Scottish Champion Celtic Suffers Stunning Failure
Five-time winner AC Milan on Wednesday qualified for the 32-team European Champions League, as did another former winner, Barcelona of Spain, but Scottish champion Glasgow Celtic crashed out at the final hurdle.
Milan made it through to the lucrative tournament despite losing, 2-1, to Slovan Liberec in the Czech Republic. The Italian team had won the first match of the two-game series, 1-0, in Milan, and when the aggregate score ended up tied, 2-2, striker Filippo Inzaghi’s vital away goal Wednesday was the crucial difference.
Away goals count double when the aggregate score is tied over two games.
Barcelona had no such difficulties. It shut out Legia Warsaw of Poland, 1-0, in Warsaw to advance, 4-0 on aggregate, after winning the first game in Barcelona, 3-0, two weeks ago. Gaizka Mendieta scored Wednesday’s goal on a 68th-minute penalty kick.
For Celtic, which in 1967 became the first British club to win the European Cup, Wednesday’s ouster at the feet of FC Basel of Switzerland was totally unexpected. The Scottish club had won the first game, 3-1, in Glasgow, and qualification was expected to be a formality.
But Basel, playing at home, got first-half goals from Christian Gimenez and Murat Yakin to win, 2-0. That tied the aggregate score, 3-3, and FC Basel advanced on the away goals rule.
“We had the advantage going into the game and we wanted to preserve that in the first 25 minutes,” said Celtic Coach Martin O’Neill. “In that period, we conceded two goals and we had to abandon the plan. We had to score, but it was not to be.”
Galaxy Rebuffed
Major League Soccer and the Galaxy have been rebuffed in their initial efforts to sign South Korea’s World Cup captain, Hong Myung-Bo.
Hong plays in the K-League for the Pohang Steelers, whose coach, Choi Soon-Ho, said Wednesday that the offer made by MLS for the 33-year-old defender was “unreasonable and nonsense.”
Choi told Reuters that a transfer fee of $200,000 had been offered.
USA Women on TV
Today’s semifinal match between the United States and Germany in the first FIFA Under-19 World Championship will be broadcast live from Edmonton, Canada, on Fox Sports World at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time, U.S. Soccer announced.
Host Canada plays Brazil in the other semifinal, with the winners meeting Sunday for the inaugural title in a 1 p.m. (Pacific) championship match that the network also will carry.
Hejduk Moves On
U.S. World Cup defender Frankie Hejduk has signed a one-year contract with St Gallen of the Swiss first division after being released by Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga.
The 28-year-old former UCLA player from San Diego spent four seasons with Leverkusen.
Magee Nets Four
The U.S. under-20 national team overpowered Ukraine, 5-2, with forward Mike Magee of the Chicago Sockers scoring four goals, to advance to the semifinals of the XIX Torneo Internacional de Futbol de l’Alcudia in Valencia, Spain.
The Americans were set to meet Uruguay in one semifinal, and Brazil will play Costa Rica in the other.
Roa Sinks Lower
Carlos Roa, Argentina’s starting goalkeeper at the 1998 World Cup in France, Wednesday signed a one-year contract with Albacete of the Spanish second division. Roa, 33, was a free agent after completing his contract with Real Mallorca and had been rumored to be on his way to Arsenal of the English Premier League.
Player Drops Shorts
Midfielder Rodolfo Garcia, an Argentine playing for Espoli in Ecuador’s first division, has been banned for six months for indecent exposure.
“He dropped his shorts right in front of the referee [during a league match against Liga de Quito],” said an Ecuador soccer federation spokesman. “He has been suspended for behavior that damages the prestige of the national sport.”
Garcia apparently was angry at being ordered by the referee to keep his shirt tucked in.
Astudillo Elected
Oscar Astudillo, a 47-year-old lawyer and former president of Deportivo Cali of the Colombian league, was elected president of the Colombian soccer federation Tuesday night. Astudillo said his immediate priority would be to find a coach for the national team, which has been without one since Francisco “Paco” Maturana resigned after failing to qualify Colombia for this year’s World Cup.
Bolivian Problems
The Bolivian league has imposed a maximum salary of $1,500 a month for players and coaches and has banned them from receiving additional bonuses. It has also banned referees from traveling outside their home cities.
Twellman Leads Revolution
Taylor Twellman scored twice in the first half to grab a share of the MLS goal lead as the New England Revolution beat the Colorado Rapids, 3-1, at Foxboro, Mass.
Twellman is tied with the Galaxy’s Carlos Ruiz with 17 goals.
New England improved to 9-14-1 and Colorado fell to 11-11-3.
Cienfuegos Honored
Galaxy midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos, a favorite son in his native El Salvador, will have a sports complex in his home country named after him in La Union.
The complex, which will include a regulation soccer field, locker rooms, track and field, lights and sprinkler system, will cost $50,000. Fans can make a tax-deductible donation of $50 to the project and, in return, receive two tickets for the Galaxy’s Sept. 14 match against San Jose, a T-shirt with a photo of Cienfuegos, a $5 certificate for Liborios Market and have their name on a plaque at the Mauricio Cienfuegos Sports Complex.
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Staff writer Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.
