Football United

After much speculation of an experience abroad, Jerome Rothen seems destined to remain in France as PSG have made steps forward in securting Monaco's winger.

Rothen also stated that even though he would like to play abroad, his future might still be in France. "I always said that Monaco is a good trampoline towards foreign leagues, but now I might stay in France with another team. I hope that my future is defined before the Euro; it would be ideal."

Source: Soccerage

There are claims in some newspapers that the club is negotiating with River Plate for the transfer of Fernando Cavenaghi in exchange for Ariel Ortega, and that a talk took place in France last week.
Our club has been interested in Cavenaghi before, but his value of 15million USD led to a change of mind.

Source: fenerbahce.org

VASCO DA GAMA: Fábio, Claudemir, Fabiano, Henrique e Diego; Coutinho, Beto, Petkovic (Rodrigo Souto) e Róbson Luiz; Alex Alves (Gomes) e Valdir. Técnico: Geninho.

BOTAFOGO: Max, Marcio Gomes, João Carlos, Sandro e Daniel (Jorginho Paulista); Fernando, Túlio, Carlos Alberto e Valdo (Camacho); Almir (Schwenck) e Luizão. Técnico: Mauro Galvão.

GOALS: 1-0, Valdir (22); 2-0, Petkovic (32'); 3-0, Petkovic (63'); 4-0, Valdir (86')

River won in a tradicionally difficult derby match, against rivals Racing Club Avelaneda, to mantain the 3 point lead over Boca Juniors, with only 3 matches to play in the Clausura Tournament.

RACING CLUB: Gastón Pezzuti; Leonardo Tambussi, Cristian Grabinski, Angel Martínez, Javier Pinola; Lucas Rimoldi, Leonardo Céliz, Juan Manuel Torres, Sebastián Romero (Vicente Principiano); Lisandro López, Luis Benítez (Luciano Olguin).

RIVER PLATE: Germán Lux; Ariel Garcé, Horacio Ameli, Eduardo Tuzzio, Ricardo Rojas; Eduardo Coudet (Rubens Sambueza), Claudio Husain, Luis González; Marcelo Gallardo (Cristain Tula); Maximiliano López, José Sand (nelson Cuevas).

GOALS: 0-1, Sand (14'); 0-2, Maxi Lopez (40'); 1-2, Rimoldi (65').
Cambios: ST 23m 28-Luciano Olguin X Luis Benítez (Ra), 35-Rubens Sambueza X Coudet(Ri) y 7-Nelson Cuevas X Sand (Ri).

Paris Saint-Germain FC claimed their first silverware in six years as Pauleta's second-half goal saw off second division LB Châteauroux 1-0 in the French Cup final.

Pauleta winner
With PSG having won nothing since the 1998 French Cup and League Cup, they were desperate for victory. However, Châteauroux made it tough for them, and it was not until the 65th minute that Pauleta finally broke the deadlock with a powerful header.

PSG lift the cup for the sixth time - only ten-time winners Olympique de Marseille have claimed the trophy more often.

Source: Uefa.com

Finland 1-3 Sweden
Marcus Allbäck put recent fitness worries behind him to score twice as Sweden came from behind to beat neighbours Finland in Tampere.

Litmanen penalty
In their penultimate friendly before UEFA EURO 2004™, Sweden fell behind early on. Jari Litmanen - who has recently returned to Finnish domestic football - converted a ninth-minute penalty after Aleksei Eremenko was brought down by Swedish goalkeeper Magnus Hedman.

Sweden level
However, Sweden were determined not to suffer any setbacks before they begin their Portuguese campaign on 14 June, and despite the constant menace of Litmanen equalised on the half-hour through Anders Andersson.

Crucial goal
It seemed that the first half would end level, but with seconds to go before the break Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent a shot in on goal which Antti Niemi could only parry. Allbäck was first to the rebound and taped in.

Allbäck's clincher
Ibrahimovic had a lively game, and with eight minutes to go made the clincher as he set Allbäck away to confirm victory. Sweden now welcome Poland to Solna next Saturday before opening their EURO 2004™ campaign against Bulgaria in Lisbon. Italy and Denmark also await in Group C.

Source: uefa.com

England striker Darius Vassell has been cleared to play in UEFA EURO 2004™ after passing a fitness test on his hamstring.

Injury doubt
The Aston Villa FC forward was named in coach Sven-Göran Eriksson's provisional 23-man squad last Monday, but has been struggling with a hamstring injury since the end of April. Eriksson must now decide whether to risk the 23-year-old in England's warm-up games against Japan and Iceland in Manchester next week.

'Looking forward'
Vassell said today: "I will be available for the finals. I did some special work on my hamstring and that went well. At this moment in time, I am 100 per cent. The injury was only minor in the first place, I have had a bit of a break and I feel strong. I am looking forward to the finals."

Source: uefa.com

AS Monaco FC captain Ludovic Giuly has been forced to withdraw from France's UEFA EURO 2004™ squad because of a torn abdominal muscle and he will be replaced by Olympique Lyonnais striker Sidney Govou.

Muscle tear
Giuly was substituted early in this week's UEFA Champions League final, which Monaco lost 3-0 against FC Porto, and a scan today revealed that his injury would take around six weeks to heal, making him unavailable for the final tournament.

Santini confirmation
France coach Jacques Santini confirmed the news after his team's 4-0 win against Andorra in Montpellier. "We have thought about keeping Ludo but his recovery period is too long," he said.

Source: uefa.com

Switzerland coach Jakob Kuhn has released a provisional list of 26 players for UEFA EURO 2004™. He will shorten it by three on 2 June - the date of both Switzerland's friendly against Germany and UEFA's deadline for naming squads.

Question mark
Kuhn's selection will have surprised no one although there remains a question mark against defender Ludovic Magnin, who has been struggling with a thigh injury. A central defender, probably Marco Zwyssig or Stéphane Grichting, and a midfield player are also expected to miss out.

Thurre rewarded
Meanwhile, striker Léonard Thurre has been rewarded for his fine form for Servette FC in the final weeks of the season with his first call-up since breaking his hand more than a year ago. Thurre made three appearances in qualifying.

Switzerland's provisional squad

Goalkeepers
Fabrice Borer (Grasshopper-Club)
Jörg Stiel (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Pascal Zuberbühler (FC Basel 1893)

Defenders
Bruno Berner (FC Freiburg)
Stéphane Grichting (AJ Auxerre)
Bernt Haas (West Bromwich Albion FC)
Stéphane Henchoz (Liverpool FC)
Ludovic Magnin (SV Werder Bremen)
Patrick Müller (Olympique Lyonnais)
Remo Meyer (TSV 1860 München)
Christoph Spycher (Grasshopper-Club)
Murat Yakin (FC Basel 1893)
Marco Zwyssig (FC Basel 1893)

Midfielders
Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshopper-Club)
Fabio Celestini (Olympique de Marseille)
Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel 1893)
Johann Lonfat (FC Sochaux Montbéliard)
Johann Vogel (PSV Eindhoven)
Raphael Wicky (Hamburger SV)
Hakan Yakin (VfB Stuttgart).

Forwards
Stéphane Chapuisat (BSC Young Boys)
Alex Frei (Stade Rennais FC)
Daniel Gygax (FC Zürich)
Milaim Rama (FC Thun)
Marco Streller (VfB Stuttgart)
Léonard Thurre (Servette FC)

Source: uefa.com

Athletic Bilbau won the Basque Cup, after defeating Real Sociedad 2-1. Ezquerro and Del Horno scored for Athletic, while Larrea scored for Real. It was a well played match, where several young players from both teams had a change to show themselves to their managers, hoping to be in the main teams in the next season,

AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko has ended speculation about his future by signing a new contract with the Rossoneri until 2009.

Scoring success
The 27-year-old Ukrainian international topped the Italian scoring charts with 24 goals in 2003/04, helping Milan to their 17th Scudetto. Shevchenko moved to the San Siro from FC Dynamo Kyiv in 1999. He justified his €26m fee by becoming the first foreigner to be crowned Serie A top scorer in his debut season with 24 goals. He claimed another 24 strikes the following term, and 14 in 2001/02.

Knee injury
In 2002/03 he suffered a knee injury, but recovered in time to hit the winning penalty in the UEFA Champions League final against Juventus FC. Shevchenko's previous contract was due to expire in 2006.

Transfer dealings
Since clinching the Italian title, Milan have also allowed defender Martin Laursen to join Aston Villa FC and released Fernando Redondo, replacing them with Dutch international Jaap Stam and Vikash Dhorasoo.

Source: Uefa.com

1/4 Finals

São Caetano (BRA) - Boca Juniors (ARG) 0-0 1-1 (3-4 pen)
River Plate (ARG) - Dep. Cali (COL) 1-0 3-1
São Paulo (BRA) - Dep. Táchira (VEN) 3-0 4-1
Santos (BRA) - Once Caldas (COL) 1-1 0-1

1/2 Finals (9/6 - 16/6)

Boca Juniors (ARG) - River Plate (ARG)
Once Caldas (COL) - São Paulo (BRA)

It has been an agitated week at Estádio José Gomes. President António Oliveira and Manager Miguel Quaresma have been planning next season, and have guaranteed the signings of midfielders Pedro Mendes, from Vit. Setúbal, and Hugo Machado, from Sporting B. Another "new face" is forward Pedro Silva, who played last year on loan at Tourizense, to become the team's top goalscorer. The board has also signed new contracts with players considered importants to help the club return to the SuperLiga. Amongst these are Pedro Simões, Hugo Carreira, Fonseca and Veiga. Juba and Miran are still analysing the contract proposals made by the board, and will give an answer later next week. Certain are the departures of prolific striker Júlio César, goalkeeper Márcio Santos, and midfielder Rogério.

Meanwhile, the board has next week as a deadline to clear all the tax debts of the club, to avoid beeing relegated to II division B. The president, António Oliveira, has announced that the payments will be made, as Estrela has found financial partners to help resolve this situation.

The dutch international midfielder Phillip Cocu is on verge of returning to his old club. After his disappointing departure from Barcelona the dutch player is considering in returning to the dutch league and PSV is on the top of the list to sign the player.
With the most likely departure of Van Bommel, the Eindhoven side would see with good eyes the return of Cocu.

HSV can still afford to hope that they can finally land the Belgian international Daniel van Buyten, who is currently on loan to Manchester City from the French giants Olympique Marseille. The player himself has asked for time to consider his options. He has had offers from England and Italy as well as HSV.


Mpenza urging him to sign!

Van Buyten has recently admitted to being "pestered" by his good friend Emile Mpenza to join HSV just like he did recently! Both players are good mates as they have played together for Belgium. He also admitted that the city, the stadium and of course Mpenza, could work in HSV's favour. Marseille has said that van Buyten will never play for them again. As usual, the sticking point on the deal is money.

Lauth deal

Another player on Klaus Toppmöller's shopping list is the 1860 Munich German international striker Benny Lauth. The Munich blues, who were relegated to division two at the end of last season, are reported to be demanding at least four million Euros for their prize asset, a figure that HSV is very unlikely to be able to meet. The van Buyten deal has top priority at the Hamburg club.

Source: HSV.de

The saga concerning the future of Panathinaikos FC goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis has ended with the Greek international goalkeeper leaving the newly crowned champions and joining the club they deposed, Olympiacos CFP, on a three-year contract.

Contract expiring
The deal will become official when the transfer window opens on 1 June. The future of the 32-year-old had been the talk of Greece for the past six months, with his existing contract at Panathinaikos expiring in June.

Dropped from first team
He failed to reach a new agreement with Panathinaikos, despite extensive negotiations. As a result he was dropped from the first team - his last appearance came in February meaning he missed the title run-in as Panathinaikos ended Olympiacos's seven-year reign as Greek champions.

Landmark move
Nikopolidis joined Panathinaikos in summer 1989, but did not establish himself as first-choice goalkeeper until the 1997/98 season. A member of Otto Rehhagel's 23-man squad for UEFA EURO 2004™, he is the first player to move from Panathinaikos to Olympiacos since Chris Kalantzis in 1993.

Source: Uefa.com

HSV's sport director Dietmar Beiersdorfer confirmed to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper yesterday that the club is interested in signing the young 1860 Munich striker Benjamin Lauth: "Of course we're interested when a player like Lauth becomes available on the market," says Didi.

Relegation heartache

1860 was relegated to division two at the end of the season just ended, and must raise 7 million Euros for their license for next season. Rumour has it that the defender from also relegated Cologne Mustafa Dogan, could be on the verge of a move to the AOL Arena.

Friendly win

HSV beat SpVgg Steinefrenz/Weroth 6-2 last night in a friendly match played in Westerwald. A crowd of 4,000 saw the HSV goals scored by Bernardo Romeo (2), Marinus Bester (2), Milan Fukal and Stefan Beinlich.

Source: HSV.de

River Plate reached the semi-finals, after winning in Colombia, yesterday, 3-1. Deportivo scored first and gave most of the offensive expenses of the match, but with an intelligent and patient game, River scored 3 goals in couter-strike. With a solid midfield and a great keeper, River destroyed most of the Cali plays, and with good ball circulation was able to feed the strikers several times, to turn the match around.

River Plate will face Boca Juniors in the semi-finals, after the Xeinezes eliminated São Caetano in the penalties, on Tuesday.

DEPORTIVO CALI: Breiner Castillo; Fredy Hurtado, A.Mosquera, Nelson Rivas, Wilman Conde; Oscar Díaz (Jorge Díaz 55'), Hernando Patiño (Asprilla, 52'); Alvaro Domínguez, Tressor Morenos; Carlos Castillo, Julián Téllez (Trujillo, 71').

RIVER PLATE: Germán Lux; Ariel Garcé, Horacio Ameli, Eduardo Tuzzio, Ricardo Rojas; Javier Mascherano, Claudio Husain, Luis González (Rubens Sambueza, 83'); Marcelo Gallardo (Eduardo Coudet, 70'); Maximiliano López, Fernando Cavenaghi (José Maria Sand, 75').

GOALS: 1-0, Hurtado (13'); 1-1, Gallardo (21'); 1-2, Cavenaghi (24'); 1-2, Cavenaghi (69').

FC Porto became only the second side to win the UEFA Cup and the European Champion Clubs' Cup in successive seasons when they carried off the continent's premier club prize for the second time in their history.

Proud history
Seventeen years on from their 2-1 victory against FC Bayern München in the old European Cup final, goals by Carlos Alberto - the third youngest player ever to score in the final - and then Deco and Dmitri Alenichev in the second half wrote another proud chapter in their history. For Monaco, an early injury to their captain Ludovic Giuly hampered their progress and made it an uphill battle, one they inevitably lost.

Midfield reinforcement
Didier Deschamps bolstered his midfield with the inclusion of Edouard Cissé rather than Croatian striker Dado Pršo, while Hugo Ibarra was given the chance to face his former club in place of Sébastien Squillaci, with Gaël Givet moving into central defence alongside Julien Rodriguez. For Porto, the 19-year-old Carlos Alberto got the nod to partner fellow Brazilian Derlei in attack, ahead of South African Benni McCarthy.

Giuly threat
Following much pre-match speculation, Monaco captain Giuly took up a central attacking position from the start, and four times in the opening three minutes his pace nearly caught Porto cold. On three occasions the experience of his opposite number Jorge Costa was just enough to keep him at bay as he darted through, but once, from Lucas Bernardi's searching pass, Vítor Baía had to race from his goalline to effect a risky last-ditch tackle.

Grateful for Givet
Porto responded and Monaco were grateful for Givet's composure, first when he cleared a low cross after a jinking left-wing run by Carlos Alberto; then when he blocked Deco's shot following Flavio Roma's weak punch; and finally when he arrived in the nick of time as Rodriguez struggled to hold off Derlei as the striker chased a high ball forward.

Monaco momentum
But Giuly now came into his own as a playmaker with some deft touches on the edge of the Porto area, setting up Cissé whose cross was tantalisingly out of reach of Bernardi's outstretched leg, then providing Jérôme Rothen with a chance to cross from the other flank but this time Fernando Morientes was just out of range.

Enforced change
Sadly for Monaco, it was to be nothing more than a cameo from their captain as, after just 22 minutes he limped out of the game clutching his midriff, handing the armband to Rodriguez and being replaced by Pršo. Undeterred, Monaco kept their momentum and Nuno Valente became the first player to be booked after a clumsy foul on Cissé, then Morientes was adjudged offside from another astute pass from Bernardi.

Carlos Alberto strikes
The pendulum swung Porto's way when Rothen lost possession to Paulo Ferreira who charged up the right flank and crossed to the near post where Rodriguez just beat Deco to the ball. Five minutes later though Porto took the lead from the same source. This time Paulo Ferreira's cross was a lofted one and it found Carlos Alberto. Unselfishly, he tried to lay the ball off to Derlei but the ball bounced back to the teenager off the hapless Akis Zikos and this time it was despatched with aplomb past Roma's left hand.



Meek Monaco
Up to that point, five minutes from the interval, there had been little to choose between the teams, but in the opening period of the second half Monaco looked shell-shocked, a goal down and minus the inspirational Giuly. Gradually however they crept back into contention as Porto failed to capitalise and only another marginal offside verdict denied Morientes an equaliser.

Tactical changes
On the hour Porto coach José Mourinho withdrew Carlos Alberto in favour of Russian midfield player Alenichev, and four minutes later Deschamps brought on his Congolese striker Shabani Nonda in place of Cissé as Monaco threw caution to the wind.

Deco delight
But as their forays began to founder on the edge of the Porto area, the chance of a decisive counterattack grew more likely. And so it happened when, in the 71st minute, Deco broke clear and found Alenichev on the left. The Russian put the ball straight back into the playmaker's path and Deco stroked home Porto's second.

Resounding finish
Four minutes later the game was as good as over. This time it was Derlei who broke free, and he found Alenichev courtesy of a cross that deflected off Squillaci, by now on for Givet. Alenichev needed no second invitation as he drove the third nail in Monaco's coffin.



Source: uefa.com

Tough tests for Iceland

Iceland have named their squad for a international tournament starting later this month against England and Japan in Manchester.

The two friendlies against the 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosts Japan on 30 May and the UEFA EURO 2004 finalists England on 5 June will serve as warm-ups for the start of 2006 World Cup qualifying later this year. "It is an important part of our preparation," coach Ásgeir Sigurvinsson said. "England and Japan are tough opponents but we will do our best to get satisfying results."

