Medellin Ends 45-Year Wait
Forty-five years of frustration have ended for Medellin, which on Sunday won its first Colombian title since 1957 when it tied Pasto, 1-1, in the second game of the two-game final to claim the title, 3-1, on aggregate.
Goalkeeper David Gonzalez, 20, was the key player for Medellin, making a series of saves to deny Pasto, which was urged on by a sellout crowd of 25,000 at Estadio Libertad in the southern city of Pasto.
Mauricio Molina scored directly off a free kick to give Medellin the advantage after 28 minutes, but Pasto, which has been in the first division for only four years, fought back and tied the score on Walter Escobar’s goal in the 57th minute.
In a bitterly contested match -- three players were ejected, two from Medellin -- the home team dominated the second half but was denied time and again by Gonzalez.
Medellin Coach Victor Luna, who took charge in September with the team struggling in 13th place, said Monday he had copied the formula used by Brazil’s World Cup-winning coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari.
“The first thing I did was to give the players back their self-esteem, just like [Scolari] did with Brazil,” he said. It worked. Under Luna, Medellin lost only two of 20 games in its run to the championship.
Emelec Wins
Ecuador’s league championship race came down to the proverbial wire, with Emelec staging a dramatic comeback to win the title for the 10th time and the second year in succession.
The club, based in the port city of Guayaquil, was one point behind co-leaders Barcelona and El Nacional before Sunday’s final round, during which it defeated Aucas, 2-1, with defender Augusto Poroso providing the championship-clinching goal.
Barcelona was held to a scoreless tie at Liga de Quito and El Nacional was defeated by Deportivo Quito, 4-1, allowing Emelec to overtake both clubs.
Colo Colo
Declared bankrupt a year ago and having emerged from beneath the administration of the court only 10 days ago, Colo Colo nonetheless found the resources it needed to earn its 23rd Chilean championship.
The Santiago club swept Universidad Catolica in the two-game title series, winning the first, 2-0, Wednesday and the second, 3-2, Sunday to win its first championship since 1998.
Referee Change
Jack Warner, president of CONCACAF and a FIFA vice president, said in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, that world soccer’s governing body has decided to abandon its policy of using only referees 45 or younger for international matches.
There was no immediate confirmation of the change from FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
Fulham Setback
Craven Cottage, the stadium alongside the River Thames that has been the home of English Premier League team Fulham for 106 years, will not get the face-liftfans had expected after Mohamed Al Fayed, the London club’s chairman, decided the multimillion cost would be prohibitive.
“Clearly, to saddle the club with this magnitude of debt in the current financial climate would be foolhardy in the extreme and could seriously jeopardize the long-term future of the club,” Fulham said in a statement.
Quick Passes
Defending champion Thailand, co-host Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have advanced to the semifinals of the nine-nation Tiger Cup in Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia.... Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara, 23, the J-League’s player of the year and the top goal scorer for league champion Jubilo Iwata, signed a 2 1/2-year contract to play for Hamburg SV in Germany and will join the Bundesliga club Jan. 4. Terms were not revealed.... Carlos Bianchi has agreed to return for three years as coach of Boca Juniors, the Argentine team he coached with great success between 1998 and 2001.
