NEW YORK -- The former head of the Costa Rican soccer federation pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy and other charges accusing him of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to award lucrative marketing contracts.Eduardo Li became the latest soccer official to plead guilty in a scandal thats shaken FIFA, the sports governing body. Its believed several of the officials are cooperating in the sprawling U.S. investigation.Appearing in federal court in Brooklyn, the 57-year-old Li detailed through a Spanish interpreter several schemes in which he pocketed a fortune in under-the-table payments between 2007 and 2015 in exchange for using his authority to influence soccer-related business deals.In one deal, Li said he was offered $500,000 to award marketing rights for qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Qatar. He said he ended up getting $300,000, which he channeled to the bank account of a business partner to pay a real estate debt.In another, he said unnamed intermediaries in Panama gave him $237,000 in cash to give a U.S. company the rights to sponsor uniforms for the Costa Rican national team.I knew it was wrong of me to accept such undisclosed payments, Li told U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen.Li also admitted embezzling $90,000 in funds related to hosting an international girls soccer tournament in Costa Rica.He faces up to 20 years in prison but could receive much less time under sentencing guidelines. He has agreed to forfeit $668,000.Li, who was arrested last year in Zurich, is among about 20 soccer officials indicted in the corruption case. More than a dozen have pleaded guilty, while another eight are fighting extradition from overseas.No sentencing date was set for Li, who remains free on bail.Jordan 14 For Sale Cheap . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Air Jordan 10 Cheap . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. http://www.jordanshoescheapsale.com/jordan-retro-17-for-sale.html .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Air Jordan 1 Retro For Sale . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Jordan 33 For Sale . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team.For every professional wrestler who gets to fulfill their dreams of becoming a top champion in WWE, there are far more who toil for years without that particular reward and ultimately fall by the wayside.Perhaps thats why?Becky Lynch?is so humble.The hard work starts now, Lynch repeated several times during a conference call to promote WWEs upcoming November European tour. It has clearly become a mantra for her.A strong work ethic is all the 29-year-old Irishwoman has ever known since deciding to quit a party lifestyle at 15 years old. Rebecca Quins foray into the wrestling industry began in June 2002 at St. Andrews National School in Bray County Wicklow, Ireland. It was an hour train ride for her from Dublin, and then a half-hour walk. There she was trained by none other than her compatriot Fergal Devitt -- who would go on to become?Finn Bálor?in WWE.Five months later she had her first match. It would take almost 14 more years before she reached the pinnacle of the wrestling business by becoming the first Smackdown womens champion at WWEs Backlash pay-per-view on Sept. 11.As she put it to ESPN, quoting the popular Drake song with a laugh: We started from the bottom, now were here.Lynch was visibly emotional after emerging victorious over five other women --?Carmella,?Naomi,?Nikki Bella,?Alexa Bliss?and?Natalya?-- in their Six-Pack elimination match to determine the first SmackDown womens?champion.It was hard to believe, she said. But it was the culmination of everything that Ive worked for. Not just this year but since I was 15 years old and first stepped into that little school hall where we had six blue mats instead of a wrestling ring, and just started training with Finn Bálor.There is a touching symbolism in Lynch and Bálor each making their breakthroughs in WWE by winning new titles; Bálor became the inaugural Universal champion at SummerSlam, before having to relinquish the title the next night on Raw due to a shoulder injury.Each sacrificed a lot to reach this point of their careers.It was the culmination of half my lifes work -- just personified in a white and blue and gold championship, said Lynch. Its hard to describe. But everything comes flashing back to me.You can be going through hardships sometimes, and youre struggling, and then youre wondering if youre ever gonna make it, she continued. [Wondering] if things are gonna work out, and you just keep pushing forward. And then getting this symbol, this trophy, you just realize that all the struggle, all the hard times they were all worth it -- and you wouldnt give any of them back, because thats what makes the journey even better.Born in Dublin, Lynch cut her teeth regularly wrestling for France-based independent promotion Queens of Chaos, winning their world title in 2006; she also appeared for Englands One Pro Wrestling and German