Here's the squad selected for the matches: Arason, Finnbogason, Hreidarsson, Marteinsson (in picture), Helgason, Ingimarsson, Jónsson, K O Sigurdsson, Gretarsson, T Gudjónsson, B B Gunnarsson, J K Gudjónsson, Sigurdsson, B Gudjónsson, J Gudmundsson, H Sigurdsson, T Gudmundsson, Gudjohnsen, Helguson, Baldvinsson.

Premier Division: Days 2 and 3

Second draw for ÍA Akranes at home, as this weekend's game against Grindavik ended with both teams being unable to score. Meanwhile, last night's game at Fram gave Akranes their first win of the season, with a 2-0 victory at the Laugardalsvollur. With 5 points from 3 matches, Akranes reaches second place and waits for the results of the other four games, to be played next thursday.


Sources: Knattspyrnufélag ÍA, uefa.com.

Belgian champions RSC Anderlecht have signed midfield player Fabrice Ehret from RC Strasbourg.

German competition
The 24-year-old left winger has signed a two-year contract with the option of a further two years if all goes well. The Belgian side beat off competition from German sides DSC Arminia Bielefeld and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, both of whom were reportedly keen to sign the player.

Broos excited
"Ehret might become the new [Christian] Wilhelmsson," said coach Hugo Broos of the club's Swedish international. "He was also unknown when we first signed him. He is a player who can control the whole left flank and also is strong in attack."

French national
The midfield player was born in Switzerland but took French nationality. This season he has played 27 games in Ligue 1 for Strasbourg, scoring two goals in the process. He also received six yellow cards and two red ones.

Source: Uefa.com

As previously announced by Football United Marseille defender Daniel Van Buyten is on the verge of joining German outfit Hamburg for £3m.

The Belgian international had been targeted by Manchester City after a successful loan spell at the City of Manchester stadium.

However, Kevin Keegan's side were unable to find the cash to make their move, which allowed Hamburg to swoop for the big centre-back.

Source: Soccerage

By the mid-1920s Greek football had developed to the point where Athens and Thessaloniki had teams to be proud of, leaving Piraeus, a city often overlooked as merely being the port area of Athens, in the shade once again.

Public approval
The response from Piraeus came on 10 Marcy 1925, when a group led by Michalis Manouskos founded Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Pireos (literally, the Olympiacos club of Piraeus supporters). The club immediately caught the attention of the locals, with the team filling the Piraeus Velodrome (now the Karaiskakis stadium) despite the fact that their fans came mostly from poor families of workers or sailors.

The Andrianopoulos brothers
The stars of the day were the Andrianopoulos brothers - Giannis, Dinos, Giorgos, Vassilis and Leonidas - who were behind the side's early successes. A first league title came in the 1930/31 season, and from then on the Red and Whites developed the winning habit which has turned them into Greece's best-supported team.

Six in a row
The second world war prefaced a golden era in the late 1940s and 1950s, as Olympiacos collected nine league championships and eight Greek Cups. With key performers such as Andreas Mouratis, Elias Rossidis, Thanassis Bebis, Elias Yfantis, Kostas Polychroniou, Giorgos Darivas and Savas Theodoridis, they won six consecutive titles from 1954-59. But even in the lean years, the club remained the team everyone wanted to beat.

Century of goals
Another glorious chapter began to unfold in 1972, after Nikos Goulandris became president. He appointed Lakis Petropoulos as coach and signed star players Giorgos Delikaris, Yves Triantafyllos, Julio Losada, Milton Viera and Dimitris Persidis. The highlight for that side was the 1973/74 season, when Olympiacos won the league with a record tally of points (59) and of goals (102). It was a question, not of whether they would win, but of how many they would score.

Dismal decade
Olympiacos then lived their darkest days between the mid-1980s and mid-90s. The club's shares passed from one businessman of dubious background, Giorgos Koskotas, to another, Argyris Saliarelis; both would be imprisoned while Olympiacos fell into debt. On the pitch, the team went ten years without a league title from 1987-97.

Back on track
The situation improved after Socrates Kokkalis took over Olympiacos's shares of in 1993, having agreed a settlement of the club's debts with the Greek government. Kokkalis slowly resurrected the team, his most significant step being to hire Dusan Bajevic as coach in the summer of 1996. Ever since, Olympiacos have been Greek champions - even after Bajevic left in 1999.

European envy
For all their domestic success, though, Olympiacos are yet to impress in Europe. The mere thought that arch-rivals Panathinaikos FC have a stronger record in UEFA club competition (having played in one European Champion Clubs' Cup final and three European Cup or UEFA Champions League semi-finals), makes them desperate for glory on the continental stage.

Quarter-finalists
Olympiacos's best moments at this level came with appearances in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals - where they lost to Club Atlético de Madrid - and in the last eight of the 1998/99 Champions League, when Juventus FC beat them.

New stadium
The club's supporters hope their much-anticipated return, in autumn 2004, to the Karaiskakis stadium, which has been rebuilt for the 2004 Olympics, will be the catalyst for improved fortunes in Europe. Certainly, a new ground has been one of only two gaps in the CV of one of the continent's most-titled clubs.

League championships: 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.

Greek Cups: 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1990, 1992, 1999.

Source: Uefa.com

According to a number of Greek newspaper reports, Olympiakos are about to sign Brazilian World Cup winner Roque Junior.

The 28-year-old defender, belongs to Milan and was on loan to Siena, but matters for the Piraeus club are further complicated with the news that Greek giants Panathinaikos have also made an approach for the Brazilian, as Amstel Beer on their website amstel.gr reported on Sunday.

Both clubs Panathinaikos, will represent Greece in next season's Champions League, together with PAOK Thessaloniki.

Source: Soccerage

Graeme Souness has revealed that Henrik Larsson turned down a move to Blackburn - because he's got his heart set on a move to somewhere sunny.

The Swede ended seven prolific years with Celtic on Saturday, but is yet to decide where he wants to play next season.

Souness told the Express: "It would have been a fantastic signing for us. But Henrik told me he wanted to go somewhere it was sunny." Knowing the interest of SL benfica, that might means that Larsson might come this summer to Portugal to stay.

Source: Soccerage

Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz has left Real Madrid CF after just one season in charge with former Spain coach José Antonio Camacho confirmed as his replacement.

Strong ties
Club president Florentino Pérez said of Camacho, who made over 500 appearances for Madrid between 1974 and 1989: "Camacho has always been in the hearts of everyone at the club and 'madridismo' itself."

No silverware
He takes over from Queiroz, who arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu in June 2003, succeeding Vicente del Bosque. However, the Portuguese has been unable to steer the club to any silverware and Madrid's directors decided to replace him with a year to run on his contract after the Merengues' season fell apart in the spring.

Champions League exit
After their Copa del Rey final defeat by Real Zaragoza in March, Madrid exited the UEFA Champions League in the quarter-finals, beaten by AS Monaco FC and - to be precise - the goals of one of their own, on-loan striker Fernando Morientes.

Form collapsed
Since then their league form has collapsed and Madrid's club-record fifth straight defeat against Real Sociedad de Fútbol yesterday meant that they ended the season in fourth place, missing out on automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League. Now that they must enter the tournament's third qualifying round, Madrid may be forced to cancel a lucrative summer tour of Asia.

Two-year contract
Camacho will be unveiled to the press tomorrow having agreed a two-year deal. The 48-year-old was in charge of Spain at UEFA EURO 2000™ and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and last week won his first trophy as a coach when he led SL Benfica to victory over FC Porto in the Portuguese Cup final. He had yet to renew his one-year contract with the Lisbon club.

'Lack of success'
Pérez said: "It has not been a good year for us and that is something that really hurts us. Real Madrid have always been a successful club and the lack of success this season has left us without an option but to announce that Carlos Queiroz will not continue [as coach] and from Tuesday, José Antonio Camacho will be the new coach."

Source: Uefa.com

ATHLETIC: Lafuente; Javi González, Murillo, Prieto, Larrazabal (Felipe, 62'); Bordas, Orbaiz; Iraola, Guerrero (Yeste, 79'), Arriaga; Urzaiz (Ezquerro, 68').

ATLÉTICO: Aragoneses; Novo (Simeone, 88'), García Calvo, Lequi, Sergi; Aguilera, De Los Santos (Jorge, 91'), Ibagaza, Nano (Musampa, 87'); Paunovic, Torres.

Goles: 1-0, Iraola (19'); 1-1, Ibagaza (25'); 1-2, De los Santos (32'); 1-3, Torres (34'); 2-3, Arriaga (53'); 2-4, Torres (84'); 3-4, Arriagam (89').

Germany coach Rudi Völler has named 22 of his 23 players for UEFA EURO 2004™ - leaving one squad place to be filled by an Under-21 international.

Leading contenders
The leading contenders for the final berth appear to be 18-year-old 1. FC Köln forward Lukas Podolski and FC Bayern München's 19-year-old midfield player Bastian Schweinsteiger. Völler will announce his decision on 2 June at the conclusion of the group stage of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Neuville left out
Völler has also left forward Oliver Neuville out of his squad. The 31-year-old, who today left Bayer 04 Leverkusen for VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach on a free transfer, found it hard to hold down a first-team place this season. He loses out to Hannover 96 striker Thomas Brdaric, whose 12 goals helped save his club from relegation.

Preparations begin
Germany will start their preparations for Portugal on Tuesday, when they meet in Winden in the Black Forest. Their opening game of the tournament is against Group D rivals the Netherlands in Porto on 15 June.

Germany squad

Goalkeepers
Oliver Kahn (FC Bayern München)
Jens Lehmann (Arsenal FC)
Timo Hildebrand (VfB Stuttgart)

Defenders
Frank Baumann (SV Werder Bremen)
Arne Friedrich (Hertha BSC Berlin)
Andreas Hinkel (VfB Stuttgart)
Philipp Lahm (VfB Stuttgart)
Jens Nowotny (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Christian Rahn (Hamburger SV)
Christian Wörns (BV Borussia Dortmund)

Midfielders
Michael Ballack (FC Bayern München)
Fabian Ernst (SV Werder Bremen)
Paul Freier (VfL Bochum 1848)
Torsten Frings (BV Borussia Dortmund)
Dietmar Hamann (Liverpool FC)
Jens Jeremies (FC Bayern München)
Sebastian Kehl (BV Borussia Dortmund)
Bernd Schneider (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)

Forwards
Fredi Bobic (Hertha BSC Berlin)
Thomas Brdaric (Hannover 96)
Miroslav Klose (1. FC Kaiserslautern)
Kevin Kuranyi (VfB Stuttgart)

Source: uefa.com

Under heavy rain, River Plate was unable to achive more than a point against Chacarita Juniors. The conditions forced the players to try long balls, and none of the teams played a good match. Despite the draw, River is now two points clear of Boca Juniors, that lost at Quilmes, 2-0.

River: Germán Lux; Barzola, Cristian Nasuti, Cristian Tula, Juan Fernández (Daniel Ludueña, 66'); Gabriel Pereyra, Claudio Husain, Rubens Sambueza; Montenegro; Nelson Cuevas, José Sand (Fernando Cavenaghi 62'). DT: Leonardo Astrada.

Chacarita: Leo Fernández; Iván Furios, Sebastián Pena, Claudio Arzeno, Mariano Mignini; Diego Rivero, Luciano Precone, Jorge Casanova, Carlos Moreno; Mauricio Piersimone (Unycio, 69'), Claudio Graf (Ojeda, 86'). DT: Enrique Borrelli.

Botafogo continues without any victories in the championship, and yesterday, once again, lost the lead against Figueirense to achieve yet another draw.

BOTAFOGO: Max, Ruy, Sandro, João Carlos e Daniel; Fernando, Carlos Alberto (Têti), Valdo e Camacho (Fábio); Almir, Luizão.

FIGUEIRENSE: Édson Bastos, Paulo Sérgio, Márcio Goiano, Cléber e Filipe; Jeovânio, Bilu, Sérgio Manoel e Nenê (Everton); Izaias (Eloy), Rodrigo (Marlon).

GOALS: 1-0, Luizão (39'); 1-1, Izaias (48').

The season is over in Europe. Time to see what are the FU Teams that will represent us in the European Competitions Next Season.

Champions League - AC Milan, PSG, Olympiacos

Champions League Qualifying Round 3 - Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Inter, Anderlecht, Fenerbahce*

Uefa Cup - Sporting, SC Braga, FC Utrecht, Athletic Bilbau

Intertoto - Hamburg

* Fenerbahce can still go directly to the Champions League is FC Porto win the match agains Monaco next wednesday

PSG were indebted to Pedro Pauleta, whose solitary 52nd-minute goal away against SC Bastia ensured the capital club of a place in next season's UEFA Champions League, a competition they have not graced since 2000/01. Champions League finalists Monaco finished third and will be forced to go through qualifying for next season's competition unless they defeat FC Porto in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday.

Bastia : Penneteau - F. Mendy, Hilton, Yahia, Chimbonda - Hadji, Cauet (Gourvennec, 80e), Diarra - Ben Saada, Maurice, Ogbeche. Entr. : Gili.

PSG : Letizi - Heinze, Mendy, Pierre-Fanfan, Déhu - M'Bami, Sorin, Cana, Fiorèse (El Karkouri, 80e) - Ljuboja (Rocchi, 74e), Reinaldo (Pauleta, 36e). Entr. : Halilhodzic.

Goal(s) : Pauleta (52e)

For the third time in history FC Utrecht have won the Amstel Cup. In a mediocre final the Utrecht outfit beat FC Twente 1-0. A goal from Dave van den Bergh after 66 minutes was enough to take the cup back to Utrecht. It was Utrecht's second win (and third final) in a row. Last year they beat Feyenoord in a spectacular match 4-1.

Both teams were nervous from the start. Utrecht were far from being the side that upset Feyenoord in last years Cup Final, while FC Twente weren't their normal selves either. Especially in the first half there was not much to enjoy for the fans. Both teams had come to Rotterdam to win, but once the game had started they had more eye for each other than for the ball and chances were very scarce.

In the second half things were not much different at first. Utrecht were the slightly better side, but - like FC Twente - they didn't create any chances. Meanwhile frustration and confrontations on the pitch only added to the irritation. This irritation came to an outburst, when the first shot on goal in the second half went in.

In the 66th minute it was Dave van den Bergh who broke the deadlock for Utrecht with a powerful strike. His shot from 25 yards found the net. This goal led to a lot of discussions on Twente-side. Twente claimed they had knocked the ball out of play, because Simon Cziommer was injured. Once the player was on his feet again they expected Utrecht to throw the ball back to them, but they didn't. Instead Tanghe passed the ball on to Van den Bergh, who scored.

After this goal the atmosphere on the field got even grimmer. FC Twente tried to push forward, while FC Utrecht did everything to delay the game. 15 minutes from the end Twente got a free-kick in midfield. In his hurry to get the ball Twente's Jeroen Heubach gave one of the Utrecht players a push and was sent off by referee Roelof Luinge. It was a disputable decision and one that killed the game. With ten men FC Twente were even less in a position to harm Utrecht and it was 'game over'.

For Rene Vandereycken it was a sad end to his Twente career. Next season the coach will be in charge of Belgian side RC Genk, but he had hoped to leave the club with a prize. Utrecht not only won the Amstel Cup, but also secured a ticket for next season's Uefa Cup.

FC Twente: Paauwe, Ouedraogo, Gruijic, Pothuizen, Heubach, Van der Weerden, Cziommer (Christensen/71), Polak, Ramzi (Jochemsen/81), Gakhokidze, N'Kufo

FC Utrecht: Ponk, Lamey, Schut (Keller/55), Zwaanswijk, Shew-Atjon, Broerse, Tanghe, De Jong (Zuidam/70), Van den Bergh, Leitoe (Chaiat/80), Van de Haar

Source: Soccerage

Panathinaikos FC ended Olympiacos CFP's seven-year reign as Greek champions by completing a domestic double with a 1-0 victory that relegated Paniliakos FC.

Olisadebe winner
Having seen Olympiacos dominate since their last title victory in 1995/96, a spell which included several last-day deciders, Panathinakos finally took their championship tally to 19 as just as against FC PAOK and Proofeftiki FC, Emmanuel Olisadebe came on as substitute to score the winner.

Akratitos play-off
His 76th-minute solo effort relieved the tension ten minutes after Dimitrios Papadopoulos had headed on to the post. Panaliakos join Proodeftiki in relegation, allowing Akratitos FC to survive, despite a 3-1 defeat at Halkidona FC. However, Akratitos do now take on Ergotelis FC in a play-off.

Victory in vain
Olympiacos were determined to win lest Panathinaikos, two points ahead, slipped. They did beat UEFA Cup-bound Egaleo FC 3-1, Marcin Kuzba scoring twice in the second half after Giovanni's league leading 21st goal of the season was cancelled out by Anestis Agritis. But just as Panathinaikos beat Olympiacos in the Greek Cup final, so again the recent title-monopolisers missed out.

However Olympiacos will still be playing Champions League next season.

Source: Uefa.com

HSV send Frankfurt down

Coach Toppmöller made three changes to the side which drew 0-0 in Freiburg, for the final Bundesliga match of the season in front of 52,000 in the AOL Arena this afternoon. Hollerbach came into the side for the suspended Fukal, Romeo for Takahara and Rudolfo Cardoso was allowed to play his last ever Bundesliga game from the start, meaning that David Jarolim was relegated to the bench. Frankfurt coach Reimann stuck with the side which gave the club hope of staying in the Bundesliga by beating high-flying Bochum 3-2 last time out.

Hermann steals the show

Before a ball was kicked HSV said goodbye to no less than six players. Hoogma, Cardoso, Hollerbach, Fukal, Maltritz and Starkeall said their goodbyes and were given a bunch of flowers by the club. There was however, someone who stole that show. HSV's legendary masseur Hermann Rieger is leaving the club after 26 years. The cult masseur was given a rousing sending off by the huge crowd present.

Game on

The sums were very simple for this match. HSV had secured a place in the Intertoto Cup by finishing in 8th place, Frankfurt supported by around 10,000 travelling fans, had to win to have any chance of staying in the Bundesliga. As expected, the visitors started in a perky manner. On 14 minutes Frankfurt should have taken the lead as Frommer found himself one on one with keeper Wächter. HSV's shot-stopper kept his cool and parried the shot away. Four minutes later Bernardo Romeo tried a low shot from the edge of the area which the superb Pröll saved comfortably.


