Another Bad Break for England
England’s World Cup hopes suffered their second serious blow in as many weeks Wednesday when defender Gary Neville broke a bone in his foot during Manchester United’s 2-2 tie with Bayer Leverkusen of Germany in the semifinals of the European Champions League.
The injury is identical to the one suffered by midfielder David Beckham, Neville’s Manchester United and England teammate, exactly two weeks earlier in the quarterfinals of the same competition.
“Believe it or not, it’s the same [injury] as David’s,” said Manchester United Coach Alex Ferguson. “It’s unbelievable, absolutely incredible.”
Neville, 27, suffered the injury 17 minutes into the game when he tackled Leverkusen forward Ze Roberto. Neville is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
England’s first World Cup game is against Sweden on June 2.
Bayer Leverkusen twice came from behind to earn the tie and leave the German Bundesliga leader in excellent position to advance to the May 15 final after it hosts the second game in the home-and-home semifinal series on Tuesday.
Norway’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave Manchester United the lead half an hour into the match with a goal that deflected in off defender Boris Zivkovic, and United still led after an hour.
In the 62nd minute, however, Leverkusen and Germany midfielder Michael Ballack chipped United’s France ’98 World Cup-winning goalkeeper, Fabien Barthez, to tie the score.
The crowd of 66,534 at Old Trafford in Manchester was brought to its feet five minutes later when Roberto tripped United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy and the Dutch striker scored from the penalty spot to restore Manchester’s lead.
Leverkusen’s substitute Oliver Neuville tied the match in the 75th minute, however, and the two away goals could be vital as Coach Klaus Toppmoeller’s team tries to reach its first European Champions League final in the same season that should see it win its first German league title.
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Barcelona, which lost, 2-0, to Real Madrid on Tuesday in the other semifinal, received more bad news Wednesday when the Catalan club discovered that Dutch defender Michael Reiziger had suffered a thigh muscle injury in that game and probably will miss the return game in Madrid on May 1.
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Russia will bid to stage the 2008 European Championship even though it has not received any government backing for the move, Alexander Tukmanov, executive director of the Russian Football Union, told Reuters Wednesday.
“We still have time to persuade our government,” Tukmanov said. “I think that they simply cannot ignore the wishes of our people who overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Euro 2008 bid.”
There are six other bidders, with the favorite being the four-way Scandinavian bid that would split the tournament between Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
The 2004 European Championship will be played in Portugal.
Latin America
Midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme, who has led Boca Juniors of Argentina to successive Libertadores Cup titles in the last two years, has declined to travel to Ecuador, where Boca plays El Nacional in Quito tonight, because he fears for his family’s safety.
Riquelme’s 17-year-old brother, Cristian, was kidnapped earlier this month but released 24 hours later. The family declined to comment on whether any ransom had been paid.
“This situation has deeply affected him and he believes they [his family] are in danger, so he is making them his priority,” a Boca Juniors spokesman said.
Riquelme, who is on the fringe of Argentina’s World Cup squad, was expected to join Barcelona next season, but now is being linked with Atletico Madrid, which is about to gain promotion back to the first division.
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While the United States is being given a World Cup send-off in Foxboro, Mass., where it plays the Netherlands on May 19, Mexico will be given a similar and perhaps even louder send-off at the Coliseum that same afternoon.
Pat Lynch, general manager of the Coliseum, said Wednesday that AC Milan of Italy will be the final opponent for Coach Javier Aguirre’s team before it leaves for Japan and first-round games against Croatia, Ecuador and Italy.
The May 19 game will kick off at 2 p.m.
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Paraguay Coach Cesare Maldini, the father of Italy World Cup veteran defender Paolo Maldini, returns to South America today, one week after Paraguay was crushed, 4-0, by England in a World Cup warmup game.
The elder Maldini has been taken to task by the media in Paraguay for making a side trip to Italy after the defeat instead of returning with the team.
A Paraguayan Football Assn. spokesman downplayed the debate, however.
“The defeat was among the possibilities we had foreseen,” Guillermo Battilana said. “There’s no need to become desperate because of last week’s match. The coach had asked to play against England to see what stage the team is at.”
Paraguay plays South Africa, Spain and Slovenia in the first round of the World Cup.
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Goalkeeper Tony Meola earned the shutout and Kansas City got goals from Carrey Talley and Chris Brown on Wednesday night as the Wizards defeated Santos Laguna of Mexico, 2-0, in Kansas City.
The result gave the Wizards a 3-2 aggregate victory in the two-game series and advanced them to the semifinal round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
