There are lots of modules on CPAN that parse XML. You really don't want to do it yourself except as as a learning exercise. And then you will use a module from CPAN;)
When dealing with data structures it is very helpful to print the data you are working with. I've use YAML others use Data::Dumper, either is fine.
Update: I've changed the code below in light of ikegami's comments.
This is one approach using XML::Simple
#!/net/perl/5.10.0/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use YAML;
use XML::Simple;
my $teams = XMLin(
do { local $/; <DATA> },
ForceArray => [qw( football_team Player )],
);
print Dump $teams;
foreach my $team ( @{ $teams->{football_team} } ) {
print "$team->{Name}\n";
foreach my $player ( @{ $team->{Players}{Player} } ) {
print " $player->{ForeName} $player->{LastName}\n";
}
}
__DATA__
<football_teams>
<football_team>
<Name>ONE</Name>
<DateCreated>
<Year>1990</Year>
<Month>12</Month>
<Day>04</Day>
</DateCreated>
<Players>
<Player>
<LastName>Wonguso</LastName>
<ForeName>Jimm</ForeName>
<Initials>JW</Initials>
</Player>
<Player>
<LastName>Fearless</LastName>
<ForeName>A</ForeName>
<Initials>AF</Initials>
</Player>
</Players>
<Hometown>New York</Hometown>
</football_team>
<football_team>
<Name>TWO</Name>
<DateCreated>
<Year>1978</Year>
<Month>9</Month>
<Day>23</Day>
</DateCreated>
<Players>
<Player>
<LastName>Pedro</LastName>
<ForeName>Therry</ForeName>
<Initials>TP</Initials>
</Player>
<Player>
<LastName>Haywardis</LastName>
<ForeName>Richie</ForeName>
<Initials>RH</Initials>
</Player>
<Player>
<LastName>Eswa</LastName>
<ForeName>Jeyan</ForeName>
<Initials>JE</Initials>
</Player>
<Player>
<LastName>Leongus</LastName>
<ForeName>John</ForeName>
<Initials>JL</Initials>
</Player>
<Player>
<LastName>Bentson</LastName>
<ForeName>Billie</ForeName>
<Initials>BB</Initials>
</Player>
</Players>
<Hometown>California</Hometown>
</football_team>
</football_teams>
which produces
---
football_team:
- DateCreated:
Day: 04
Month: 12
Year: 1990
Hometown: New York
Name: ONE
Players:
Player:
- ForeName: Jimm
Initials: JW
LastName: Wonguso
- ForeName: A
Initials: AF
LastName: Fearless
- DateCreated:
Day: 23
Month: 9
Year: 1978
Hometown: California
Name: TWO
Players:
Player:
- ForeName: Therry
Initials: TP
LastName: Pedro
- ForeName: Richie
Initials: RH
LastName: Haywardis
- ForeName: Jeyan
Initials: JE
LastName: Eswa
- ForeName: John
Initials: JL
LastName: Leongus
- ForeName: Billie
Initials: BB
LastName: Bentson
ONE
Jimm Wonguso
A Fearless
TWO
Therry Pedro
Richie Haywardis
Jeyan Eswa
John Leongus
Billie Bentson