Frankfurt go ahead

After 26 minutes the visitors took the lead. A fine pass by Skela found Amanatidis on the blind side of the HSV defence. Wächter had no chance this time as Amanatidis blasted a shot between the keeper's legs and into the net. The celebrations of the huge travelling contingent had hardly died down before HSV were level. Sloppy defending by frankfurt allowed Romeo a shot from just inside the area. That shot was deflected by Chris into the path of Mehdi Mahdavikia lurking at the far post. The Iranian international had no trouble pushing the ball home from close range for the HSV equaliser. Two speculative shots by first Skela (41.) and then Preuß (45.) were the only other noteworthy points before the half time break.

Taka hits a post...Sergej mops up!

Pröll between the Frankfurt posts was their best player, foiling HSV time and time again. On 57 minutes he was powerless to stop the home side take the lead. Frankfurt lost possession going forward, giving HSV the chance to counter attack. Good combination play was rounded off by a Takahara shot which was deflected onto the crossbar. Sergej Barbarez was in the right place at the right time to blast the ball high into the net from five yards out. The Bosnian striker showed no emotion as the ball hit the back of the net, probably his way of answering the stinging criticism of the home fans from the last home game against Stuttgart (2-1).

Bye bye Frankfurt

HSV had their tails up after going ahead and never let the visitors back into the game. Frankfurt seemed resigned to their fate and had very little resistance to offer after the strike by Barbarez. They now go down to the second division along with 1860 Munich who went down 1-3 in Gladbach.

HSV: Wächter - Wicky, Hoogma, Ujfalusi, Hollerbach - Schlicke - Mahdavikia, Cardoso, Beinlich - Barbarez - Romeo

Eintracht Frankfurt: Pröll - Bindewald, Puljiz, Chris, Bürger - Schur - Preuß - Lexa, Skela - Frommer, Amanatidis


Goals: 0:1 Amanatidis, 1:1 Mahdavikia, 2:1 Barbarez

Source: HSV.de

On Sunday FC Utrecht, the current cup holders, and FC Twente will battle for glory in the Amstel Cup Final. Both teams have had a mediocre year (Twente finished 8th this season, while Utrecht had to settle for 10th place), but the Amstel Cup gives them a chance to end the season on a high. By winning the cup either Utrecht or Twente will secure an Uefa Cup ticket.

For FC Utrecht it's the third year in a row they will contest the Cup Final and it's their fifth final altogether. In 1982 FC Utrecht were finalist for the first time. That year AZ Alkmaar, one of the best sides in Holland in those days, were too strong. Three years later Utrecht had more succes, when Helmond Sport was defeated (1-0). After this win in 1985 the fans had to wait a long time before they could celebrate another cup win. In 2002 Utrecht were back for their third final. In a thrilling match Utrecht lost to Ajax in extra time (3-2). One year later - last year - the Utrecht outfit had more succes when they upset Feyenoord in their own stadium De Kuip by beating them 4-1.

FC Twente also enter the final for the fifth time. The best years in the club's history date back to the seventies. In those days Twente was one of few teams in Holland that could compete with the great Ajax and Feyenoord sides. In 1975 Twente even reached the Uefa Cup final against Borussia Monchengladbach and the club also appeared in three Dutch Cup Finals. In 1975 (against FC Den Haag) and 1979 (Ajax) FC Twente were defeated, but in 1977 the cup was theirs when they recorded a 3-0 win over PEC Zwolle in extra time. Then the fans had to wait a long time before they could celebrate again. In 2001 FC Twente reached the Cup Final for the fourth time. After a scoreless match they upset PSV after a penalty shoot out.

Team news

So, both teams will try to win their third cup in history on Sunday. FC Utrecht will be without Pascal Bosschaart. The 24-year-old midfielder, who will play for Feyenoord next season, is suspended. Karim Touzani, who will leave Utrecht this summer to play for Twente (!) is injured. The same goes for Tom van Mol and Donny de Groot, who will also be absent. For Patrick Zwaanswijk it will be his last match for Utrecht. He has told the club he doesn't want to extend his contract and hopes to find a new club in England or Germany.

For Rene Vandereycken this will be the last game in charge of FC Twente. The coach will return to his home country Belgium next season to take over RC Genk. Although Twente reached the Cup Final and has played some good and spectecular games this season, he hasn't been given the credit he deserves. At Twente there are some doubts over the fitness of Swiss star Blaise N'Kufo and German youngster Peter Niemeyer. Especially N'Kufo has played a crucial role in Twente's Amstel Cup campaign. The forward left the field with an injury after 7 minutes last Sunday, but Vandereycken hopes he will be fit to play tomorrow.

Source: Soccerage

Manchester United have reportedly agreed to terms with PSG's full-back Gabriel Heinze.

The well-travelled 26-year-old, who hails from Argentina, was reportedly topping Sir Alex Ferguson short-list of players to acquire.

Heinze, who has also played for Valladolid and Sporting Lisbon, holds a French passport and will not be considered a non EU player.

He had been previously linked with a move to Chelsea (then again who hasn't), but it appears he will be playing with Man U next season.

Source: Soccerage

Aitor Larrazabal will play, next sunday, in San Mamés, his last match with Athletic's jersey, after 22 years in the club. "It will probably be the most dificult day of my career", stated the left full-back, that will be on the starting eleven, as assured by Ernesto Valverde, and will be team captain, to play his 390th match in the league, wich places him in third position in the ranking of historical Athletic players, side by side with Orue, and after Iribar and Txetxu Rojo.

Source: marca.com

Paris Saint-Germain defender Frederic Dehu is set to join Marseille, according to French daily Le Parisien.

The player has reportedly signed a two-year contract with Marseille, but has asked the two clubs to keep the deal a secret until after the French Cup final between PSG and Chateauroux on May 29.

Rubens Sanbueza's only goal gave River a slim advantage in the quarter-finals of the Libertadores. Los Millionarios didn't transform their superiority in the pitch on to the final result, and will have to work hard on the second leg, to be played in Colombia next week, if they want to go through to the semi's.

RIVER PLATE: Germán Lux; Juan Fernández, Horacio Ameli, Eduardo Tuzzio, Ricardo Rojas; Javier Mascherano, Luis González (Gabriel Pereyra, 75'), Rubens Sambueza, Marcelo Gallardo (Daniel Montenegro, 69'); Maximiliano López (José Sand, 82'), Fernando Cavenaghi.

DEPORTIVO CALI: Breiner Castillo; Freddy Hurtado, Andrés Mosquera, Nelson Rivas, Wílman Conde; Hernando "Cocho"´ Patiño, Oscar Díaz (Jimmy Asprilla, 65'), Abel Aguilar, Alvaro Domínguez (Trujillo, 46'), Malher Tressor Moreno; Carlos Castillo (Jorge Díaz, 72').

GOALS: 1-0, Rubens Sambueza (18')

Other Results

São Paulo (BRA) 3-0 Dep. Táchira (VEN)
Santos (BRA) 1-1 Once Caldas (COL)
River Plate (ARG) 1-1 Dep. Cali (COL)
São Caetano (BRA) 0-0 Boca Juniors (ARG)

This season`s consistent defender Fabio Luciano has been called up to the Brazil squad to face Catalonia.
Former Fenerbahçe boss and current Brazilian national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has called upon the services on the day Brazil play France in FIFA`s Centenary friendly.

Fabio was informed by Hakan Bilal Kutlualp in the last minute as he was about to get a transfer flight from Frankfurt back to Brazil. Fabio changed his route to Paris to join the world champions.

Source: fenerbahce.org

The Belgian national player stands very above on the wish list of the HSV. Van Buyten is 26 years old, 1.96 meters largely and 87 kilograms heavily. The right foot plays in the defense headquarters, and he got 21 caps for Belgium already.

Currently in Marseille the belgium international might join is recently signed countrymate Emile Mpenza.

Several coatchs are being linked to substitute Camacho in Benfica. In the top of the list is Scolari, currently in front of the Portuguese National Team. Also mentioned are Fernandez, Hiddink and Koemen.

But independently of the coatch, benfica wants to streight their squad for next season. The brasilians internationals from Santos, Alcides and Paulo Almeida are already signed and Yanick (french goalkeeper from Alverca), and Carlitos (attacking midefielder from Estoril) are very close of signing a deal with the Eagles.

Beside this players Benfica want more 5 players with international reputation: a goalkeeper, a defender center, a left defender, an attacking midfielder and a striker.

According to the journal "A Bola" the choise to the defender center goes to Fernando Couto and the prefered Attacking Midfielder is Alex, from Cruzeiro (already linked to Benfica since the Winter Break, as FU previous announced). To the attack the press is linking Larsson, the swedish star, and the brasilian Amoroso.

GoalKeepers: Aranzubía, Cañizares e Casillas.

Defenders: Raúl Bravo, Gabri, Juanito, Helguera, Marchena, César, Puyol e Michel Salgado.

Midfielders: Albelda, Xabi Alonso, Baraja, Joaquín, Valerón, Xavi e Vicente.

Strikers: Raúl, Luque, Morientes, Fernado Torres e Etxeberria.

Boca Juniors board is being investigated for a ticket falsification scandal. In the last weekend superclasico between Boca Juniors and River Plate, hundreds of fans, with tickets bought in the Boca ticket offices, were not allowed to enter La Bombonera, as the capacity of the stadium had already been exceeded.

The secretary of the club, Luis Buzio, was taken into custody by the authorities, for questioning (later to be realeased), suspected of leading the falsification scheme. Five Boca Juniors fans and three employees are still in custody.

The president of the club, Mauricio Macri, later admited that at least three tousand tickets were falsified, but had no doubts to state that "the general secretary has nothing to do with the scandal".

The Comitte for Security of the province of Buenos Aires is analysing the police investigations, in order to issue a punishment to the club, that might involve the interdiction of La Bombonera for the rest of the season, for domestic and international venues.

Meanwhile, the board of Boca Juniors has announced that, if the club is not allowed to play the home matches in La Bombonera, they will withdraw for the Copa Libertadores. They stated hat "if our home is interdicted for the next matches, our decision to leave the Libertadores will be irreversible".

The team is currently in Brazil, where they will face São Caetano for the first leg of the quarter-finals of The Copa Libertadores.

Mari Lacruz has been out through an MRI scan in wich an anterior cruciate ligament rupture of his right knee has been detected. He will be undergoing surgery and is expected to be out for a period of 6 months.

source: athletic-club.net

Former Botafogo and Brazil player in the early 90's, Mauro Galvão is as of today the new coah for the Alvinegros. Galvão was in the Botafogo team that won the Brazilian Championship in 1989 with no defeats. He also won the Copa America 1990 and played in the World Cup in Italy, for the national team, as a defender.

Mauro Galvão's task is to take Botafogo out of the bottom positions of the league. "The most important is to have tranquility. We have more than 40 games left, and there is still time to recover. It's like a new championship, but there has to be a stronger bond between the team and fans" he stated in the press conference.

Meanwhile Botafogo has signed former Cruzeiro striker Schwenck. The 25 yearl old left the current champions recently, and joins Bota on a free transfer. Schwenck has already played for clubs like Juventus SP, Bragantino, América and Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). When he performed for Juventus, he paired in attack with Alex Alves, exactly the player he will be replacing in the team. Alex Alves will be away for at least six months, with an injury in his right knee.

Rui Neves, historical Estrela da Amadora defender, has decided to end his carrer at the age of 34. Having played in the Amadora club for the most of the time, Rui Neves will now coach the youth levels of the club. This is the way the board found to keep one of the symbol players linked to the club, and present an example to the future stars of the team.

Meanwhile, Pedro Simões will remain at the club, after signing a contract that links him to the Tricolores for two more years.

Valencia CF capped a wonderful season and bridged a 24-year gap since their last European success as they overwhelmed ten-man Olympique de Marseille in Gothenburg to add the UEFA Cup to their Primera División success.

Barthez dismissed
The Spanish club thus made it third time lucky after losing in the 2000 and 2001 UEFA Champions League finals, with goals from Vicente Rodríguez and Mista sealing a well-deserved victory over a Marseille side which had French international goalkeeper Fabien Barthez sent off on the stroke of half-time.

Drogba passed fit
The team news brought relief for Marseille with Didier Drogba, this season's scoring sensation in European competition, passed fit to play after recovering from a hip injury. Valencia coach Rafael Benítez felt confident enough to omit playmaker Pablo Aimar with Miguel Angel Angulo and free-scoring Mista paired in attack.

Howling wind
Drogba was in the action early, sent tumbling by a heavy Roberto Ayala challenge in the first two minutes and Carlos Marchena was forced into a last-ditch clearance from the resultant free-kick. But the match action was initially surprisingly muted, with the howling wind precluding constructive football.

Marlet chance
Valencia suddenly sprung to life after six minutes with Mista's blocked shot followed by an excellent Barthez save from David Albelda's deflected effort. Marseille were chasing shadows for an extended period with Steve Marlet's booking on nine minutes a product of their frustration. However, the French side weathered that storm and fashioned their first real chance after 16 minutes, but Marlet's diving header from Camel Meriem's cross flew over the bar.

Beye miss
Minutes later Meriem should have done better when found by the increasingly menacing Drogba, but he shot harmlessly wide from the edge of the box. Marseille were now in the ascendancy and a third good chance went begging midway through the half when Habib Beye headed wide from another free-kick won by Drogba's trickery.

Turning point
With Albelda and especially Rubén Baraja back on top in midfield, Valencia regained the initiative but Barthez's goal was not threatened until the fateful final 30 seconds. A Curro Torres cross evaded Beye at the far post and Mista feinted around the French goalkeeper only to be brought to the ground.

Barthez dismissed
Referee Pierluigi Collina was on the spot straight away. The two most famous bald pates in world football went head to head and Barthez was sent off with a penalty awarded. After a lengthy delay Jéremy Gavanon came in to take his place with Meriem sacrificed, but the substitute goalkeeper had no chance with the penalty, which was converted by Vicente in the last act of an intriguing first half.

Mista magic
The break brought only brief respite for Marseille as the recently-crowned Spanish champions exploited their numerical advantage at the start of the second half. After 13 minutes of almost total possession, Valencia doubled their lead. A slick move stretched the Marseille rearguard to breaking point and after Vicente cut the ball in perfectly from the left, Mista showed the confidence of a striker at the top of his game to rifle in his fifth goal of this season's competition.

Aimar introduction
Marseille heads dropped as the enormity of their task dawned on them and their shattered morale was hardly helped by the introduction of Aimar for Rufete after 64 minutes. However, the French side threw off their shackles minutes later with Drogba the inevitable inspiration. The Ivory Coast international stung Santiago Cañizares' fingers with a fiercely struck free-kick before coming within centimetres of playing through Marlet.

N'Diaye denied
Despite being under pressure, as long as a third goal eluded the Spanish side, Marseille retained a sliver of hope and Sylvain N'Diaye almost brought Anigo's side back into the game after 80 minutes but his fierce shot was well saved by Cañizares.

Overdue triumph
Entertainment if not excitement ensued in the final minutes: a sublime Aimar pass, a snake-hipped Drogba turn and a crushing Marchena tackle made up one typical passage of play. But bucking recent competition history, there was to be no dramatic denouement in this decider as Benítez's gifted side comfortably secured an overdue European triumph.

Stadium Ullevi: 40.000 spectators.

VALENCIA: Cañizares, Curro Torres, Ayala, Marchena, Carboni, Albelda, Baraja, Rufete (Aimar, 63)', Carboni, Angulo (Sissoko, 82'), Mista.

MARSEILLE: Barthez, Ferreira, Beye, Hemdani, Meite, Dos Santos, N'Diaye, Flamini, Marlet, Meriem (Gavanon (gk), 45'), Drogba.

GOALS:1-0, Vicente, pen. (47'); 2-0, Mista (57').

Source: uefa.com, marca.com

Filippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino have been omitted from Italy's provisional 23-man squad for UEFA EURO 2004™.

Squad announcement
Inzaghi and Gilardino, scorer of 23 league goals for Parma AC this season, were excluded from the list announced by coach Giovanni Trapattoni today, along with another attacker Fabrizio Miccoli.

Still a chance
Inzaghi of AC Milan may yet be named in the Azzurri's final squad on 2 June if he can prove his fitness after ankle surgery last month, but the 22-year-old Gilardino now seems likely to play for Italy at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship later this month.

Training schedule
Trapattoni's squad will assemble at a pre-tournament training camp in Coverciano on 24 May before playing African champions Tunisia on 30 May in their final warm-up game. They kick off their EURO 2004™ campaign against Denmark in Guimarães on 14 June.

Italy squad

Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus FC)
Francesco Toldo (Internazionale FC)
Angelo Peruzzi (S.S. Lazio)

Defenders
Christian Panucci (AS Roma)
Massimo Oddo (S.S. Lazio)
Fabio Cannavaro (Internazionale FC)
Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan)
Matteo Ferrari (AC Parma)
Marco Materazzi (Internazionale FC)
Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus FC)
Giuseppe Favalli (S.S. Lazio)

Midfielders
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan)
Simone Perrotta (AC Chievo Verona)
Cristiano Zanetti (Internazionale FC)
Stefano Fiore (S.S. Lazio)
Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus FC)

Forwards
Marco Di Vaio (Juventus FC)
Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus FC)
Antonio Cassano (AS Roma)
Francesco Totti (AS Roma)
Bernardo Corradi (S.S. Lazio)
Christian Vieri (Internazionale FC)

Source: uefa.com

Denmark coach Morten Olsen had a surprise up his sleeve when he announced his squad for UEFA EURO 2004™ today. Olsen revealed only 21 names from the 23-man party, allowing time for PSV Eindhoven's Kasper Bøgelund and Peter Løvenkrands of Rangers FC to prove their fitness and complete the squad.

Press conference
Speaking at a press conference at the Parken stadium, Olsen promised a final decision next week. "I made this decision a couple of weeks ago, as there are a couple of players I want to check on a little bit more. I am going to announce the two last players some time next week," he said.

Duo recovering quickly
Although Olsen did not comment directly on who would fill the two vacant positions, his decision was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that both Bøgelund and Løvenkrands are recovering more quickly than expected from respective hamstring and knee problems.

