal have felt his loss with the Dutchman so far netting 11 goals in the Premier League for his new team. Former Arsenal player Thierry Henry has been linked with another loan return to the Emirates but Wenger said before the match with Bradford that there was no news about his compatriot.

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Soccer-Scottish Cup 4th round fixtures

Dec 12 (Infostrada Sports) - Fixtures from the Scottish Cup 4th Round matches on Wednesday 4th Round Wednesday, December 12 (GMT) Dumbarton(II) v Hamilton Academical(II) (1930) Postponed 4th Round, replay Wednesday, December 12 (GMT) Arbroath(III) v Celtic (1945) 4th Round Wednesday, December 12 (GMT) Cowdenbeath(II) v St. Johnstone (1945) Postponed 4th Round, second leg Monday, December 17 (GMT) Greenock Morton(II) v Turriff United (1930)

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UPDATE 2-Soccer-More derby fallout for blighted English game

* Barry charged by FA with abusing match official * Teen arrested over racist tweet (adds background, byline) Dec 11 (Reuters) - The fallout from Sunday's Manchester derby has continued to rumble on with City's Gareth Barry charged with verbally abusing a match official and a 15-year-old arrested for sending a racist tweet to a United player during the match. English football, long seen to have dealt with previous problems with hooliganism and racism, has been hit by a series of recurrences in recent times. The country had hoped the golden glow of a triumphant London Olympics had set an example for a game still recovering from the effects of the John Terry and Luis Suarez racism rows. However, Sunday's pulsating match at City's Etihad Stadium, won by the visitors 3-2 after a late goal by United's Dutch striker Robin van Persie, was marred by crowd disturbances towards the end of the game. Police are trying to identify a supporter who threw a coin at United defender Rio Ferdinand which left him bleeding from a cut about his left eye, while a City supporter ran onto the pitch and had to be restrained by the home side's goalkeeper Joe Hart. Thirteen people were arrested after the match, with nine being charged. There was further action on Monday, with Greater Manchester Police dealing with the latest in a long line of Twitter-related problems in English soccer. "Police investigating a racist tweet sent during Sunday's Manchester derby have made an arrest," a GMP statement said on Tuesday. "An investigation was launched following a message directed at a Manchester United player. A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence on the evening of Monday 10 December 2012." On Tuesday, City midfielder Barry booked himself a date with the Football Association after it announced the England man had been charged for using abusive language towards a match official. MORE ABUSE Since English outrage after their Under-21 team were subjected to racist chanting by Serbian supporters in October, the spotlight has been fixed firmly on the English domestic game as it grapples with seemingly weekly incidents of trouble. Premier League club Norwich City have reported four cases of racist abuse aimed at their Cameroon defender Sebastien Bassong in the past two weeks, coming from both individuals in the crowd and via social media. Referee Mark Clattenburg was cleared of making a racist remark towards Chelsea's John Obi Mikel during a match with United in October, when a Stamford Bridge steward was injured when Chelsea fans vented their anger at United's winning celebrations. Half a seat was thrown onto the pitch while at other matches fans have been seen making monkey impressions in the stands. That same month, Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was punched in the face by a Leeds United fan during a second-tier match. All this has occurred as the Terry racism saga came to a conclusion, with the former England captain being banned by the FA for four matches for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, Rio's brother, a year ago. The Chelsea defender was cleared in a criminal court. VOCAL CRITICISM Lord Herman Ouseley, the chairman of anti-racism group Kick It Out, has accused Chelsea and Liverpool - who last season had striker Suarez banned for eight matches for racially abusing United's Patrice Evra - as well as the Football Association and the Premier League of a failure of "morality" and "leadership". He described the last year as "12 months wasted in hypocrisy" by the authorities. "There is very little morality in football among the top clubs," he told the Guardian newspaper. "Leadership is so important; you have to send a powerful message that racism is completely unacceptable," he said. "But there is a moral vacuum. The big clubs look after their players as assets. There was no bold attitude from them, to say that they would not put up with it." Ouseley went on to say that despite Terry being found guilty and the FA commission expressing doubt on the evidence of team mate Ashley Cole, he felt neither the club, the FA nor the Premier League had made any strong statement of disapproval. "The condemnations have been mealy mouthed," Ouseley said. Following the events in Manchester, authorities have been vocal in their condemnation with the Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor suggesting netting should be erected in some parts of stadiums to protect players from objects being hurled from the crowd. Many fans have argued that such an idea would be a retrograde step and regard the netting as an alien concept used in soccer troublespots around the world. However, countries with hooligan problems such as Italy have not been on the front pages of the newspapers as often as England in recent months. The FA's chairman David Bernstein has said fans who "hijack" matches with bad behaviour should be banned for life. (Editing by Mark Meadows; mark.meadows@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542

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Zynga Wants to Get into the Gambling Business

