Soccer

The Sons of Ben are many things: Loud. Brash. Passionate. Always loyal, totally dedicated, and occasionally soused. Now they're about to be something else: movie stars. Seriously. A New York filmmaker is deep into shooting a feature-length documentary about the rise of the rabid Philadelphia Union fan club, exploring its pivotal role in redefining the local soccer landscape. Director Jeffrey C. Bell, though not a big soccer fan, became fascinated with the idea of how a supporters group could develop for a team that did not then exist - and that the group's months of rallying, lobbying, and cajoling actually paid off, when Major League Soccer named Philadelphia as its 16th club in 2008.

United States men's U-20s vs. Costa Rica 6:30 p.m. Friday (Fox Soccer Channel) The Americans beat Haiti, 2-1, on goals by Luis Gil and Daniel Cuevas in their first group game of CONCACAF qualifying for this summer's under-20 World Cup, but it was difficult. The U.S. is already in the next round, but will need a better defensive effort against the Ticos. Montreal Impact vs. Columbus Crew 8 p.m. Saturday (ESPN3.com) In the preseason Disney Pro Soccer Classic title game in Orlando, keep an eye on Impact forward Marco Di Vaio and Crew playmaker Federico Higuaín, two of Major League Soccer's best midyear signings in 2012.

Newcastle United at Tottenham Hotspur 7:30 a.m. Saturday (ESPN2) U.S. national team striker Clint Dempsey returns to his English Premier League club, fourth-place Tottenham, after scoring the Americans' only goal in Wednesday's 2-1 loss at Honduras in World Cup qualifying. While Spurs are trying to reach the Champions League, once-mighty Newcastle is just six points out of the relegation zone. Fiorentina at Juventus 11:55 a.m. Saturday (beIN Sport) Once upon a time, this was one of Italian soccer's great rivalries.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Organized crime gangs have fixed or tried to fix hundreds of soccer matches around the world in recent years, including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers as well as two Champions League games, Europol announced Monday. The European Union's police agency said an 18-month review found 380 suspicious matches in Europe and another 300 questionable games outside the continent, mainly in Africa, Asia and South and Central America. It also found evidence that a Singapore-based crime syndicate was involved in some of the match-fixing.

As 21st birthdays go, Ebun Olaloye's was far from raucous. He spent it in an eighth-floor studio in Temple University's architecture building. There, on Nov. 17, 2010, the Nigerian immigrant sketched out a design that came to him, he said, in a 45-minute burst of inspiration. His final work was no grand edifice. No soaring atriums or marble-columned porticos. His creation was simply a T-shirt logo, the letters LBF contained within a black soccer ball. Around its perimeter were the words the letters stood for, Live Breathe Futbol , and the Roman numerals XXI - for the 21 T-shirts Olaloye would sell in commemoration of his milestone birthday and his sports obsession.

CAIRO - Clashes broke out in the Egyptian coastal city of Port Said on Saturday, leaving at least 30 dead and several hundred injured, following a court verdict imposing death sentences on 21 people for killings during a soccer riot in the city last year. It was the second day of violence in Egypt after tens of thousands of protesters marking the two-year anniversary of their revolution clashed with police in cities across the country Friday, leaving at least nine people dead in the city of Suez and more than 260 others injured nationwide, according to state officials.