Additional option
Neither player has featured in any of Denmark's warm-up matches but there is no doubt that a fit Bøgelund would provide useful back-up in both defence and midfield, while Løvenkrands would give Olsen an additional option on the left wing.
Denmark squad

Goalkeepers
1 Thomas Sørensen (Aston Villa FC)
16 Peter Skov-Jensen (FC Midtjylland)
22 Stephan Andersen (Akademisk Boldklub)

Defenders
3 René Henriksen (Panathinaikos FC)
4 Martin Laursen (AC Milan)
5 Niclas Jensen (BV Borussia Dortmund)
6 Thomas Helveg (FC Internazionale)
13 Per Krøldrup (Udinese Calcio)
18 Brian Priske (KRC Genk)

Midfielders
2 Morten Wieghorst (Brøndby IF)
7 Thomas Gravesen (Everton FC)
14 Claus Jensen (Charlton Athletic FC)
15 Daniel Jensen (Real Murcia CF)
17 Christian Poulsen (FC Schalke 04)

Forwards
8 Jesper Grønkjær (Chelsea FC)
9 Jon Dahl Tomasson (AC Milan)
10 Martin Jørgensen (Udinese Calcio)
11 Ebbe Sand (FC Schalke 04)
19 Dennis Rommedahl (PSV Eindhoven)
21 Peter Madsen (VfL Bochum)
20 Kenneth Perez (AZ Alkmaar)

Source: uefa.com

Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov has named an experienced 23-man squad for UEFA EURO 2004™ but has also given youth a chance.

Bojinov chance
The most notable name in Markov's list is the 18-year-old US Lecce striker Valeri Bojinov, who has impressed at Under-21 level. Celtic FC midfield player Stilian Petrov will captain the side, which does not include Charlton Athletic FC defender Radostin Kishishev despite speculation about him coming out of retirement. Instead, PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv right-back Vladimir Ivanov retains his place after performing well against Cameroon last month.

High hopes
"Valeri Bojinov has started to show his qualities at US Lecce. He is young and one for the future," said Markov. "I have taken some hard decisions. There is always pressure on me."

Kamburov out
Another absentee is PFC CSKA Sofia captain Todor Yanchev although he had been a regular member of the squad during the qualifying campaign while domestic top scorer Martin Kamburov, of Loko Plovdiv, has not been named. However, Georgi Chilikov is included after some encouraging recent displays. "Martin Kamburov and Georgi Chilikov are different types of players," Markov said. "There has never been a dilemma for me about them."

Contract expiring
Injury has kept out Portsmouth FC forward Svetoslav Todorov as he requires further surgery on his injured knee. Markov added that a decision would be made soon on his long-term plans. "My contract with Bulgarian Football Union is due to expire on 30 June and my future will be sorted out after EURO 2004," he said.

Bulgaria squad

Goalkeepers
Zdravko Zdravkov (PFC Litex Lovech)
Dimitar Ivankov (PFC Levski Sofia)
Stoyan Kolev (PFC CSKA Sofia)

Defenders
Vladimir Ivanov (PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv)
Rosen Kirilov (PFC Litex Lovech)
Kiril Kotev (PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv)
Ivailo Petkov (Fenerbahçe SK))
Predrag Pazin (FC Shakhtar Donetsk)
Ilian Stoyanov (PFC Levski Sofia)
Zlatomir Zagorcic (PFC Litex Lovech)

Midfielders
Daniel Borimirov (Levski Sofia)
Velizar Dimitrov (PFC CSKA Sofia)
Marian Hristov (1. FC Kaiserslautern)
Martin Petrov (VfL Wolfsburg)
Stilian Petrov (Celtic FC)
Georgi Peev (FC Dynamo Kyiv)
Milen Petkov (AEK Athens FC)

Forwards
Dimitar Berbatov (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Valeri Bojinov (US Lecce)
Georgi Chilikov (PFC Levski Sofia)
Zoran Jankovic (Dalian Shide)
Zdravko Lazarov (Gaziantepspor)
Vladimir Manchev (Lille OSC)

Source: uefa.com

The deadline for naming UEFA EURO 2004™ squads may be 2 June but, almost a month in advance, Sweden have already announced their provisional 23-man party for the finals.

Question mark
The return of Henrik Larsson has already generated much discussion in Sweden, so the main talking point today was the question mark against three players - Michael Svensson, Johan Mjällby and Marcus Allbäck - named in the party but whose places are dependent on their proving their fitness.

'Must be sure'
"We know what Allbäck, Svensson and Mjällby are capable off, but all of them have been injured and we want to be sure that they're fully fit," said co-coach Lars Lagerbäck. Svensson, who plays for Southampton FC, will not feature again in the Premiership this season because of a knee problem, on which he is currently having tests. Lagerbäck said: "Svensson is definitely in our minds, but we must be sure that he's fully fit before including him."

Portugal-based Anders Andersson - who is on loan at CF Os Belenenses from SL Benfica - was also included

Goalkeepers
Andreas Isaksson (Djurgårdens IF)
Magnus Hedman (Ancona Calcio)
Magnus Kihlstedt (FC København)

Defenders
Petter Hansson (SCHeerenveen)
Andreas Jakobsson (Brøndby IF)
Teddy Lucic (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Erik Edman (SC Heerenveen)
Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa FC)
Erik Wahlstedt (Helsingborgs IF)
Johan Mjällby (Celtic FC)
Michael Svensson (Southampton FC)

Midfielders
Pontus Farnerud (RC Strasbourg)
Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal FC)
Anders Svensson (Southampton FC)
Mikael Nilsson (Halmstads BK)
Kim Källström (Stade Rennais FC)
Anders Andersson (SL Benfica)
Tobias Linderoth (Everton FC)
Christian Wilhelmsson (RSC Anderlecht)

Forwards
Henrik Larsson (Celtic FC)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AFC Ajax)
Mattias Jonson (Brøndby IF)
Marcus Allbäck (Aston Villa FC)

source: uefa.com

Ledley King of Tottenham Hotspur FC and Jamie Carragher of Liverpool FC were named in the England squad for UEFA EURO 2004™ today as Sven-Göran Eriksson sought cover for his defensive absentees. Otherwise the coach has chosen those players who have been regulars in his team for the past two years.

Defoe excluded
With Eriksson deciding to take just four strikers to Portugal there is no place for Jermain Defoe who impressed on his debut against Sweden in March and whose goalscoring form for Tottenham had won him support. Like Gareth Southgate, who would almost certainly have been included in the 23-man squad had he not encountered injury problems, Defoe is listed among six stand-by players.

Cole chance
In midfield, Joe Cole is preferred to his Chelsea FC team-mate Scott Parker. There is no place for Manchester United FC's talented young defender Wes Brown while the third goalkeeping berth goes to Leicester City FC's Ian Walker.

Still a chance
Eriksson said that with the final deadline for squad announcements coming on 2 June, Middlesbrough FC captain Southgate also had the opportunity to prove his fitness after a knee injury but added: "I don't think we will change it at all but we do have the chance to do so."

England squad

Goalkeepers
David James (Manchester City FC)
Paul Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur FC)
Ian Walker (Leicester City FC)

Defenders
Gary Neville (Manchester United FC)
Phillip Neville (Manchester United FC)
Wayne Bridge (Chelsea FC)
Ashley Cole (Arsenal FC)
Sol Campbell (Arsenal FC)
John Terry (Chelsea FC)
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool FC)
Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur FC)

Midfielders
Nicky Butt (Manchester United FC)
Kieron Dyer (Newcastle United FC)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea FC)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC)
Paul Scholes (Manchester United FC)
David Beckham (Real Madrid CF)
Owen Hargreaves (FC Bayern München)
Joe Cole (Chelsea FC)

Forwards
Michael Owen (Liverpool FC)
Emile Heskey (Liverpool FC)
Wayne Rooney (Everton FC)
Darius Vassell (Aston Villa FC)

source: uefa.com

Ludovic Giuly and Jérôme Rothen have been rewarded for helping AS Monaco FC reach the UEFA Champions League final with places in France's UEFA EURO 2004™ squad.

Deadline day
The attacking duo were named in Jacques Santini's provisional 23-man selection for this summer's finals in Portugal. However, Olympique Lyonnais strikers Sidney Govou and Péguy Luyindula were both omitted, meaning goalkeeper Grégory Coupet is the only Ligue 1 winner included. Chelsea FC defender Marcel Desailly will be team captain.

Famous names
The squad includes nine players who were involved in the 1998 FIFA World Cup triumph (Fabien Barthez, Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu, Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet) and ten who took the trophy at UEFA EURO 2000

Reserve list
Ten players have been placed on a reserve list in the event that one of Santini's first-choice players is forced to withdraw. These are goalkeeper Ulrich Ramé; defenders Patrice Evra, Bernard Mendy, Philippe Mexès and Sébastien Squillaci; midfielders Ousmane Dabo, Olivier Kapo and Johan Micoud; and Govou and Luyindula.

France squad

Goalkeepers
Fabien Barthez (Olympique de Marseille)
Grégory Coupet (Olympique Lyonnais)
Mickaël Landreau (FC Nantes Atlantique)

Defenders
Jean-Alain Boumsong (AJ Auxerre)
Marcel Desailly (Chelsea FC)
William Gallas (Chelsea FC)
Bixente Lizarazu (FC Bayern München)
Willy Sagnol (FC Bayern München)
Mikaël Silvestre (Manchester United FC)
Lilian Thuram (Juventus FC)

Midfielders
Olivier Dacourt (AS Roma)
Ludovic Giuly (AS Monaco FC)
Claude Makelele (Chelsea FC)
Benoît Pedretti (FC Sochaux Montbéliard)
Robert Pires (Arsenal FC)
Jérôme Rothen (AS Monaco FC)
Patrick Vieira (Arsenal FC)
Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid CF)

Forwards
Thierry Henry (Arsenal FC)
Steve Marlet (Olympique de Marseille)
Louis Saha (Manchester United FC)
David Trezeguet (Juventus FC)
Sylvain Wiltord (Arsenal FC)

Source: uefa.com

The 2003/04 Superleague season was one of surprises - and fantastic memories for three sides: champions Fenerbahçe SK, Turkish Cup winners Trabzonspor and UEFA Cup surprise package Gençlerbirligi SK. While Trabzonspor and Gençlerbirligi celebrated muscling in on the party, traditional Istanbul heavyweights Besiktas JK and Galatasaray SK were left to lick their wounds after seasons both will be keen to forget.

Shock defeat
Initially it looked as if a new-look Fenerbahçe would also struggle to live up to the burden of expectation as Christoph Daum's side kicked off the season with a shock 3-0 home defeat against Istanbulspor AS.

Besiktas set pace
Fenerbahçe steadily improved as the season progressed, but they looked to be out of the title reckoning at the half-way stage as they reached the winter break eleven points behind leaders Besiktas - with Trabzonspor in second, nine points off the pace.

Fenerbahçe pull clear
What happened next few could have predicted. Besiktas, perhaps a victim of over confidence, imploded in the second half of the season, losing eight and winning just five of their remaining 17 matches as Fenerbahçe soared to the top of the table. With five games to go Daum's side ended Besiktas' title challenge, winning 3-1 at the Inönü stadium to pull clear of their rivals. Fenerbahçe eventually finished a staggering 14 points ahead of Besiktas, who were offered scant consolation of third place and a UEFA Cup spot from a season that had started with such promise.

Nobre leads revival
Marcio Nobre, a mid-season signing on loan from EC Cruzeiro, proved the catalyst for Fenerbahçe's revival, scoring 12 times in 18 games to complement Pierre van Hooijdonk's team-leading 24 goals as Daum became the first German to guide Fenerbahçe to the title - and in style. Only Konyaspor striker Zafer Biryol would better Van Hooijdonk, finishing the season with 25 goals from 33 appearances.

Dogan the difference
Trabzonspor also made significant changes during the winter break, and the appointment of Ziya Dogan sparked the start of a stunning eleven-match winning run which resulted in a second-placed finish and the promise of UEFA Champions League football for the first time. Trabzonspor's Guinean midfielder Ibrahima Yattara must also take his share of the plaudits, leading the league with 15 assists as he proved the creative hub of the Black Sea club. And there was a trophy to celebrate too asTrabzonspor won the Turkish Cup with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Gençlerbirligi in the final.

Gençlerbirligi reward
With Trabzonspor otherwise engaged in Europe, the Ankara club will get another shot at the UEFA Cup, the least they deserve after a thrilling European run this season that saw them knock out Blackburn Rovers FC, Sporting Clube de Portugal and Parma AC before finally succumbing to eventual finalists Valencia CF after extra-time.

Galatasaray shame
Besiktas fans may not look back on the season with pride, but at least their side was competitive which was more than Galatasaray SK could claim after arguably their worst ever season - finishing sixth and bowing out of the Champions League at the group stage. Galatasaray finished a massive 22 points behind Fenerbahçe, losing ten times in a season for the first time in 22 years and failing to qualify for Europe for the first time since the 1989/90 season.

Bursaspor down
Adanaspor AS and Elazigspor were early victims of the drop and they were joined in the second division by Bursaspor who fought valiantly to the end but were relegated for the first time since the Turkish league began in 1959.

Source: Uefa.com

Portuguese SuperLiga side CF Os Belenenses have taken coach Carlos Carvalhal from Vitória Setúbal, leaving the newly-promoted side to appoint José Couceiro as his replacement.

'A coach for the future'
Belenenses have brought in Carvalhal on a one-year deal to replace Augusto Inácio, who stepped down at the end of the season after they narrowly avoided relegation. Chairman Sequeira Nunes said: "This is a coach for the future and I think we will have a more attacking style of play with him in charge."

'An honour'
Carvalhal said: "It is an honour for me to guide a club like Belenenses. It is a great club, full of history. I look forward to starting work but it will be a hard task to select the team for the next season. The goalkeeping position is decided but in other positions we will try to improve the team."

Source: Uefa.com

The coach has stuck to his most reliable performers for the trip to Portugal, saying: "This group does not contain any surprises and is a combination of experience, youth, insight and mentality. I am in the lucky position that the players who I have to choose from are all fit."

Robben recovering
Arjen Robben is not yet in peak condition after sustaining a hamstring injury but has been selected none the less. He is one of nine players who have received their first call-up for a major finals tournament, the other debutants being Ronald Waterreus, Wilfred Bouma, Johnny Heitinga, Mark van Bommel, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Andy van der Meyde and Ruud van Nistelrooij.

Stand-by list
Advocaat has also placed four players on a stand-by list in the event that any of his first choice 23 are unable to travel to Portugal. These players are Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Mario Melchiot of Chelsea FC, Manchester City FC's Paul Bosvelt and André Ooijer of PSV Eindhoven.

Netherlands squad

Goalkeepers
Edwin van der Sar (Fulham FC)
Ronald Waterreus (PSV Eindhoven)
Sander Westerveld (Real Sociedad de Fútbol)

Defenders
Frank de Boer (Rangers FC)
Wilfred Bouma (PSV Eindhoven)
Giovanni van Bronckhorst (FC Barcelona, loan from Arsenal FC)
Phillip Cocu (FC Barcelona)
Johnny Heitinga (AFC Ajax)
Michael Reiziger (FC Barcelona)
Jaap Stam (AC Milan)

Midfielders
Mark van Bommel (PSV Einhoven)
Edgar Davids (FC Barcelona, loan from Juventus FC)
Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan)
Wesley Sneijder (AFC Ajax)
Rafael van der Vaart (AFC Ajax)
Boudewijn Zenden (Middlesbrough FC)

Forwards
Pierre van Hooijdonk (Fenerbahçe SK)
Patrick Kluivert (FC Barcelona)
Roy Makaay (FC Bayern München)
Andy van der Meyde (FC Internazionale)
Ruud van Nistelrooij (Manchester United FC)
Marc Overmars (FC Barcelona)
Arjen Robben (PSV Eindhoven)

Source: Uefa.com

Again the name of Roque Junior is on the top of the table in Hamburg after Klaus Toppmöller announced at the press conference which introduced new signing Emile Mpenza to the press yesterday that the club is on the verge of signing: "A really top defender. If we can sign him, we won't need anybody else." The press bet on the brasilian international since he was on verge of signing for Hamburg on the last winter break, but a surprise might arrise.

Anyway it seems that Hamburg is really trying to make a powerfull team in able to return to the top of Bundesliga next season, and a priority is to find a collegue to the Czech Tomas Ujfalusi (first team player of Czech National Team) and a midfielder.

The brasilian international Argel signed today a new contract with SL Benfica, that will keep the defender at the eagles for two more years. Argel arrived in Benfica 3 years ago and had played first team football most of the time. The exception was the end of this season when Luisão (recently called to the Brasil National Team) send him to the bench. Even so Argel is seen as an important player for the next season and it is for sure the first option to substitute the first team regulars Luisão and Ricardo Rocha.

Striker Girts Karlsons is the most notable absentee in the
29-man party named by Latvia coach Aleksandrs Starkovs from which he will draw his 23-strong squad for UEFA EURO 2004™.

Seven forwards
Starkovs will confirm his lineup for Portugal on the 2 June deadline, four days before his team's only remaining warm-up match against Azerbaijan. With seven forwards in the initial squad, including injury-hit Southampton FC striker Marians Pahars, there is no room for FC Shinnik Yaroslavl attacker Karlsons.

Teenage pair
In midfield, Skonto FC's teenage pair of Kristaps Blanks and Igor Semjonovs are hoping to impress enough to be included in the final 23, whose first match in Portugal will be against the Czech Republic in Group D on 15 June.

Latvia squad
Kolinko, Piedels, Pavlovs, Vanins, Isakovs, Zemlinskis, Blagonadezdins, Zakresevskis, Smirnovs, Korablevs, Zirnis, Stepanovs, Lobanevs, Semjonovs, Blanks, Kolesnicenko, Astafjevs, Rubins, Bleidelis, Laizans, Pucinskis, Stolcers, Miholaps, Kalnins, Verpakovskis, Pahars, Prohorenkovs, Dobrecovs, Rimkus.

Source: Uefa.com

Goalkeepers:Petr Cech (Rennes/Fra), Jaromir Blazek (Sparta Praga), Antonin Kinsky (Ramenskoye/Rus).

Defenders:Rene Bolf (Banik Ostrava), Zdenek Grygera (Ajax/Hol), Tomas Huebschman (Sparta Praga), Marek Jankulovski (Udinese/Ita), Martin Jiranek (Reggina/Ita), Pavel Mares (Petersburgo/Rus), David Rozehnal (Bruges/Bel), Tomas Ujfalusi (Hamburgo/Ale).

Midfielders:Tomas Galasek (Ajax/Hol), Pavel Nedved (Juventus/Ita), Jaroslav Plasil (Mónaco/Fra), Karel Poborsky (Sparta Praga), Tomas Rosicky (Borussia Dortmund/Ale), Vladimir Smicer (Liverpool/ing), Roman Tyce (Munique 1860/Ale), Stepan Vachousek (Marselha/Fra).

