Euro final fortells exciting Cup
the most-watched sporting event on the planet — World Cup 2006 — will start with a game between Germany and Costa Rica in Munich.
Over the following month, 32 teams — from traditional powers Brazil, Germany, Argentina and England, to upstarts Angola, Trinidad and Tobago, and Saudi Arabia — will vie for the right to be called the champions until 2010. All over the world, millions upon millions of soccer fans will be watching the games. What will they see?
The answer came on May 17 in the European Champions League final in Paris between Arsenal (England) and Barcelona (Spain), which won 2-1. The match gave us a taste of things those millions of World Cup viewers will experience in the tournament.
The game had everything: great teams of world-class players; drama throughout the match; controversial refereeing, endlessly discussed; and a battle that came to a nail-biting climax in the final 10 minutes.
Of the 28 players who took part in the match, 18 of them, from 10 countries, will see action in Germany. Arsenal's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is No.1 for the hosts, Sol Campbell and Joe Cole are top-notch England defenders, and in front of them were players from the Ivory Coast, Spain, Sweden, Brazil and France. From Spain, the teenager Cesc Fabregas plays alongside Gilberto of Brazil and Thierry Henry, a high-scoring striker from France.
Rennes eliminated from UEFA Cup
RENNES, December 1 (UEFA Cup) - Rennes were eliminated from UEFA Cup contention as they went down to a third consecutive defeat, this time at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk.
Elano Blumer's first-half penalty proved the deciding moment and ensures Shakhtar end a successful qualification campaign with another win.
They will therefore take their place in the last 32 next year while Rennes can now concentrate on domestic matters in Ligue 1.
Rennes' young goalkeeper Simon Pouplin had to make an early save from Elano Blumer as Shakhtar bossed the early stages of the encounter.
Blumer then had a shot from 20 yards blocked by a timely challenge from Abdeslam Ouaddou who was being kept busy in defence.
Luis Fernandinho then fired over as the Ukrainians continued to dominate but after 22 minutes Rennes went close when Yoann Gourcuff missed the target from 20 yards.
Pouplin turned over a dangerous free-kick from Blumer but at the other end John Utaka was unlucky to be ruled offside.
The opening goal came after 36 minutes as the visitors were awarded a penalty when Jacques Faty fouled Julius Aghahowa, earning a yellow card for his pains.
Blumer buried the penalty with his right foot into the bottom left corner.
Rennes went close when Olivier Monterrubio had a shot blocked by Donetsk defender Razvan Rat.
Rennes came out fighting in the second period and Erik Edman's cross created a chance for Gourcuff who headed over before Etienne Didot's long-range effort was tipped over by Dmitri Shutkov.
Alexander Frei then headed over as Rennes piled on the pressure but the French side were often reduced to long-range efforts as time started to run out.
Gourcuff had another chance but fired over but at the other end Evaeyerson Brandao also was just too high and Pouplin did well to keep out a shot from Ciprian Marica. |
Sevilla Advances in Euro Cup Quest
SEVILLE, December 1 (UEFA Cup) - Sevilla are through to the knock-out stages after taking a comfortable win over Guimaraes at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan.
All the goals came in the first half as on-loan Argentinian forward Javier Saviola struck twice before Claro Adriano Correia added a third.
Salim Benachour then got Guimaraes back in the game moments before half-time.
Sevilla were ahead as early as the 10th minute as Saviola got on the end of Adriano's cross to turn it in from close range.
Guimaraes came close to drawing level in the 20th minute when Andres Palop was called on to tip Joao Moreno's free-kick over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Attila Dragoner got a header on target but Palop was able to hold it this time.
At the other end, Jesus Navas fired narrowly wide before Saviola doubled his tally, firing right-footed into the bottom left-hand of the goal.
They went 3-0 up in the 39th minute when Jose Luis Marti played in Adriano and he shot low into the bottom left-hand corner of the net from 12 yards.
Daniel Alves almost got a fourth in the 43rd minute when Guimaraes goalkeeper Marcio Paiva could only parry his shot from 20 yards, but it was the visitors who would get the next goal.
Joao Neca took a free-kick, setting up Benachour who shot into the top right-hand corner of the net a minute before the break.
There was no let up from Sevilla as they came quickly out of the blocks in the second half.
A minute after the restart Fredi Kanoute forced a good save from Marcio Paiva, who dived to turn his free-kick around the post.
Marti saw another free-kick saved while Paiva also denied Daniel who shot from the edge of the area.
Guimaraes had to wait until the 63rd minute for their first attack of the second half, but Neca fired over from long-range before Guedes Cleber did likewise moments later.
In the 68th minute, Moreno turned Neca's corner goalwards but Daniel got in a crucial block to keep it out.
They had to wait until deep into injury time for their next chance, but substitute Dario Monteiro's 20-yard shot rose over the bar and Sevilla's victory was secure.
CSKA Moscow's UEFA Cup defense is hanging by a thr
CSKA Moscow's UEFA Cup defence is hanging by a thread after they lost 1-0 at Dinamo Bucharest tonight.
Vlad Munteanu's second-half strike was enough to appease Dinamo's demanding supporters, 100 of whom had confronted players at the club's training ground following poor recent results.
The win sees them leapfrog the holders, who have played all their Group F games and are relying on Dinamo losing their final match in a fortnight and rock-bottom Heerenveen also failing to win.
The week goes from bad to worse for CSKA, who have also lost the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in football history.
At the other end of the group, Levski Sofia secured qualification as Hristo Yovov's second half strike earned them a 1-0 UEFA Cup win over Marseille, whom they join at the top of the table.
In Group E, Red Star Belgrade came from behind to rescue their European campaign and leave Roma's progress in the balance.
Shabani Nonda had given the visitors the lead but Nikola Zigic deservedly hit back before half-time before Milan Purovic netted and Zigic bagged his second to seal a 3-1 win.
There was still time for Antonio Cassano to miss a penalty for injury-hit Roma, for whom a draw would have been enough to ensure their progress.
In the same group, Basle produced an astonishing comeback to put themselves within sight of a place in the last 32 and eliminate Tromso.
It had looked an unlikely scenario at the interval with Tromso looking good with a 3-1 lead after two goals from Lars Ivar Strand and one from Ole Martin Aarst.
Mladen Petric had scored Basle's goal but in the second half strikes from Matias Delgado, Scott Chipperfield and David Degen won it 4-3 for the Swiss side.
Sevilla are through in Group H after taking a comfortable 3-1 win over Guimaraes at the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan.
All the goals came in the first half as on-loan Argentinian forward Javier Saviola struck twice before Claro Adriano Correia added a third.
Salim Benachour then got Guimaraes back in the game moments before half-time.
In the group's other game, Zenit St Petersburg survived a first-half onslaught to grab a 1-1 draw at Besiktas and leave the Turkish side facing elimination from the tournament.
Tonight's results mean Bolton need a point from their final match - against Sevilla - to qualify from the group stages.
Group G saw Rennes dumped out of the competition as they went down to a third consecutive defeat, 1-0 at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk, but Rapid Bucharest are through after beating PAOK Salonika by the same score thanks to Marius Maldarasanu's free-kick.
