SOCCER / GRAHAME L. JONES : For Those Exhausted by the World Cup. . . .
Just because the soccer world’s attention is focused on the United States for the next month or so is no reason to think nothing else is happening.
To the contrary . . .
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In Denmark, the national team’s two most gifted players, brothers Brian and Michael Laudrup, both will be playing with new clubs in the fall.
Brian Laudrup is leaving his Italian club, Fiorentina, to join Glasgow Rangers of Scotland on a three-year, $3.3-million contract. Michael, meanwhile, is headed from Spanish champion Barcelona to rival Real Madrid for the next two seasons.
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In Italy, a court in Genoa sentenced Uruguayan international forward Carlos Aguilera to two years in jail for possession of cocaine and for his involvement in a group that brought prostitutes into Genoa from South America.
Aguilera, who has long since returned to Uruguay, had his lawyers appeal the sentence.
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In England, the Football Assn., English soccer’s ruling body, has bowed to the inevitable and announced that the annual F.A. Cup will be sponsored from now on.
The F.A. Cup is the oldest knockout competition in the world, dating from 1871.
Estimates are that the successful bidder will have to fork out as much as $30 million for the right to have the sponsor’s name associated with the Cup.
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In Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv won the State Cup by defeating cross-town rival Hapoel, 2-0, in the final in front of 35,000 at Ramat Gan national stadium.
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In France, embattled Olympique Marseille, demoted to the second division next season after being found guilty of match-fixing, has been sold to an unidentified bank in the United Arab Emirates.
The bank bought a majority of the former French and European champion’s stock from Bernard Tapie for a reported $20 million through a British-based subsidiary.
Former French national team coach Michel Hidalgo said he will be involved in helping put the club’s affairs back in order.
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In Japan, 1990 World Cup goal-scoring hero Salvatore (Toto) Schillaci of Italy was suspended for two J-League matches after insulting a referee while playing for his club team, Jubilo Iwata.
Meanwhile, Hiroshima Sanfrecce won the championship of the first half of the J-League season when its latest victory gave it a 17-4 record and an unassailable lead in the race.
The champions of each half of the season meet for the league title in November.
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In Paraguay, the South American Soccer Confederation suspended Isidro Romero, the multimillionaire owner of Barcelona of Ecuador, for one year and fined him $50,000 for his “violent conduct and behavior” toward the referee after a Copa Libertadores game between Barcelona and Olimpia of Paraguay.
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In Portugal, FC Porto won the Portuguese Cup by defeating Sporting Lisbon, 2-1, in a replay of the final after the first match ended in a scoreless tie after extra time.
It was the 12th Cup victory for Porto, whose coach, Bobby Robson, had been fired by Sporting in December. Robson coached England into the semifinals of the 1990 World Cup.
In another development, the Portuguese federation named Antonio Oliveira as Portugal’s new national team coach, replacing Nilo Vingada.
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In El Salvador, Alianza won its fifth national championship by defeating runner-up FAS, 2-1, at San Salvador in the final round of play. Luis Angel Firpo finished third and Tiburones fourth.
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In Australia, the national team scored a pair of 1-0 victories over South Africa in Adelaide and Sydney, thanks to goals by Aurelio Vidmar and Jason Polak, respectively.
“We’ve got to learn to play in other people’s back yards,” South Africa’s coach, Clive Barker, said after the Adelaide game, the first between the countries in 39 years.
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In Hungary, a crushing 7-1 defeat by the Netherlands resulted in the departure of both the national team coach and the president of the national league.
Coach Jozsef Verebes stepped down, saying he was “tired of fighting windmills and struggling in vain.”
League president Mihaly Laczko also left, citing lack of funds.