Strikers: Milan Baros (Liverpool/Ing), Marek Heinz (Banik Ostrava), Jan Koller (Borussia Dortmund/Ale), Vratislav Lokvenc (Kaiserslautern/Ale), Miroslav Matusovic (Banik Ostrava).

Nuno Capucho is now available on a free transfer after the Portuguese winger and Rangers agreed to part company on Tuesday.

Capucho was told by manager Alex McLeish to start looking for a new club in March after the 32-year-old failed to live up to expectations this season.

He played 24 times for Rangers this season (in four different competitions) scoring 6 goals.

Capucho will likely return to Portugal as several clubs are interested in his services.

Source: Soccerage

Benfica manager Jose Antonio Camacho has cooled speculation suggesting that he is set to take over from Carlos Quieroz at Real Madrid.

"I'm a long way off being coach. There's been no talking or signing," Camacho told Radio Marca on Tuesday.

"I might be the favorite in the betting but bets don't make signings."

The former Real Madrid star denied he had discussed the move with Real president Florentino Perez.

"I've already said I haven't spoken to Florentino and I'm not going to keep saying so every day," he added.

Camacho has been with Portuguese club side Benfica for the last two seasons and has guided the club to two consecutive second-place finishes and a Portuguese Cup triumph.

His contract with Benfica is set to expire on June 1st and whether or not he is staying with Benfica is not yet known.

Source: Soccerage

Portugal have given Maniche a chance to shine at UEFA EURO 2004™ after he was named in Luiz Felipe Scolari's provisional 23-man squad.

The FC Porto midfield player had not been involved in the national team set-up since the 3-0 defeat by Spain in September. He gets the nod ahead of Fulham FC's Luís Boa Morte. Another notable inclusion is Tottenham Hotspur FC forward Hélder Postiga who has hardly featured over the last 18 months, while young SL Benfica goalkeeper Moreira will join up with the full squad after the UEFA European Under-21 Championship later this month.

There were no surprises in defence with the only doubt being left-back Rui Jorge. However, he was cleared of doping offences yesterday and is free to play. It is also a familiar story in midfield, with the experienced duo of Luís Figo and Rui Costa among the six chosen while 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo is among the forwards after a promising year with Manchester United FC.

Scolari faces an anxious wait, however, over the coming days. Maniche along with Porto colleagues Deco, Nuno Valente, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha and Ricardo Carvalho will represent their club in the UEFA Champions League final a week tomorrow while first-choice forward Pauleta will be involved with Paris Saint-Germain FC in the French Cup final the following Saturday.

Portugal squad

Goalkeepers
Ricardo (Sporting Clube de Portugal)
Quim (SC Braga)
Moreira (SL Benfica)

Defenders
Jorge Andrade (RC Deportivo La Coruña)
Fernando Couto (S.S. Lazio)
Ricardo Carvalho (FC Porto)
Miguel (SL Benfica)
Paulo Ferreira (FC Porto)
Nuno Valente (FC Porto)
Rui Jorge (Sporting Clube de Portugal)
Beto (Sporting Clube de Portugal)

Midfielders
Tiago (SL Benfica)
Petit (SL Benfica)
Costinha (FC Porto)
Deco (FC Porto)
Maniche (FC Porto)
Rui Costa (AC Milan)
Luís Figo (Real Madrid CF)

Forwards
Pauleta (Paris Saint-Germain FC)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC)
Simão Sabrosa (SL Benfica)
Nuno Gomes (SL Benfica)
Hélder Postiga (Tottenham Hotspur FC)

RSC Anderlecht have confirmed their interest in ex-player Bart Goor. Goor, whose contract with the German team Hertha Berlin is running out at the end of next season, is one of the left-wingers who is being followed by Sporting Anderlecht to reinforce the team next season

Carlitos, portuguese international U21 midfielder, currently in recently promoted Estoril, is close of signing for Benfica and can be the 3rd signing for the coming season (after Paulo Almeida and Alcides, both Brasilian from Santos).

On the other side, Luisão is linked to Real Madrid according to the spanish newspaper "AS", as well as Benfica's coach Camacho.

Mateja Kezman is not only the topscorer of the 2003-2004 season; he is also the most prolific and efficient PSV top scorer of all times. On Sunday afternoon he took his season’s tally to 31 goals, which means that he is even more effective than he was last season. In the 2002-2003 campaign he scored 35 goals from 33 games, this saeson he netted 31 goals from 29 games. The Serb Montenegrio striker was the Dutch Eredivisie top scorer as many as three times in the past four seasons.
In his four seasons at PSV, Kezman scored105 goals, an average of 26.2 goals a season. No PSV player has ever managed to get close to that performance, not even PSV legend Coen Dillen, neither van der Kuylen, Ronaldo, Romario nor Ruud van Nistelrooij. Coen Dillen scored 24.0 goals on averag, Ronaldo 21.0, Romario 19,6 and Luc Nilis 18.3 goals.

Kezman is now eighth on the all-time PSV-topscorer list. Willy van der Kuylen’ is on, having scored 308 goals and that is an amount that even Kezman will never equal!

Source: PSV.nl

Belgium striker Emile Mpenza is returning to the Bundesliga after agreeing a four-year contract with Hamburger SV.

Standard success
The 25-year-old spent four years in Germany with FC Schalke 04 but left last summer despite scoring 28 goals in 79 games. Mpenza spent the 2003/04 season with R. Standard de Liege and enjoyed a successful campaign with 21 goals in 28 appearances as the club finished third.

Schalke agreement
Mpenza, who was due to have a medical today, will cost a reported €2.5m. Schalke had to agree to the transfer as they had a clause which required Standard to ask permission before Mpenza could return to the Bundesliga.

Huge relief all round in Hamburg. The club has finally managed to complete their first big signing for next season...a real first class striker. Mpenza will be introduced to the Hamburg press in the AOL Arena this afternoon.

Fukal leaving
Meanwhile, Hamburg have let versatile defender Milan Fukal join Bundesliga rivals VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach on a free transfer. The Czech international has signed a three-year contract. Fukal, 29, said: "I am really looking forward to playing for Borussia. I think the club has got a bright future."

Source: Uefa.com, Hsv.de

Final Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Porto 34 82
2. Benfica 34 74
3. Sporting 34 73
4. Nacional 34 56
5. Braga 34 54
...
11. Beira-Mar 34 41
...
15. Belenenses 34 35
...
18. Est. Amadora 34 17

CHAMPIONS: FC Porto



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Lyon 37 76
2. PSG 37 73
3. Monaco 37 72
4. Auxerre 37 64
5. Sochaux 37 63


Final Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Ajax 34 80
2. PSV 34 74
3. Feyenoord 34 68
4. Heerenveen 34 58
5. Alkmaar 34 57
...
9. Utrecht 34 46

CHAMPIONS: AFC Ajax


Final Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Fenerbahçe 34 76
2. Trabzonspor 34 72
3. Besiktas 34 62
4. Gaziantepspor 34 57
5. Denizlispor 34 55

CHAMPIONS: Fenerbahçe SK



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Bremen 33 74
2. Bayern 33 65
3. Stuttgart 33 64
4. Leverkusen 33 62
5. Dortmund 33 54
...
8. Hamburg 33 46

CHAMPIONS: SV Werder Bremen


Final Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Anderlecht 34 81
2. Club Brugge 34 72
3. Standard Liege 34 65
4. Genk 34 59
5. Mouscron 34 59

CHAMPIONS: RSC Anderlecht



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Valencia 37 77
2. Barcelona 37 72
2. Real Madrid 37 70
4. Deportivo 37 68
5. Athletic 37 56

CHAMPIONS: Valencia CF


Final Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Milan 34 82
2. Roma 34 71
3. Juventus 34 69
4. Inter 34 59
5. Parma 34 58

CHAMPIONS: AC Milan



1. Panathinaikos 28 71
2. Olympiakos 28 69
3. PAOK 28 56
4. AEK 28 51
5. Egaleo 28 51



1. Fram 1 3
2. Keflavik 1 3
3. FH 1 3
4. Fylkir 1 1
5. Grindavík 1 1
...
6. Akranes 1 1


Torneo Clausura

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. River Plate 14 32
2. Boca Jrs 14 31
3. Talleres 14 25
4. Racing 14 24
5. Velez Sarsfield 14 22


Brasileirão

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. São Paulo 6 14
2. Figueirense 6 12
3. Criciúma 6 11
4. Cruzeiro 6 11
5. Inter-RS 6 11
...
22. Botafogo 6 3

Amoroso was in Lisbon yesterday to watch the Portuguese Cup Final between Benfica and Porto and told to the press that we would like to play in the Portuguese Superliga next season. Since Benfica is searching for a striker to join Nuno Gomes and Sokota in the squad, Amoroso might be an ideal signing to the eagles, if Larsson transfer don´t go ahead.

Olympiacos FC beat Aris in Rizoupoli by 3 – 0, playing for the championship’s match day 29. This victory allows the reds to continue their pursuit of the championship title, which –if conquered- would be the 8th in a row. The champion will be decided next Saturday, May 22, at the competition’s last match day. The reds will host the game against Egaleo and Panathinakos will travel to Pirgos in order to face Paniliakos.

The game in Rizoupoli against Aris merits of no special reference, as following a mediocre first half, during which Olympiacos FC almost scored twice with Kostoulas (3rd minute, out) and Giovanni (42nd minute, Dellios saved), the second half fully belonged to the reds who won the game and added three more points to their total. In the second half, Olympiacos speeded up. Georgiadis at the 57th minute scored the opener with a beautiful loft and following an assist from Georgatos. Next, Georgatos scored at the 78th minute (2 – 0) by a shot close to the post and a magnificent combination between Giovanni and Pandos, following a pass from Pandos to Geo. The score was modified once more (3 – 0) at the 82nd minute with a header by Giovanni, following yet another assist from Georgatos.

Olympiacos FC (Nikos Alefandos): Yiannou, Venetidis, Kostoulas, Pandos, Anatolakis, Georgatos (88th Niniadis), Karembeu, Stoltidis, Castillo (83rd Kuzba), Georgiadis (90ht Kafes), Giovanni.

Aris (Makis Katsavakis): Dellios, Karaliopoulos (46th Skentzos), Papadopoulos, Mallous, Marika, Koltsidas (63rd Abelas), Kizeridis, Passalis, Digozis, Kapandais, Lazanas (73rd Koussas).

Source: Olympiacos.org

The goalkeeper Marco Aurelio and the midfielder Tuck signed a new contract with Belenenses, valid until 2006.

From now on FU will follow Belenenses, from Portugal and Olympiacos from Hellas. Belenenses finished in 15th the Portuguese Superliga. Olympiacos still have a match to go and are currently in second position.

Canadian forward Alen Marcina scored four minutes into injury time as ÍA drew 1-1 against Fylkir yesterday afternoon. Fylkir had taken the lead when Sævar Þór Gíslason scored on 28 minutes before Marcina who was making his debut got his goal.

ÍA Akranes: Þórður Þórðarson, Kári Steinn Reynisson, Guðjón H. Sveinsson, Gunnlaugur Jónsson (C), Reynir Leósson, Pálmi Haraldsson, Julian Johnson, Grétar Rafn Steinsson (Hjörtur Hjartarson), Haraldur Ingólfsson (Andri Karvelsson), Stefán Þórðarson, Alen Marcina

Fylkir: Bjarni Þórður Halldórsson, Guðni Rúnar Helgason, Valur Fannar Gíslason (C), Ólafur Ingi Stígsson, Helgi Valur Daníelsson, Finnur Kolbeinsson, Gunnar Þór Pétursson, Þórhallur Dan Jóhannsson, Sævar Þór Gíslason (Ólafur Páll Snorrason), Eyjólfur Héðinsson (Jón Björgvin Hermannsson), Björgólfur Hideaki Takefusa (Þorbjörn Atli Sveinsson)

Fram Reykjavík, who only just avoided relegation from the Icelandic Premier Division last season, secured the biggest win on the first weekend of the 2004 campaign by beating newcomers Víkingur Reykjavík 3-0. Champions KR Reykjavík lost 1-0 to FH Hafnarfjördur. Last season's first division champions Keflavík beat KA Akureyri 2-1 and Grindavík drew 1-1 with ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar.

sources: Knattspyrnufélag ÍA, iauk, uefa.com.

The season 2004/05 is about to end in Europe and almost all the decisions are taken for FU Teams. Let´s check the achievements of the Football United teams this season.

Portugal

Benfica: 2nd place in Superliga (CLQ) and Portuguese Cup Winner. In European competitions achieved 1/8 finals of Uefa Cup

Sporting: 3rd place in Superliga (UC)

Braga:: 5th place in Superliga (UC)

Beira Mar: 11th in Superliga

Estrela Amadora: 18th place in Superliga (relegated to second division)

Netherlands

PSV Eindhoven: 2nd place in the championship (CLQ) and reached 1/4 finals of UEFA Cup

Utrecht: 9th place in the championship. Utrecht is in the Dutch Cup final, to be played next Sunday.

France

PSG: with one game to go in the championship, PSG is currently in the second position. They are also in the French Cup Final.

Turkey

Fenerbahce: Turkish Champions (CLQ). They can achieve direct access to Champions League if FC Porto win the match against Monaco.

Belgium

Anderlecht: Champions (CLQ)

Italy

AC Milan: Champions (CL)

Inter: 4th place in the championship (CLQ)

Spain

Bilbau: already secured 5th position in la liga and granted a UC place

Barcelona: Currently in 2nd position

Germany

Hamburg: With one match to go in Bundesliga, Hamburg had already secured 8th position and will play the Intertoto.

Athletic Club Bilbao sealed UEFA Cup qualification - having missed out by one point for two seasons running - by beating CA Osasuna 2-1. Francisco Yeste scored on 46 minutes and Ismael Urzaiz added another just after an hour to ensure Valdo's late goal could not prevent victory.

OSASUNA: Elía; Expósito (Mateo, 27'), Cuéllar, Josetxo (Muñoz, 39'), Antonio López; Puñal, Alfredo; Valdo, Palacios (Aloisi, 86'), Gorka García; Bakayoko.

ATHLETIC: Aranzubia; Iraola, Murillo, Luis Prieto, Del Horno; Tiko, Orbaiz; Joseba Etxeberria (César, 90'), Jonan García (Urzaiz, 58'), Yeste (Bordas, 82'); Ezquerro.

GOALS: 0-1, Yeste (47'); 0-2, Urzaiz (62'); 1-2, Valdo (89').

Source: uefa.com, marca.com

Roberto Baggio made an emotional farewell at the San Siro on Sunday, bowing out as Brescia Calcio lost 4-2 to Italian champions AC Milan on the final weekend of Serie A fixtures.



Kaká creation
Baggio won the Scudetto with Milan in 1996 but was unable to inspire his Brescia side to victory. Two goals from Jon Dahl Tomasson - both created by the outstanding Brazilian Kaká - Andriy Shevchenko's 24th goal of the season and a well-taken 20-metre strike from Rui Costa ensured a winning end to the season for Carlo Ancelotti's Milan, despite two goals from Brescia's Francelino Matuzalém.

MILAN: Abbiati, Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Costacurta, Gattuso (17' sh Brocchi), Pirlo (12' sh Redondo), Seedorf, Kakà, Shevchenko Tomasson (14' sh Rui Costa).

BRESCIA: Castellazzi, Petruzzi, Di Biagio, Dainelli, Bachini, Brighi (21' sh Stankevicius), Matuzalem, Mauri, Castellini, Baggio (39' sh Colucci), Caracciolo (44' ph Del Nero).

GOALS:1-0 Tomasson (36'); 2-0 Shevchenko (37'); 2-1 Matuzalem (53); 3-1 Tomasson (59');4-1 Rui Costa (66'); 4-2 Matuzalem (69').

Dutch international defender Jaap Stam has left S.S. Lazio to join Italian champions AC Milan on a two-year deal.

Reunited with Nesta
The 31-year-old centre back, who only had 12 months to run on his contract at the Stadio Olimpico, will rejoin his former Lazio team-mate Alessandro Nesta at the heart of the Milan defence. Stam, who has moved for an undisclosed fee, helped Lazio lift the Coppa Italia this season.

United stay
Stam made his name in his homeland with PSV Eindhoven before a €16.7m transfer to Manchester United FC, with whom he won the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He claimed three successive Premiership titles at Old Trafford before switching to Lazio three years ago for €26.8m.

Second signing
"I'm really happy about this signing," said Milan captain Paolo Maldini. "We don't look at the long term. We want to win immediately and Stam is a great player." Stam is the second arrival at the San Siro for next season, following the capture of Olympique Lyonnais midfield player Vikash Dhorasoo.

Once again, Botafogo was unable to mantain the lead, and conceded two goals in the end of the match, to a final draw against Grêmio, in Porto Alegre.

GRÊMIO: Tavarelli, Michel, Baloy, Tiago Prado e Élton; Cocito, Leanderson e Luciano Ratinho (Léo Inácio); Marcelinho (Cláudio Pittbull), Christian e Fábio Pinto (Rico).

BOTAFOGO: Max, Sandro, João Carlos e Gustavo; Ruy, Carlos Alberto, Camacho (Têti), Valdo e Daniel; Almir (Márcio Gomes) e Luizão (Fábio).

GOALS: 0-1, Sandro, (25'); 0-2, Luizão (70'); 1-2, Elton (79'); 2-2, Tiago Prado (85')

River Plate handed Boca Juniors their first defeat in the 2004 Argentine Clausura, with a 1-0 victory at Boca's famed La Bombonera. The match was the 174th meeting in the Argentine La Primera between the two rivals. Both teams came into the match with Copa Libertadores victories during the midweek and Boca held a two point lead at the top of the table over River. The match began on a cool Autumn afternoon with the field covered in confetti.

The match was very tight at the beginning, with both sides committing hard fouls against one another. Then in the seventh minute of the match, Marcelo Salas had to leave as he suffered an injury, in what appeared to be a hamstring pull. Los Millonarios would bring in Maxi Lopez and this event would change the match, because Lopez caused all kinds of problems for the back four of Boca. At the half hour point of the match River began to get a sniff of Boca's net. It appeared that Rolando Schiavi tripped up Marcelo Gallardo inside the Boca penalty area, but Center Judge Sergio Pezzotta didn't see it that way and gave Gallardo a yellow for diving. River might have been robbed on the play, but 8 minutes later it didn't matter.