Stampede Wrestling at that stage of her career. She then traveled to North America to continue to sharpen her skills and gain experience, competing in SuperGirls Wrestling where she became the inaugural SuperGirls champion. In 2006 Lynch debuted for the Shimmer Women Athletes promotion -- one of the premier womens wrestling brands in the world, and a company that carries on to this day.Just as her professional wrestling career was starting to hit its stride, it nearly came crashing down with a vengeance. In September 2006, Lynch was diagnosed with possible damage to her eighth cranial nerve after a match in Germany. After nearly two years of rest and recovery she was set to return to the ring in 2008, but changed her plans at the last minute as thoughts of health issues caused her to reconsider her career. Thinking it may be time to do something else with her life, she went on an even longer extended hiatus from wrestling, taking a job as a flight attendant for Irish airline Aer Lingus.Her love for wrestling simply couldnt be extinguished.The whole time I was working as a flight attendant, I knew that this [wrestling] was what I wanted to do, she said. Because Id given it up, and it kept haunting me that I wasnt doing what I was meant to be doing. There was always part of me that knew I had to come back, I just didnt know how.?Lynch quit her job and returned to the wrestling world as a manager for Britani Knight -- now known as WWE superstar?Paige?-- in Shimmer in 2011. She also completed a degree in drama at the Dublin Institute of?Technology, got herself cast in numerous plays, and tried her hand as a stuntwoman. Lynch even attended clown college, a fact that should come as little surprise given her penchant for making puns and her fun-loving nature, which is certainly evident on her social media accounts.Wrestling just kept calling out for her, and eventually Lynch could not ignore the urge to scratch that itch. Having pressed pause on her dreams for seven years, Lynch signed with WWE in 2013 and became a part of the NXT roster and developmental brand for the next two years. Lynch eventually got a main roster call-up in 2015, and by 2016 she had a stand-out Wrestlemania performance in a triple threat match with?Charlotte?and?Sasha Banks.As Lynch noted, she has gone from serving people on planes to being served on planes all the time, as part of WWEs hectic travel schedule.My life changed completely. Its crazy now, she said. Its kind of gone from striving and wondering and being confused and being lost to just feeling like the most blessed person in the world -- just happy to wake up every day, happy to get on a plane every time. Just couldnt be happier with life, really.It is remarkable to think how far Lynch has come in such a short time in WWE -- even moreso when you consider just how far shes come from a forgettable and at times painful gimmick she was saddled with upon her on-screen debut on NXT. Before each of her matches, she would dance a jig to the ring accompanied by whimsical Irish music, harkening back to an era where almost anyone who came into the WWE from anywhere outside of North America was immediately tied to a stereotypical character trait.Let us never talk about that again, Lynch told ESPN, laughing. You know what, you cant get worse than that. Sometimes youve just gotta fricking make a fool out of yourself and then you become little bit untouchable. So, I tell ya, its gonna make one hell of a biography one day, I hope. That was terrible, and we all know it was terrible. Let nobody else say anything different.?It speaks to the self-confidence of Lynch that she sought out then-NXT head trainer Bill DeMMott for an honest chat regarding the direction of her persona.dddddddddddd.I remember just seeing, Youve gotta find a character, youve gotta find a character, was the whole thing [in NXT], and I just remember going to Bill DeMott at the time and just going, I know that I need a character, but I AM a character. So I said that. And from then on it was just fine tuning. I just developed my look, which is obviously very different, and steam punk. But the character is just me amped up a bit more.Its so important just to be true to yourself and to own your own character and take responsibility for it, and speak up and say, This isnt right, this isnt me, she continued. Its a great lesson, not just in wrestling but in life. If youre not feeling something thats true to your heart... everybodys gotta be true. If youre not gonna be able to commit to it 100 percent, its just gonna seep through your pores. And the crowd picks up on that. They have a way of picking up on energy sometimes. They wont be sure why they dont watch something, or why something is off to them, but theyll tell you. And thats the great thing about the WWE Universe. If they dont like something theyll let you know. You wont be wondering.?After dropping the bright green ring gear and the jig on her way to the ring, Lynch slowly won over the Full Sail University crowd in Orlando, Florida by proving she could