Zynga recently filed a preliminary application for a gambling license in Nevada. We're not talking about gambling with Farmville credits, either. We're talking cold hard cash. RELATED: Irish Olympic Athlete Accused of Betting on an Opponent Getting a gaming license is no easy task in Nevada. The paperwork that Zynga filed this week is just the beginning of a process that the company's executives expect to take between a year and 18 months. During that time, the state will review Zynga's financial records and decide whether or not its fit to hold a license. Even then, it's unclear exactly what the world of real money online gambling will hold. Only this year did the Justice Department lift its ban on online gambling, and so far, Nevada is the first and only state to begin issuing licenses to companies offering online poker games. And even then, the license is only good inside the state of Nevada, where there's more sand than people. RELATED: It's Official: The Maker of Farmville Is Worth $8.9 Billion Zynga's willing to take its chances. A lot could happen in the next year or so, and there's been talk of some sort of agreement between states that would open up the market significantly. And new openings in the market is exactly what Zynga really wants. "As we've said previously, the broader U.S. market is an opportunity that's further out on the horizon based on legislative developments, but we are preparing for a regulated market," said Zynga Chief Revenue Officer Barry Cottle in a statement. RELATED: Romney Triumphs in Nevada, Says Obama is 'Trying to Take a Bow' This could be really good for Zynga. The five-year-old company has been on a bit of downward spiral, lately. With its earnings per user on a steady decline, Zynga's stock price has plummeted by more than 75 percent, and a number of key executives have left this year. It's hard to say exactly why people have cooled on Zynga's games, most of which live in the Facebook ecosystem, but if the company didn't do something soon, there was a chance that it could be in real trouble, real soon. And what's the best way to get out of financial trouble? Gambling. At least if you're on the right side of the table, it does.

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H&R Block, Zynga, Akamai are big market movers

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE H&R Block Inc., up 89 cents at $18.26 The tax preparer's quarterly loss narrows, helped by cost cuts. It thinks earnings will grow in the upcoming U.S. tax season. SAIC Inc., down 41 cents at $11.26 The defense contractor's quarterly earnings fall short of Wall Street expectations, and it's eliminating 700 jobs to cut costs. Men's Wearhouse Inc., down 84 cents at $30.51 The men's clothing store chain cuts its outlook, saying traffic dropped in November and it was more cautious about the rest of the year. Safeway Inc., up 42 cents at $17.88 The grocery store chain moves up payment of its quarterly dividend to December from January to avoid potentially higher taxes. Nasdaq Zynga Inc., up 17 cents at $2.49 The troubled online games maker's filing with a Nevada regulator could pave the way for it to enter the lucrative U.S. gambling market. Vera Bradley Inc., down $3.07 at $23.14 The handbag maker's forecast for the current quarter comes in short of Wall Street analysts' average estimate. Akamai Technologies Inc., up $3.56 at $39.06 The company, whose products help deliver online content, strikes a deal to provide services to AT&T customers. Epoch Investment Partners Inc., up $5.78 at $27.69 Canada's TD Bank plans to buy the U.S. asset manager for $668 million, a 28 percent premium from Wednesday's closing price.

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Zynga moves to enter US gambling market

NEW YORK (AP) -- Online games company Zynga said it has asked Nevada gambling regulators for a decision that could pave the way for it to enter the U.S. gambling market. This follows Zynga's October disclosure that it has signed a deal to offer online poker and casino games, played with real money, in the U.K. It plans to launch those games in the first half of 2013. Zynga Inc. said in an email late Wednesday that it is seeking an "application for a preliminary finding of suitability" from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. This, the company says, is part of its plan to enter regulated "real-money gaming," that is, gambling markets. Zynga has not said what it plans to do with a gaming license. But the company, whose games are played primarily on Facebook, has faltered in recent months and is looking for additional revenue sources beyond online games such as "FarmVille 2" and "Words With Friends." The San Francisco-based company says the process with Nevada regulators should take 12 to 18 months. If Zynga passes the first regulatory hurdle, it can then apply for a gaming license in the state. That, the company said, takes two to three months. Zynga's stock rose 17 cents, or 7.1 percent, to close Thursday at $2.49. The company went public about a year ago, when its stock priced at $10 per share.

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Minecraft sells almost 4.5 million copies on Xbox 360 as other indie games continue to struggle

Big-budget games such as Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II might brag about how they rule the Xbox 360 in terms of sales, but indie games can also compete – if they’re addictive enough and offer enough value. Take Minecraft, an indie game developed by Markus “Notch” Persson’s company Mojang. According to Mojang, Minecraft, an indie game originally made for PC and ported to the Xbox 360 seven months ago has sold 4,476,904 copies as of the end of November with 40,000 to 60,000 copies sold every week. Minecraft is an anomaly because it doesn’t boast high-definition graphics that ooze of detailed lighting effects and didn’t cost millions of dollars to make, and yet it is the third-most played game on Xbox LIVE. According to Gamasutra’s analysis and breakdown of November’s Xbox Live Arcade sales, only three other indie games managed to break 1 million copies downloaded last month. See below for the chart. As you can see, every other game on Xbox Live Arcade other than Castle Crashers, Fruit Ninja Kinect, Happy Wars and Counter Strike: GO isn’t seeing the same type of success Minecraft is. The lesson here is developers should always focus on the product and the users. If the gameplay mechanics are solid, the experience is fluid and bug-free, the gamers will come.

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New Sony online store offers remote downloads to PlayStation and mobile devices

Continuing its efforts to make buying digital content for PlayStation consoles easier, Sony’s (SNE) quietly flipped the switch on for its Sony Entertainment Network Store. The new Web store finally allows games, movies and TV shows for the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PSP, Xperia tablets and Xperia smartphones to be purchased through a Web browser and then queued up for download to a designated device. Content can be purchased with credit cards, pre-paid cards and even PayPal. Currently available only in Europe, Sony says the new SEN Store will launch in the U.S. next week and is part of the company’s latest round of updates that put it on equal footing with Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox LIVE for Xbox 360. As gamers would know, the Xbox 360 has had the ability to buy and download games remotely from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace Web store for a while now.

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