Fernando Cavenaghi scored the match's only goal in the 38th minute, off a beautifully executed corner kick.
Claudio Husain was the first person to get to the corner kick, as Husain headed the ball toward the far right post. Cavenaghi was just poaching on the play saw the ball come his way and promptly headed the ball past Boca's Roberto Abbondanzieri. Boca never seemed to recover from that play. Boca would have a hard time trying to maintain possession and string passes together. When Boca turned the ball over, they would resort to fouling the Millonarios players in an effort to prevent counter-attacks. A philosophy that would hurt Boca even more. Boca would finish the match with only 9 nine players. Jose Maria Calvo was the first Boca player to see red, as he received his second yellow card 3 minutes after the second half began. Then Carlos Tevez, who already had a yellow, received a straight red for a bad tackle on Horacio Ameli. In both cases, the Boca players committed the fouls after losing possession.

River seemed happy to have just the one goal and failed to create more opportunities. Los Millonarios best effort in the second half came, when Rofi Montenegro had an one on one opportunity with Abbondanzieri, but his shot caromed off of the post. River would be reduced to 10 players on the pitch, when Eduardo Tuzzio was shown red in the 83rd. Boca did create a few more chances, but they weren't strong enough and River went on to win. The victory catapulted River over Boca to the top of the table. Now with 5 weeks remaining in the Clausura River looks to maintain their lead over the rest of Argentina. Now Millonarios fans are dreaming of a possible double, as River is in the Quarter-finals for the Libertadores as well as leading the Argentine Clausura race. So far Leonardo Astrada has River performing on all cylinders in his first season at the helm for River. On the other side of the pitch, Boca will have to regroup and one can be sure that Carlos Bianchi will not take this loss lightly. The defending World Champions have just been embarrassed and will be looking for victims. Quilmes be prepared, as an angry Boca Juniors side will be coming your way in the upcoming week

BOCA JUNIORS: Roberto Abbondanzieri; José Calvo, Rolando Schiavi, Nicolás Burdisso, Clemente Rodríguez; Matías Donnet, Raúl Cascini (Franco Cangele, 69'), Fabián Vargas, Diego Cagna (Luis Perea, 55'); Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Neri Cardozo, 69'), Carlos Tevez.

River 1: Germán Lux; Ariel Garcé, Horacio Ameli, Eduardo Tuzzio, Ricardo Rojas; Javier Mascherano, Claudio Husain, Luis González; Marcelo Gallardo (Daniel Montenegro, 68'); Marcelo Salas (Maxi Lopez, 7'), Fernando Cavenaghi (Cristian Nasuti, 83').

GOALS: 0-1, Cavenaghi (38')

SENT-OFF: José Calvo (47'), Carlos Tevez (80'), Eduardo Tuzzio (82').

Source: soccerage.com; carp.org.ar

SL Benfica marked their centenary year by coming from behind to secure the Portguese Cup and deny arch-rivals FC Porto a second successive domestic double with a 2-1 victory in extra time at Lisbon's Estádio Nacional.

José Mourinho had secured the cup, Portuguese League and UEFA Cup in his first season as Porto coach a year ago and having already clinched the SuperLiga was hoping to add the second part of a treble he intended to complete in ten days' time at the UEFA Champions League final against AS Monaco FC - whose coach Didier Deschamps was in the stands.

He employed Derlei and Benny McCarthy up front in an attacking formation, while Benfica coach José Antonio Camacho started with Nuno Gomes and Tomislav Šokota in attack as the club sought a first major trophy in eight years. The match was preceded by a minute's silence for Benfica and Portuguese international youth player Bruno Baião, who died yesterday.

The two sides were meeting in their ninth cup final, with Benfica having won seven of the previous eight, and 23 cups to Porto's 12. Porto had beaten Benfica to the league by an eight-point margin, but the capital side began well, Nuno Gomes hitting the post. However, Deco found the woodwork for Porto in the 28th-minute and they took the lead just before half-time as Derlei pounced after Benfica goalkeeper José Moreira parried a Deco free-kick.

The lead could have doubled on 57 minutes when Derlei shot on goal only to hit the post and within seconds Benfica were level as Panagiotis Fyssas beat Porto goalkeeper Nuno at the second attempt after good work with Nuno Gomes.

Porto were down to ten men 20 minutes from the end when Jorge Costa picked up his second yellow card after fouling Nuno Gomes. Benfica finally made their one-man advantage count in the 14th minute of extra time as Simão Sabrosa rushed into the box and headed in.

There was no way back for Porto, and Benfica's long run without a trophy was over. Porto, though, have another final to look forward to in Germany.



BENFICA - Moreira, Armando (Fernando Aguiar, 55), Ricardo Rocha, Luisão, Fyssas, Petit, Tiago (Zahovic, 79), Miguel, Simão, Nuno Gomes e Sokota (Geovanni, 55).

FC PORTO - Nuno, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Costa, Nuno Valente, Costinha (Carlos Alberto, 105), Pedro Mendes (Pedro Emanuel, 72), Maniche, Deco, Derlei e McCarthy (Maciel, 68).

Goals: Derlei 45´(0-1); Fyssas 59´ (1-1); Simão 104´(1-2)

Source: Uefa.com; Slbenfica.pt

EMPOLI - It was a fitting finale to a turbulent black and blue season at the Stadio Castellani on Sunday afternoon as Inter beat Empoli 3-2 to finish the Serie A championship in that fourth spot which secures the club a place in the 2004/05 Champions League qualifying round.

Adriano Leite Ribeiro hit a brace, with second-half sub Recoba also on target as the Nerazzurri showed all their character to come back from behind.

Zaccheroni's men had their work cut out in the first half as the Tuscans proved lethal on the counter-attack. Lucchini gave Empoli an 18th-minute lead with a follow-up shot after Toldo parried Vannucchi's fiercely-struck free kick. Inter had the woodwork to thank on the half-hour when Vannucchi's shot came off the inside of Toldo's left-hand post.

Adriano brought the teams level on the stroke of half time with a looping header in at the far post after outjumping the Empoli defence to meet Kily's left-wing free kick, then four minutes after Alvaro Recoba's magnificent 65th-minute free kick the Brazilian scored a goal that will be remembered for years to come, both for its spectacularity and decisiveness. The 22-year-old skipped past three defenders then sidestepped goalkeeper Balli before slotting into an open goal.

Six minutes from time Rocchi took on Gamarra and Cordoba then fired past Toldo to reduce the deficit, but two goals in the final stages was a tall order for Perotti's side, who are relegated to the Serie B.

Match facts:
Scorers: Lucchini 18', Adriano 46', 69' Recoba 65', Rocchi 84'
Booked: Materazzi 17', Cordoba 63', C.Zanetti 90'+1'
Referee: Farina

EMPOLI: 23 Balli, 3 Cribari, 7 Belleri (10 Tavano 76'), 9 Di Natale, 20 Giampieretti (17 Foggia 66'), 22 Rocchi, 25 Lucchini, 27 Ficini, 31 Vargas, 35 Busce', 77 Vannucchi
Subs: 5 Pratali, 11 Gasparetto, 12 Cassano, 13 Grella, 81 Cappellini
Coach: Attilio Perotti

INTER: 1 Toldo, 2 Cordoba, 4 J. Zanetti , 5 Emre, 6 C.Zanetti, 10 Adriano, 11 Stankovic, 18 Kily Gonzalez (13 Helveg 90'+1'), 23 Materazzi (15 Adani 90'+5'), 24 Gamarra, 30 Martins (20 Recoba 62')
Subs: 12 Fontana, 3 Kallon, 14 Farinos, 19 Karagounis
Coach: Alberto Zaccheroni

source: inter.it

HSV was easily the better side in the sold out Dreisamstadion this afternoon, but a lack of goal scoring prowess saw Klaus Toppmöller's side come away from the penultimate game of the season with only a point, when it should really have been three.

HSV have now qualified for the Intertoto Cup and could sneak into the UEFA Cup through the back door if they do well in the qualifying matches. Freiburg got the point they needed to stay in the Bundesliga for another season.

Hamburg's coach Klaus Toppmöller made only one change to the side which battled its way to a 2-1 home win over Stuttgart last time out. The Japanese striker Takahara replaced Bernardo Romeo in the starting line-up. Both sides began the game on a cautious note, Freiburg were not allowed to settle by HSV and the sides cancelled each other out for most of the time, with misplacedc passes being the order of the day. HSV went close in the 10th minute as Takahara hit the side netting with a fierce shot. The visitors dominated the middle of the park, sending Mahdavikia on his way time and time again. The Iranian striker however had left his scoring boots in Hamburg today.

It took until the 17th minute for the home side to threaten Stefan Wächter's goal, as a powerful header by Coulibaly was brilliantly pushed onto a post by the HSV keeper. Freiburg began to win things in the air, but was unable to capitalise on that superiority. On 33 minutes it was once again Coulibaly who went close, this time with a stinging shot from the edge of the box which fizzed just over the bar. HSV continued in a positive mode and were the better side during the first half which finished goalless.

The visiting side remained on top after the break, as missed chances by first Barbarez (54.) and then Mahdavikia (56.) underlined. After an hour the pace of the game increased, and it became an end to end affair. On 63 minutes Freiburg had their best chance of the match as Riether fed Coulibaly who rounded Wächter in the HSV goal. The Mali-born player failed to push the ball into the empty net. Two minutes later HSV should have gone ahead, but Takahara could only put a strong header onto the underside of the crossbar without an opponent in sight.

HSV kept their foot on the gas, but shot themselves in the foot after 77 minutes as Milan Fukal picked up his second yellow card of the match, as he tripped the former HSV player Rodar Antar on the halfway line, as the Lebanese striker tried to start a Freiburg attack. After that HSV played out time for the draw which they richly deserved.

Freiburg: Reinard - Müller, Diarra - Kruppke, Riether, A. Zeyer, Tskitishvili, Berner - Coulibaly - Antar, Iashvili


HSV: Wächter - Fukal, Hoogma, Ujfalusi, Wicky - Schlicke, Mahdavikia, Jarolim, Beinlich - Takahara, Barbarez

Source: HSV.de

1/8 Finals results

Dep. Táchira (VEN) - Nacional (URU) 3-0 2-2
Sp. Cristal (PER) - Boca Juniors (ARG) 2-3 1-2
Santos Laguna (MEX) - River Plate (ARG) 0-1 2-1 (2-4 pen)
São Cateano (BRA) - America (MEX) 2-1 1-1
Dep. Cali (COL) - Cruzeiro (BRA) 1-0 1-2 (3-0 pen)
LDU (ECU) - Santos (BRA) 4-2 0-2 (4-5 pen)
Rosario Central (ARG) - São Paulo (BRA) 1-0 1-2 (4-5 pen)
Barcelona (ECU) - Once Caldas (COL) 0-0 1-1 (2-4 pen)

1/4 Final fixtures

São Caetano (BRA) - Boca Juniors (ARG)
Rivel Plate (ARG) - Dep. Cali (COL)
Santos (BRA) - Once Caldas (COL)
São Paulo (BRA) - Dep. Táchira (VEN)

River Plate is through to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores. Although Santos Laguna won last night's match, the game went to penalties, and Lux's exhibition in goal gave Los Milionarios the ticket for the next round.

RIVER PLATE: Germán Lux; Cristian Tula (Maxi López, 68'), Horacio Ameli, C. Nasuti, Ricardo Rojas; Eduardo Coudet (Ricardo Sambueza, 53'), Javier Mascherano, Luis González; Gallardo (Daniel Montenegro, 61'); Salas, Cavenaghi.

SANTOS LAGUNA: Cristian Lucchetti; Héctor Altamirano, Héctor López, Denis Caniza, Federico Domínguez; Argemiro Veiga, Carlos Cariño, Sixto Peralta (Rodriguez, 77'); Matías Vuoso, Jared Borgetti, Rodrigo Ruiz.

GOALS: 0-1, Luis Altamirano (24'); 0-2, Matías Vuoso (50'); 1-2, Marcelo Salas (75').
PENALTIES:
River: Salas, Montenegro, Lucho González and Maxi López scored. Cavenaghi allowed Lucchetti's stop.
Santos Laguna: Borghetti and Altamirano scored.Ruiz and Cariño allowed Lux's stop.

Paris Saint-Germain FC's hopes of winning the Ligue 1 title faded tonight as they lost 3-0 at FC Girondins de Bordeaux, whose goalkeeper Ulrich Ramé saved two penalties.
Three points behind leaders Olympique Lyonnais and one adrift of second-placed AS Monaco FC ahead of their 36th game of the 38-match season, and with an inferior goal difference, PSG knew defeat would be costly in their bid for a first championship in a decade. However, they fell behind on 22 minutes when Pascal Feindouno volleyed in the first goal.

PSG were given hope three minutes into added time at the end of the first half when they were awarded a penalty, only for Ramé to save Frédéric Dehu's spot-kick. Feindouno doubled Bordeaux's lead soon after half-time, and a second penalty went begging in the 58th minute when Ramé denied Reinaldo.

Marouane Chamakh completed the scoring 15 minutes from time, meaning French Cup finalists PSG will be all but out of the title race on Wednesday if reigning champions Lyon win at home against SC Bastia

Source: Uefa.com

ATHLETIC: Aranzubia; Lacruz (Iraola, m.8), Prieto, Karanka, Del Horno; Orbaiz, Gurpegui (Arriaga, m.76); Joseba Etxeberria, Yeste, Ezquerro (Jonan, m.60); Urzaiz.

ALBACETE: Almunia; Oscar Montiel, López, Buades, Fernando Navarro; Viaud, David Sánchez (Alvaro, m.59); Redondo, Pacheco, Munteanu (Paco Peña, m.80); Aranda (Mikel, m.69).

GOALS: 0-1, Pacheco (54',pen); 1-1, Iraola (88',pen)

Reggina Calcio secured their Serie A future with an astonishing 2-1 victory at home against AC Milan in their penultimate game of the season on Sunday.

Safety secured
A sixth-minute goal from David Di Michele was followed by a 29th-minute Francesco Cozza penalty as Reggina, without a home win since January, inflicted Milan's first defeat in 13 games and only their second of the season to manoeuvre themselves four points clear of the relegation zone with one game remaining. Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko kept the crowd fixated by halving the deficit in the second half to take his season-long tally to 23 goals, one fewer than he scored when he topped the Serie A scoring charts in 1999/2000.

REGGINA: Belardi, Franceschini, Sottil,Torrisi, Mesto, Mozart, Tedesco, Comotto, Cozza (44 sh' Baiocco), Stellone (12 sh' Paredes), Di Michele (30 sh' Dall'Acqua).

MILAN: Abbiati, Simic, Nesta, Maldini (26 sh' Costacurta), Kaladze, Ambrosini, Redondo, Brocchi (8 st' Seedorf), Serginho, Tomasson (30 st' Borriello), Shevchenko.

GOALS: 1-0, Di Michele (8'); 2-0, Cozza (30', pen); 2-1, Shevchenko (51').

BOTAFOGO: Jefferson, Ruy, Sandro, Gustavo e Daniel (Rodriguinho); Fernando, Túlio (Têti), Valdo e Camacho; Almir (Fábio) e Luizão.

PAYSANDU: Paulo Musse, Tiago, Flávio Tanajura, Alex Pinho e Luís Fernando; Sandro, Bebeto Campos, Rogério Belém (Lecheva) e Jóbson; Zé Augusto (Balão) e Joãozinho (Alemão).

GOALS:1-0, Luizão (25'); 2-0, Sandro (40'); 2-1, Joãozinho (42'); 2-2, Sandro (44')

River Plate managed to beat Velez Sarsfield, to keep the pressure on Boca Juniors. The two old rivals will meet next weekend in La Bombonera, in a match that can decide the title.

RIVER PLATE: Germán Lux; Juan Fernández, Cristian Nasuti, Cristian Tula, Ricardo Rojas; Gabriel Pereyra (Oscar Ahumada), Claudio Husain, Rubens Sambueza; Daniel Montenegro (Marcelo Gallardo); Maxi López, José Sand (Nelson Cuevas).

VELEZ SARSFIELD: Sebastián Peratta; Marcelo De Souza, Fabricio Fuentes (Santiago Ladino), Maxi Pellegrino; Sergio Sena, Maximiliano Bustos (Esteban Bujan), Fabián Cubero, Marcelo Bravo; Pablo Batalla; Juan Martínez, Rolando Zárate.

GOALS: 1-0, Husaín (69')

As previous announced in FU PSV is in search for talent to strengthen their squad PSV Eindhoven focus their attention on young players across the Atlantic. After the signing of Brazilian defender Alex from Santos and the interest in United States supertalent Freddy Adu, PSV have now set their sights on another Santos product. According to Dutch TV program Studio Voetbal Robson de Souza "Robinho" is high on PSV's list as a replacement to Chelsea-bound Arjen Robben. Robinho is one of the hottest properties of Brazilian football and the 20-year-old player has attracted interest from almost all major teams in Europe.

Source: Soccerage.com

Sunday, 09 May 2004

MILAN - A thrilling Serie A Week 33 encounter at the Giuseppe Meazza was decided by Adriano's majestic free kick in the 62nd minute. The 1-0 victory puts the Nerazzurri back in the fourth-spot driving seat as Lazio were beaten 2-1 away to Brescia.

Six minutes after coming on for an impressive Mohamed Kallon, Adriano took the ball past two former teammates before being fouled by Bonera. The Brazilian's low drive from twenty metres flew in at the near post, giving Sebastien Frey no chance of making a save.

Victory away to Empoli next weekend will secure Inter a place in the 2004/05 Champions League qualiying round.

Match facts:
Scorers: Adriano 62'
Booked: Barone 29', Blasi 38', Kily Gonzalez 38', C.Zanetti 64', Emre 67', Vieri 70'
Sent off: Blasi 78'
Referee: Roberto Rosetti

INTER: 1 Toldo, 2 Cordoba, 3 Kallon (10 Adriano 56'), 4 J. Zanetti , 5 Emre, 6 C.Zanetti, 11 Stankovic, 17 Cannavaro, 18 Kily Gonzalez (20 Recoba 84'), 23 Materazzi, 32 Vieri (13 Helveg 86')
Subs not used: 12 Fontana, 14 Farinos, 19 Karagounis, 24 Gamarra
Coach: Alberto Zaccheroni

PARMA: 11 Frey, 5 Bonera, 8 Barone, 11 Gilardino, 14 Castellini, 18 Carbone (10 Morfeo 51'), 19 Potenza (4 Seric 64'), 21 Ferrari, 23 Bresciano (7 Zicu 75'), 30 Blasi, 32 Marchionni
Subs not used: 34 Amelia, 3 Benarrivo, 15 Donadel, 38 Cammarata
Coach: Cesare Prandelli

source: inter.it.