hang with fellow NXT female upstarts Charlotte, Banks and?Bayley. The four of them put on what is considered one of the matches that prompted the Divas (later womens) Revolution in WWE -- a Fatal Four-way match for the NXT womens championship at?NXT Takeover: Rival in February 2015.That match made such an impact that the four participants became colloquially known as the Four Horsewomen. It was quite the compliment, given it was a nod to the famous NWA/WCW Four Horsemen stable that consisted of wrestling legends including Charlottes father (and 16-time world champion) Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, alongside some other heavy hitters in wrestling history.Five months later Lynch, Banks and Charlotte were called up to the main roster, with Bayley remaining in NXT where she won the womens championship and helping to carry the brand before finally joining Raw last month. All four played a pivotal role expanding the perception of what women could do in a wrestling ring.As that revolution evolved, the oft-panned butterfly belt Divas title was scrapped and the division was entirely rebranded. The women are now simply referred to as superstars, like their male counterparts. Charlotte won the new Womens Championship in a triple threat match against Banks and Lynch at Wrestlemania 32, and Lynch only sees and looks forward to even bigger things in their future.?Next I wanna main event Wrestlemania, Lynch said. But also its one thing to get to the top, its another thing to stay there. This is where the hard work starts, I didnt wanna just win the championship, I wanted to make the Smackdown womens division the one to watch. I want to get people emotionally invested, I want them to feel it more than anything else on the show. And thats the goal. To stay in this, to keep pushing the limits, and working harder, getting further, getting more of a following, because were main-eventing Wrestlemania and everybody knows we deserve to.It is no surprise to hear the matchup Lynch thinks could finally get the women on last at a Wrestlemania -- another fatal fourway with the Four Horsewomen. But could she ever see herself, Banks, Charlotte and Bayley teaming up as a formidable faction?Ooh, thats a good question. I think were better fighting each other, to be honest with you, she said, laughing. Thats where magic happens. But who knows? I could see it happening very easily, especially with the talent were gonna have coming up from NXT soon, with Asuka, and Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, to name just a few. I dont know if we will be reunited as a group, as a unit. But we will be reunited to main event Wrestlemania.For now, Lynch is relishing the responsibility of being the face of the womens division on SmackDown Live. Along with Nikki Bella, she is an experienced figurehead trusted to help nurture the younger talents like Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Eva Marie. Lynch sees herself much like?AJ Styles, the WWE world champion on SmackDown who proclaims he is the face that runs the place and the champ that runs the champ -- with one small?difference.Im the champ that puns the camp! she said. Thats what I always wanted. I wanted to be seen as a main eventer, and its a lot of responsibility now. I feel like Im gonna deliver on this opportunity. I want to take it and make sure everybody knows that this is why Im the champ. And that they know theyve put the title on the right person. It means a lot to me, but it just means that the hard works only starting now.Lynchs fun-loving nature has quickly made her a fan favorite in WWE, and she embraces her newfound status as a role model for young female viewers.Oh that means everything. That means everything, she said. When I see pictures of little girls with the goggles on their heads and Lass Kicker t-shirts and everything like that, thats what its all about. Little girls saying they want to grow up to be just like you, its a very big responsibility. Its one thing that I always wanna instill in kids and everybody, is just being true to yourself, not feeling like you have to conform to whatever it is. Just shine on and be straight fire. That means everything to me.?I find it very hard to say no to any kid that comes up to me looking for anything. I always wanna give them my goggles or my t-shirt or something. They just melt my heart. And its always a reminder for me to keep my integrity about me and not let anything ever get to your head, and just keep working hard.Much like Bret Hart used to pick out a child in the aisle on his way to the ring, and place his signature pink reflective glasses on their head, Lynch has started gifting the goggles she wears as part of her entrance costume to one young fan, as well as tossing a personally signed hat into the crowd.I feel like if I was a kid, that would make my life, she said. To get that thing from one of your favorite superstars, and youve got that for life. I think thats something youll always hold dear. And it will just make a really good memory for them.? ' ' '