It took a while before a sell-out crowd in the Eindhoven Philips Stadium enjoyed spectacular moments on a sunny afternoon. Top scorer Kezman started the show in an entertaining, action-packed game, in which PSV notched a 3-2 win over ADO Den Haag.

For PSV only the honour was at stake in their final home league game. The visitors from Den Haag must have felt more stress, but actually they were already all but certain of having avoided relegation and seemed sure of playing football in the Dutch top flight next year as well. The pace of the game was pretty low in the first forty-five minutes, in which Park distinguished himself. And so it was quite justified that he should open the scoring on 30 minutes. Rommedahl turned provider for De Jong, who had the goal at his mercy. His shot was deviated, but the South Korean Park was on hand and pounced on the rebound; 1-0. PSV dominated proceedings in the first half, but did not create any clear-cut chances.

After the break nothing much happened until Rommedahl found Kezman in the 54th minute. The ADO Den Haag defender Saeijs hacked down Kezman and referee Van Hulten did not hesitate. Kezman in vain tried to surprise keeper De Vries with a subtle lob and for the second week in a row Kezman failed to convert a penalty. But he soon made amends: in the next minute he superbly rounded two defenders, looked around and when he saw that all his team mates were marked, he tried his luck and this time De Vries did not stand a chance to his great curling lob; 2-0. PSV wrongly thought they had wrapped up the game and took it easy, but they were soon punished. On 63 Castelen was put clean on the left flank; he outwitted Lucius and his finish was clinical; 2-1. On 75 minutes ADO started a well-worked move; Leandro set up Stroeve, who scored the equalizer; 2-2. PSV did not want to disappoint their faithful fans and poured men forward. On 82 minutes Vennegoor of Hesselink was brought on to strengthen the attack and Vogel was taken off. It immediately paid off: a De Jong corner was cleared off the line, but Bouma blasted home the rebound; 3-2. In the closing stages PSV attempted to increase the lead and ADO defender Saavedra was lucky with a last-gasp clearance from a Van Bommel corner. Vonlanthen fired a Van Bommel cross into the side netting and referee Van Hulten waved play on, when Vonlanthen was clearly fouled in the penalty area and PSV only earned a corner. So PSV collected all three points and have maintained the second spot in the table on the day on which Ajax won the Dutch title for the 29th time in their history.

Source: PSV.nl

Another Portuguese Superliga season is in the books and once again FC Porto are the champions.

Jose Mourinho's men clinched the title two weeks ago but were still in a festive spirit as they downed relegation bound Pacos Ferreira 3-1 thanks to a hat trick from Benni McCarthy.

With this hat trick, Benni McCarthy leapfrogs Nacional's Adriano to win the league scoring title with 20 goals.

Going into the final weekend of play Adriano was leading the league with 18 goals but only got on the score sheet once on Sunday as his side downed Rio Ave 4-0. Full back Rossato, who has reportedly agreed to joining Benfica next season scored two goals while Diego add the other for the home side. With this win, Nacional clinches a berth in the Uefa Cup.

A crushing loss for Rio Ave who missed out on the final Uefa Cup berth, which went to Maritimo, because of their inferior goal differential.

It wasn't easy, but Benfica managed to cling to a 0-0 draw at home to Uniao Leiria to earn their place in the qualifying stages of next season's Champions League.

Sporting Lisbon, who were chasing Benfica for that Champions League berth, finish in third spot following their 2-0 win over Vitoria Guimaraes. Niculae and Joao Pinto scored the goals for the visitors. With this result, Sporting Lisbon will play in the Uefa Cup next season.

Braga are also headed to the Uefa Cup after the downed Belenenses 2-0 to finish 5th in the table. Igor and Fredrik Soderstrom scored the goals for the visitors.

Maritimo claimed the fourth and final Uefa Cup berth as despite losing to Boavsita 2-1. Ricardo Sousa and Cafu with the goals for the home side while Alan scored the lone goal for Maritimo.

Moreirense capped off a modest season with a 3-1 win over Alverca. A huge loss for Alverca, who must now wave good-bye to the Superliga following this loss. Tito, Manoel and Armando with the goals for the home side while Vargas pulled one back for Alverca.

Gil Vicente managed to avoid relegation as they downed Beira Mar 3-0. Ferreira scored a pair of goals and Emanuel Duah added another to complete the thrashing.

Estrela Amadora proved why they are the last placed team in Portugal as they were hammered by Academcia 4-1. Paulo Adriano netted a pair of goals for the home side while Marcelo and Sergio chipped in with a goal each. Striker Julio Cesar scored the lone goal for Estrela Amadora late in the contest.

Source: Soccerage

HSV played (on the whole) superbly, as they produced a battling performance to beat Stuttgart 2-1, in front of 54,128 in the AOL Arena this afternoon, and in doing so... silence their critics following the 0-6 drubbing away to the new Bundesliga champions Werder Bremen, who beat Bayern Munich 3-1 in their own back yard to clinch the title this afternoon.

HSV: Wächter - Fukal, Hoogma, Ujfalusi, Wicky - Schlicke (56. Kling), Beinlich (76. Cardoso), Jarolim - Mahdavikia, Romeo, Barbarez

Stuttgart: Hildebrand - Gerber, Zivkovic, Meira, Lahm (51. Hinkel) - Tiffert, Soldo (46. Heldt), Hleb, Meißner - Szabics (48. Gomez), Cacau

Goals: 1:0 Beinlich (38.), 2:0 Hoogma (47.), 2:1 Cacau (86.)

Source: HSV.de

We`ve won the league title for the 15th time with a superb 4-0 win against Denizlispor and thanks to Galatasaray`s 4-2 away win against Trabzonspor. The 3rd star is ours - celebrations have begun!
The Denizli Atatürk Stadium was overtaken with Fenerbahçe fans who didn`t stop chanting for one second, and listened closely to news from the Trabzonspor-Galatasaray game.

Everything and everyone was ready for the championship. Christoph Daum`s army was calm and collective but ready to fight from the kick-off. Selçuk was played in well by Ümit Özat on the left, who turned and squared for Pierre van Hooijdonk. The Dutchman`s first time volley screamed into the back of the net in the 8th minute to give us an early lead.

Tuncay broke into the box from the left and finished over Suleymanou in the 12th minute. Meanwhile, news was coming in of Trabzonspor going down to Galatasaray.

The fans were jubilent. The carnaval had begun. As time went on, Galatasaray scored another, just around the time when we extended our lead to 3-0 through captain Ümit`s header onto Serhat`s dead ball cross from the right.

The second half was a mirage for everyone. More goals were scored by our arch rivals Galatasaray, who did us a rare favour by marching to victory against Trabzonspor.

Even the Denizlispor fans were acknowledging our efforts, clapping as we put on our substitutes to get a taste of this massive game.

Sergei Rebrov did well on the left to create space, then crossed to the oncoming Tuncay who headed in in the dying seconds of the game to make it 4-0.

Mustafa Çulcu blew the whistle to declare us the greatest in Turkey for the 15th time!



DENÝZLÝSPOR: Souleymanou, Mikka, Çaðdaþ, Kratochvil, Mustafa Keçeli, Ali Akdeniz, Levent, Serhat, Timuçin, Ömer Rýza, Ersen Martin

FENERBAHÇE: Volkan, Ali Güneþ, Luciano, Tomas, Ümit Özat, Serhat, Selçuk, Aurelio, Tuncay, Nobre, Van Hooijdonk

Goals: 8` Pierre van Hooijdonk, 12`, 90+3` Tuncay Þanlý, 45` Ümit Özat

Source: FENERBAHÇE.org

AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini has signed a new contract committing himself to the Italian champions until 2006.

Story confirmed
Last month the 35-year-old defender revealed that there was an agreement with the club to renew his previous contract that was due to expire in 2005, for a further season. Today Milan confirmed the deal through their official website.

Incredible record
Maldini is in his 20th season with the Rossoneri, following his debut against Udinese Calcio in January 1985. He has won seven Italian titles and four European Champion Clubs' Cups. Now retired from international football, he earned a record 126 caps for Italy but national coach Giovanni Trapattoni is trying to convince him to make a comeback for UEFA EURO 2004™.

Source: uefa.com

Newly crowned Italian champions AC Milan have signed French midfield player Vikash Dhorasoo on a free transfer.

Serie A move
The 30-year-old announced last month that he was leaving the reigning Ligue 1 title-holders in the summer when his present contract expired. Dhorasoo, a French international, has agreed a deal that will keep him at the San Siro until 2006.

Success
Dhorasoo arrived in Lyon in summer 1998 from Le Havre AC. He has enjoyed a successful time at the Stade Gerland, apart from a season-long loan at FC Girondins de Bordeaux in 2001/02, when he helped them win the French League Cup.

Excellent form
He had earlier picked up a winner's medal in the same competition with Lyon and on returning from Bordeaux, played his part in Lyon's Ligue 1 title triumph last term. This season, Dhorasoo has figured in 27 league matches for Lyon to help them to first place in the table with just four games remaining. He also played eight times in this season's UEFA Champions League, where Lyon reached the quarter-finals.

Source: uefa.com

PSV Eindhoven have confirmed an interest in American teenage phenomenon Freddy Adu.

The striker has recently made his debut for Major League outfit DC United at the tender age of just 14.

The intense media interest in the talent has reportedly attracted the interest of many top European clubs, but PSV are optimistic they can attract the star, even though he is unlikely to leave the States before he is 16.

"Our scouts are following him intensely," PSV chairman Harry van Raaij told AD Sportwereld. "And we still have hope.

"We are looking at ways to get him here.

"We have ties with Nike and Philips is one of the main sponsors in American soccer. In fact, my replacement as president, Rob Westerhof, was Philips chief in America and involved in the negotiations about that sponsorship.

"Also, Adu's relationship with the talented Eindhoven tennis player Stephanie Herz might bring us something, too."

Source: Soccerage

Goalkeepers
Andreas Isaksson (Djurgårdens IF)
Magnus Hedman (Ancona Calcio)
Magnus Kihlstedt (FC København)

Defenders
Petter Hansson (SCHeerenveen)
Andreas Jakobsson (Brøndby IF)
Teddy Lucic (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Erik Edman (SC Heerenveen)
Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa FC)
Erik Wahlstedt (Helsingborgs IF)
Johan Mjällby (Celtic FC)
Michael Svensson (Southampton FC)

Midfielders
Pontus Farnerud (RC Strasbourg)
Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal FC)
Anders Svensson (Southampton FC)
Mikael Nilsson (Halmstads BK)
Kim Källström (Stade Rennais FC)
Anders Andersson (Belenenses)
Tobias Linderoth (Everton FC)
Christian Wilhelmsson (RSC Anderlecht)

Forwards
Henrik Larsson (Celtic FC)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AFC Ajax)
Mattias Jonson (Brøndby IF)
Marcus Allbäck (Aston Villa FC)

PSV Eindhoven striker Ibrahim Afellay has extended his contract by three years to keep him at the Dutch club until 2007. The 18-year-old is one of several talented youngsters to put pen to paper at the Philips stadium.

Nyron Wau, a 20-year-old attacker currently on loan at second division side Helmond Sport, and goalkeeper Otman Bakkal, 19, who has played two Eredivisie matches this season, have also signed up until summer 2007. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Belgian forward Sepp de Roover has extended his contract until 2006.

Defender Leon Hese, 23, will return to PSV after his loan spell at Helmond Sport was cut short by a serious knee injury. He underwent cruciate ligament surgery in January and is ready to complete his recovery in Eindhoven.

Source: Uefa.com

River achieved an important victory yesterday, in Mexico, when a goal by defender Cristian Tula gave Los Millionarios the advantage in the first leg of the first knock-out round of the Copa Libertadores.

In the first half, the mexicans took control of the game, and had several chances to score, but a good exhibition by keeper, Franco Costanzo, and the defenders kept the River goal safe. In the second half, River leveled the events, and, on a counter-strike, scored by Tula, after a good play by Gallardo. Untill the end of the match, Santos Laguna tried to level the score, but German Lux, that replaced the injured Costanzo, continued the good perfomance of his colleague.

SANTOS LAGUNA:Cristian Lucchetti; Héctor Altamirano, Héctor López, Denis Caniza, Federico Domínguez; José Noriega (Rangel, 53'), Carlos Cariño (Arellano, 88'), Argemiro Veiga; Sixto Peralta (Matías Vouso, 63'); Jared Borgetti, Rodrigo Ruiz.

RIVER PLATE:Franco Costanzo (German Lux, 45'); Eduardo Tuzzio (Cristian Tula, 45'), Horacio Ameli, Cristian Nasuti, Ricardo Rojas; Eduardo Coudet, Javier Mascherano, Luis González; Daniel Montenegro (Marcelo Gallardo, 45'); Fernando Cavenaghi, Marcelo Salas.

GOALS: 0-1, Tula (58')

Other Results:

Sp. Cristal 2-3 Boca Jrs.
Dep. Táchira 3-0 Nacional

HSV (as everyone knows...) is always good for a surprise or two. Speculation has been rife over the past few days at the club regarding the future of the former first choice keeper Martin Pieckenhagen who was quoted yesterday as saying: "It's clear to me that I'm unwanted here". Less than twenty four hours later came the big about turn...Piecke is staying and Tom Starke is going!

That statement means that the keeper currently on loan from Bayer Leverkusen Tom Starke, will return there at the end of the season. Toppmöller explained his decision: "We didn't know where we stood with Piecke, we wanted a clear statement from him." Pieckenhagen never wanted to leave HSV and is understandable delighted that the situation has finally been resolved: "I'm delighted to play on for HSV," said Piecke

Toppmöller also announced that Stefan Wächter will be in goal for Saturday's almost sold out Bundesliga round 32 clash at home to star-studded Borussia Dortmund, and that Wächter has a slight head start over Pieckenhagen looking ahead to next season. A fact that doesn't unduly worry the veteran keeper: "That doesn't matter, I'm afraid of no-one," said Pieckenhagen, who amazingly has yet to play under Toppmöller.

Source: HSV.de

Barcelona have agreed to sign Giovanni Van Bronckhorst from Arsenal for the next two years.

Now the Catalan club must agree personal terms with the player, who has made it clear he wants to stay at the Nou Camp.

Meanwhile, Barca held a meeting with the agent of Edgar Davids yesterday. Both parties were satisfied, and an agreement should be reached within the next week.

Source: Soccerage

A second-half penalty from fit-again striker Derlei was enough to secure FC Porto a place in the UEFA Champions League final at the expense of ten-man RC Deportivo La Coruña.

Porto coach José Mourinho reinstated the free-scoring striker and his gamble paid off as the Brazilian, making his first European appearance since December, scored a second-half spot-kick. The 28-year-old's goal rewarded the Portuguese champions for intelligent defending and incessant pressure which proved too much for the home side, who had Nourredine Naybet sent off for two bookings.

Tension dominated the early development of the game and it soon became clear that Mourinho's team had come to La Coruna with the intention of stretching their Iberian neighbours' nerve - and above all closing down Juan Carlos Valerón. Costinha was given the job of policing Valerón and it was significant that Deportivo's playmaker did not make a meaningful contribution until almost half an hour had passed.

Benni McCarthy's exclusion for the newly-fit Derlei was a reference to the fact that the Brazilian finished last season's UEFA Cup as top goalscorer, and that the South African had not scored in nine games for Porto. Derlei's earliest act was to dramatise a Naybet tackle in the eleventh minute which brought a yellow card from Pierluigi Collina - and meant that the Moroccan was immediately suspended from the final.

Porto were playing their normal high-tempo, pressing game and Deportivo found that experience suffocating. In the 14th minute, Derlei began a mazy run which ended in Maniche's shot skidding threateningly close to José Molina's right-hand post. The nerves were gnawing away at the home side and the UEFA Cup holders were achieving their objectives.

Typically, it needed Valerón, the man who did so much damage to both Juventus FC and AC Milan in the previous rounds, to rouse his team. After 28 minutes, the elegant midfield player found space and flicked a perfect pass to Walter Pandiani, who volleyed over. At that instant, the referee's assistant raised his flag but the galvanising effect was apparent.

Sadly for Valerón he could not profit from the work which he himself had kick-started. As the ball rebounded from side to side in the Porto penalty box, he found himself in a surprising amount of space, right in front of goal, but carelessly volleyed wide. It was a key moment, precisely the kind which Javier Irureta's team had been converting in crucial moments against previous opponents.

Before half-time, Carlos Alberto was booked for a lunge at Víctor Sánchez and immediately after the break Porto so nearly created the away goal which they craved. Deco found freedom on the right-hand side and crossed for Derlei to stoop down and head against Molina's right-hand post. Then within minutes Deco's prompting led to Derlei's surging run, and César Martin and Molina needed to combine to prevent him scoring.

It was an indication that the two Brazilians were revelling in being reunited after Derlei's extended absence with a knee injury. Deco, in particular, had found time and space to orchestrate the game and the result was deadly for Deportivo. Having given the warning signs, the pair combined again to leave Porto on the verge of the final. Deco skipped around César on the edge of the box and the Spaniard's tackle brought the penalty which Derlei nervelessly converted.

Although Irureta's side fought back and threw everything into attack, there were two immediate indications that the luck was with Porto. First, Pandiani headed a bright Deportivo chance wide from a superb Alberto Luque cross. Then Naybet was sent off for a second bookable tackle, this time on Paulo Ferreira, and Deportivo's task seemed too tough.

Even when Diego Tristán added his skills the game would not turn Deportivo's way. One brilliant block in front of goal from Pedro Emmanuel prevented him from scoring before the substitute's subsequent free-kick curled half a metre wide. His desperation was summed up by a late booking for simulation in a forlorn attempt to earn a spot-kick.

Source: Uefa.com

In a match without history in international competitions, River Plate will face, tonight, Santos Laguna, on the path to achieve it's third Copa Libertadores.

Leonardo Astrada still has some doubts in the line-up, namely in defence, being that Ariel Garce had an early exit in the match against Rosario, due to injury, and midfield, with the doubt between Marcelo Gallardo and Daniel Montenegro. For defence, the Astrada has several alternatives. The first would be Ricardo Rojas on the right or left side, due also to the absence of Juan Fernandez. The other two options for the right side would be Oscar Ahumada, a midfielder that played regularly in defence in the time of Manuel Pellegrino, and the most probable one, Eduardo Tuzzio, wich could be made possible with the inclusion of Cristian Nasuti on the center. In midfield, the only doubt is if Muñeco Gallardo will be fit to start the match, and play the full 90 minutes.

As for Santos Laguna, the mexicans will play with the same team that played the last match of the first fase, against Universidad Concepción. Most of the players were left out of the squad in last weekend defeat in the mexican league.

Probable line-ups

Santos Laguna: Cristian Lucchetti; Héctor Altamirano, Argemiro Veiga, Denis Caniza, Héctor López; Ruber Rodríguez, Carlos Carino, Federico Domínguez; Matías Vouso; Rodrigo Ruiz y Jared Borgetti. DT: Eduardo De la Torre

River: Franco Costanzo; Eduardo Tuzzio, Horacio Ameli, Cristian Nasuti, Ricardo Rojas; Eduardo Coudet, Javier Mascherano, Luis González; Marcelo Gallardo; Marcelo Salas y Fernando Cavenaghi. DT: Leonardo Astrada

Copa Libertadores First knock-out round

Dep. Táchira (VEN) - Nacional (URU) (4/5-11/5)
Sp. Cristal (PER) - Boca Jrs (ARG) (4/5-11/5)
Santos Laguna (MEX) - River Plate (ARG) (4/5-11/5)
São Caetano (BRA) - America (MEX) (5/5-12/5)
Liga Universitaria (ECU) - Santos (BRA (5/5-12/5)
Barcelona (ECU) - Once Caldas (COL) (6/5-13/5)
Rosario Central (ARG) - São Paulo (BRA) (6/5-13/5)

Mpenza (25) was part of the prolific striking duo featuring Denmark's Ebbe sand at Schalke from 1999 until 2003 in Gelsenkirchen. Off the pitch escapades by the player forced the Schake manager Rudi Assauer to terminate Mpenza's contract with immediate effect. Mpenza has a price tag of around 2,5 million Euros, a sum which HSV would have to transfer onto Standard Lüttich's account...they in turn, must pass the money on to Schalke.

"Nothing is settled yet, but Emile is a good player who could help us right away," says Beiersdorfer, who held discussions on Sunday with Lüttich officials and the HSV boss Hoffmann who said: "Things are looking good for us." Talks were held with Mpenza on Sunday. Last week the player was in Hamburg for initial talks.

Source: HSV.de, mopo,de

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Porto 33 79
2. Benfica 33 73
3. Sporting 32 70
4. Nacional 33 53
5. Braga 33 51
...
11. Beira-Mar 33 41
...
18. Est. Amadora 33 17

CHAMPIONS: FC Porto



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Lyon 34 70
2. Monaco 34 68
3. PSG 34 67
4. Souchaux 34 60
5. Auxerre 33 57



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Ajax 32 74
2. PSV 31 68
3. Feyenoord 32 62
4. Alkmaar 32 57
5. Heerenveen 32 55
...
9. Utrecht 32 43



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Fenerbahçe 32 73
2. Trabzonspor 32 71
3. Besiktas 32 62
4. Denizlispor 32 55
5. Gaziantepspor 32 51



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Bremen 31 71
2. Bayern 31 65
3. Stuttgart 31 61
4. Leverkusen 31 56
5. Dortmund 31 51
...
8. Hamburg 31 42



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Anderlecht 32 77
2. Club Brugge 32 66
3. Standard Liege 32 61
4. Mouscron 32 55
5. Genk 32 53

CHAMPIONS: RSC Anderlecht



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Valencia 35 74
2. Real Madrid 35 70
3. Barcelona 35 69
4. Deportivo 35 65
5. Athletic 35 52



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Milan 32 79
2. Roma 32 70
3. Juventus 32 63
4. Parma 32 55
5. Inter 32 53

CHAMPIONS: AC Milan


Torneo Clausura

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Boca Jrs 12 28
2. River Plate 12 26
3. Talleres 12 24
4. Racing 12 23
5. Velez Sarsfield 11 21


Brasileirão

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Ponte Preta 4 10
2. São Paulo 4 10
3. Figueirense 4 9
4. Cruzeiro 4 8
5. Criciúma 4 8
...
24. Botafogo 4 1

A brilliant Cavenaghi lead River Plate in the victory in a traditionally difficult Gigante de Arroyito stadium, and as move closer to Boca Juniors, that was unable to achieve more that just one point against Newel's Old Boys.

ROSARIO CENTRAL: Julio Gaona; Paulo Ferrari, Ronal Raldes, Leonardo Talamonti, Emiliano Papa; Mariano Messera, Clarence Acuña, Matías Irace; Pablo Sánchez; Claudio González, Javier Cámpora (Gonzalo Belloso). DT: Miguel Angel Russo.

RIVER PLATE: Franco Costanzo; Ariel Garcé (Cristian Nasuti), Horacio Ameli, Ricardo Rojas, Franco Miranda; Eduardo Coudet, Javier Mascherano, Luis González; Daniel Montenegro; Marcelo Salas (Marcelo Gallardo), Fernando Cavenaghi. DT: Leonardo Astrada.

GOALS: 1-0 Montenegro (19), 2-0 Cavenaghi (35), 2-1 Belloso (85).

CRICIÚMA: Fabiano, Luís Paulo, Ronaldo, Luciano e Luciano Almeida; Cléber Gaúcho, Genalvo, Athos (Douglas) e Rafael; Reinaldo (Fábio Oliveira) e André Leonel (Marcos Denner). Técnico: Vagner Benazzi

BOTAFOGO: Jefferson, Ruy, Sandro, Gustavo e Jorginho (Daniel); Fernando, Carlos Alberto (Rodrigo), Têti (Camacho) e Valdo; Almir e Luizão. Técnico: Luiz Matter

GOAL:1-0, Rafael (35)

AC Milan secured their 17th Italian title after a 1-0 home win over second-placed AS Roma. Andriy Shevchenko's second-minute header gave Milan the victory, which leaves them nine points clear of Roma with just two games remaining.

Perfect start
Shevchenko headed his 22nd league goal of the season from a Kaká cross to give the Rossoneri the perfect start in front of 76,647 at the San Siro. Milan could have gone in 2-0 up at the break as just three minutes before the interval Kaká fed the Ukraine striker again but this time he shot wide.

Interruptions
The match was marred by the throwing of fireworks and missiles from the away end which caused two interruptions in the second half. A firework exploded near Milan's Gennaro Gattuso after Roma had a penalty appeal rejected after Shevchenko had appeared to block a Francesco Totti free-kick with his hand. Milan goalkeeper Dida later received medical attention after being struck by an object thrown from the crowd.

'Scudetto is always special'
It was the first title for coach Carlo Ancelotti, while veteran defenders Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta set a club record with their seventh championship successes. "The Scudetto is always special, whether it's your first or your last," the 35-year-old Maldini said.



GOAL: 2' Shevchenko (M)

MILAN: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Costacurta; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (90+5' Kaladze); Kaka (87' Rui Costa); Tomasson (80' Ambrosini), Shevchenko. Subs not used: Abbiati, Laursen, Serginho, Brocchi. Coach: Ancelotti.

ROMA: Pelizzoli; Panucci, Zebina, Samuel, Candela (46' D’Agostino); Mancini, Emerson, Dacourt, Lima (79' De Rossi); Totti, Cassano (73' Delvecchio). Subs not used: Lupatelli, Dellas, Tommasi, Corvia. Coach: Capello.

Source: uefa.com, gazzetta.it, acmilan.com

A Baptista brace inspired Sevilla to a 2-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao. Sevilla climbed into eigth place with this victory as they continue to track a Uefa Cup berth.

Sevilla: Esteban; Sergio Ramos, Javi Navarro, Pablo Alfaro, David; Daniel Alves, Casquero (Torrado, m.81), Martí, Antonio López (Redondo, m.77); Baptista, Antoñito (Carlitos, m.46).

Athletic: Aranzubia; Lacruz, Karanka, Luis Prieto, Del Horno (César, m.65); Gurpegi, Orbaiz (Jonan, m.70); Etxeberría, Yeste, Iraola (Urzáiz, m.46); Ezquerro.

GOALS:1-0: m.39, Baptista. 2-0:m.63, Baptista (pen).

Frank Rijkaard's men just get better and better. Barca were the better team by far even after giving away an early penalty which Raul Tamudo fired home. Ronaldinho, who else, was simply breathtaking and, with Davids, Xavi, Iniesta and Saviola tearing the opposition apart, the Camp Nou witnessed one of FC Barcleona's best performances for some time. Real Madrid are now just one point away in second place and the leaders Valencia five.

THE GOALS
0-1, Tamudo (19')
1-1, Ronaldinho (34')
2-1, Saviola (43')
3-1, Van Bronckhorst (54')
4-1, Saviola (57')

Source: fcbarcelona.com

One man down for 50 minutes, Paris Saint-Germain FC salvaged a point in a 0-0 draw at RC Strasbourg on Saturday to keep their title hopes alive.

The Parisians, who boast the best away defence in Ligue 1 this season, had Albanian international Lorik Cana sent off but avoided a defeat which would have jeopardised their championship chances. Strasbourg also had a player dismissed, Pascal Camadini, but only in the dying seconds of the game.

Strasbourg : Dutruel - Fahmi, Kanté, Abdessadki, Devaux (Ehret, 63e) - Lacour (A. Farnerud, 76e), Bassila, Camadini, Le Pen, P. Farnerud (Arrache, 82e) - Mouloungui. Entr. : Kombouaré.

PSG : Alonzo - Déhu, Heinze, Mendy, Pierre-Fanfan - Cana, Fiorèse, M'Bami, Sorin (Boskovic, 75e) - Pauleta (Reinaldo, 84e), Ljuboja (El Karkouri, 46e). Entr. : Halilhodzic.

Source: Uefa.com, psg.fr

Away at FC Volendam, Mateja Kezman has scored his hundredth league goal in his fourth season in the service of the Eindhoven club. PSV coasted to a comfortable 0-5 win over bottom-of-the table FC Volendam. André Ooijer opened the scoring with a glancing header and second-half doubles by John de Jong and Mateja Kezman made sure of an emphatic 0-5 win.

After an hour’s play Kezman was put clean by captain Van Bommel and face to face with Verhoeven, the keeper of the hosts, his finish was exemplary. He took his season’s tally to 26 and his record goal meant PSV were 0-4 on top. At the death he was set up by winger Dennis Rommedahl and from close range he tapped home the easiest of goals. It was the 3700th league goal scored by a PSV player since the introduction of professional football in 1956. PSV legend Coen Dillen scored the first goal ever.

In the first half Kezman was already given a unique opportunity to score his record goal. After keeper Verhoeven had slightly touched Van Bommel in the penalty area, Kezman could not convert the spot kick. He poorly fired straight at Verhoeven, who blocked his effort with a foot. PSV took the lead on 12 minutes. ©. The ball was cleared by Misha Salden, but the assistant linesman had seen that the ball had crossed the line and the goal stood; 0-1. After Kezman had failed to convert the penalty, there was a period in which FC Volendam created some good chances, but the hosts never ever really threatened.

After the break PSV rapidly set things right. On 50 minutes John de Jong headed home a Rommedahl free kick. His header came back from the inside of the post on his body and then the ball ricocheted into the goal. Seven minutes Volendam were dispossessed in midfield. John de Jong was put clear and while being brought down, he somehow managed to lob the ball over the keeper; 0-3. Then came the moment of glory for Kezman and his 100th and 101st league goals made it 0-5.

It was all smiles for PSV this afternoon: as Feyenoord suffered a 1-2 shock defeat at home against FC Groningen, PSV are virtually sure of being allowed of participating in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. With two games to go, the team of Coach Guus Hiddink have now taken a six-point lead over Feyenoord and on top of that they have a far better goal-difference.

Goals: 12 Ooijer , 51 John de Jong, 58 John de Jong, 59 Kezman, 87 Kezman
Source: PSV.nl

Werder: Reinke - Schulz, Ismael, Krstajic, Stalteri - Lagerblom (72. Skripnik), Baumann, Borowski - Micoud - Klasnic (62. Valdez), Ailton (80. Charisteas)

HSV: Starke - Hoogma, Ujfalusi, Reinhardt - Fukal, Wicky, Schlicke - Benjamin (60. Cardoso), Mahdavikia, Barbarez - Hleb (60. Romeo)

Goals: 1:0 Barbarez (16./Eigentor), 2:0 Ismael (21.), 3:0 Klasnic (39.), 4:0 Ailton (48.), 5:0 Valdez (80.), 6:0 Skripnik (84./Handelfmeter)

A late goal from Geovanni ensured that SL Benfica are now favourites to take second place in the Portuguese Superliga - and with it a UEFA Champions League qualifying berth - as it earned a 1-0 win against Lisbon rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Geovanni rifled in a stunning strike from distance with two minutes left to send José Antonio Camacho's side three points clear in second place with just one match remaining. Benfica now need only to avoid defeat against UD Leiria next weekend to finish runners-up. Should they lose, a Sporting win against Vitória SC would put Fernando Santos's men in the Champions League by virtue of a better head-to head record.





Sporting – Ricardo; Miguel Garcia, Beto (Quiroga 53 m), Polga e Rui Jorge; Tinga e Paulo Bento; Pedro Barbosa (cap.) (Lourenço 82 m), João Pinto; Tinga, Liedson e Niculae (Silva 76 m).

BENFICA - Moreira; Armando (Fernando Aguiar 61 m), Ricardo Rocha, Luisão e Fyssas; Petit e Tiago (Argel 93 m); Miguel, Simão (cap.), Nuno Gomes (Geovanni 61 m) e Sokota.

Goal: Geovanni (87 m).

Source: Uefa.com

Substitute Semih Şentürk`s goal and Pierre van Hooijdonk`s double replied to Ankaragücü`s first half goal to earn us a 3-1 win in front of our home fans tonight. We lead the title race with two weeks to go.
The crowd urged the side on from the very first second but the first 15 minutes saw little danger caused for Ankaragücü. The visitors disturbed our midfield and looked to counter attack with swift passing.

A Pierre van Hooijdonk freekick was the closest we came to scoring as his effort was palmed away by young keeper Orkun for a corner in the 17th minute.

Two minutes later Ankaragücü`s own freekick expert found the target with his side`s first shot on goal, powering into Volkan`s top left hand corner.

Something had to change to regain superiority in midfield, and Christoph Daum switched to a three man defence to bolster the midfield. Some improvement could be seen, as Mehmet Yozgatlı was given more opportunities to pierce Ankara`s left wing. His pacey entrance into the box from the right was followed by a shot that was well saved by Orkun.

Tuncay was struggling for most of the first half, which prompted Daum to replace him with Semih at half time. The change paid off almost immediately, as Semih kneed in a deflected ball from a corner to equalise in the first minutes of the second half.

A long distance freekick from van Hooijdonk bounced once in the box and went in at the far post in the 53rd minute, giving us the lead in a thrilling battle against a tough Ankaragücü side. The Saraçoğlu roared with delight as Pierre celebrated his 21st goal of the season.

Had Semih controlled better or released a first time shot with his left foot he could have extended our lead in the 65th minute, but Erhan Albayrak quickly intervened to capitalise on his mistake.

The remainder of the game turned into a fight of the fittest, with some of Ankaragücü`s older players dropping out of play.

Van Hooijdonk rounded off the game with a bullet header in the 88th minute onto a corner and scored his 22nd goal of the season.

Servet Çetin came on in the dying seconds, and his break into the opposition area started an attack which continued with van Hooijdonk`s pass to Marcio Nobre in a good position, but his shot wen straight into Orkun`s hands.

Trabzonspor played at the same time away against Gaziantepspor, winning 2-1, which takes the race into the last two weeks of the season. We`re still two points ahead with a trip to Denizlispor and a final home game against Malatyaspor ahead.

Fenerbahçe: Volkan Demirel, Fabio Luciano, Ümit Özat, Stjepan Tomas, Ali Güneş, Selçuk Şahin, Mehmet Yozgatlı (90` Servet Çetin), Tuncay Şanlı (46` Semih Şentürk), Marco Aurelio, Marcio Nobre (90+3` Sergei Rebrov), Pierre Van Hooijdonk

Ankaragücü: Orkun, Baidou, Gökmen, El Desouki, Adem, Yılmaz (87` Özgür), İsmet (81` Mehmet), Umut, Erhan, Hakan Keleş, Hüseyin (77` Ceyhun)

Goals: 47` Semih, 53`, 88` Pierre van Hooijdonk (Fenerbahçe), 20` Yılmaz (Ankaragücü)

Source: Fenerbahçe.org

LECCE - The Nerazzurri's fourth spot aspirations took a dent at the Via del Mare on Sunday afternoon as Lecce won the Week 32 clash 2-1 to guarantee themselves Serie A football next season. With Parma victorious at home to Ancona and Lazio held to a draw by Reggina, Inter slip to sixth place in the standings with two matches of the championship to go.

Lecce dominated the early stages of a tempestuous match, with Ernesto Javier Chevanton is particularly fine form. Twice denied by the offside flag, the Uruguayan striker rattled the crossbar in the 13th minute with a curled free kick.

Limited to counter-attacks, Inter came back and Adriano took the wind out of Lecce 's sails with a perfectly-executed penalty in the 36th minute after being brought down in the box by Konan.

The home side mustered a reaction and equalised two minutes into the second period when captain Tonetto somehow managed to find the net after Chevanton took on Cordoba then played into the six-yard box. Delio Rossi's men took the lead on 70 minutes when Bovo smashed home from a yard out after Toldo had failed to hold on to a left-wing corner kick.

Match facts:
Scorers: Adriano (pen) 36', Tonetto 47', Bovo 70'
Booked: Siviglia 28', Ledesma 37', Konan 43', Pasquale 45', Materazzi 58', Abruzzese 90'
Referee: Roberto Rosetti

LECCE: 1 Sicignano, 6 Bolano (81 Abruzzese 34'), 8 Franceschini, 11 Bovo, 14 Tonetto, 19 Chevanton (7 Bojinov 86'), 20 Siviglia, 21 Stovini, 24 Ledesma, 25 Konan (10 Giacomazzi 89'), 77 Cassetti
Subs: 23 Poleksic, 2 Billy, 13 Silvestri, 17 Dalmat,
Coach: Delio Rossi

INTER: 1 Toldo, 2 Cordoba, 4 J. Zanetti , 5 Emre, 9 Cruz (30 Martins 60'), 10 Adriano, 11 Stankovic, 18 Kily Gonzalez (32 Vieri 82'), 17 Cannavaro, 23 Materazzi, 26 Pasquale (19 Karagounis 71')
Subs: 12 Fontana, 13 Helveg, 22 Okan, 24 Gamarra
Coach: Alberto Zaccheroni

source: inter.it.