Ronaldo Caps Series Win for Real Madrid
A hat trick by Brazilian striker Ronaldo on Wednesday earned defending champion Real Madrid a place in the semifinals of the European Champions Cup despite the Spanish team’s 4-3 loss to Manchester United in an intriguing game at Old Trafford in England.
In Milan, AC Milan became the third Italian team to reach the semifinals when an injury-time goal by Swedish striker Jon Dahl Tomasson gave it a 3-2 victory over Ajax Amsterdam in an equally fascinating game at San Siro.
Manchester United needed to overcome a 3-1 loss to Madrid in the first leg of the quarterfinal series, but goals by Ronaldo in the 12th, 50th and 59th minutes undid those hopes.
“Tonight was his night,” Real Coach Vicente del Bosque said of Ronaldo, who was applauded off the field by United fans. “He proved that with three goals. We only created three chances for him, but he converted all three of them.”
Two late goals by David Beckham, who was controversially left on the bench for the first hour, plus an earlier goal by Ruud Van Nistelrooy and an own goal by Real’s Ivan Helguera, gave United the win but not the series.
“The key was to keep them out and we couldn’t do that,” Manchester United Coach Alex Ferguson said of his team’s 6-5 aggregate loss.
Real Madrid will play Juventus in one semifinal, while the other will be an all-Italian affair between city rivals AC Milan and Inter Milan.
AC Milan had tied Ajax, 0-0, in Amsterdam, but on Wednesday Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko twice put Milan ahead only for Ajax to tie it on goals by Jari Litmanen and Steven Pienaar before Tomasson’s 91st-minute winner.
Mozambique Tragedy
Twelve people were killed, including seven players and the coach of the Mozambique first division team Wane Pone FC, when the minibus they were traveling in crashed into a truck 200 miles north of Maputo, Mozambique.
Thirteen others were injured, five of them critically, when the minibus slammed into the stationary truck that was carrying gas pipes for the construction of a pipeline in Inhambane province.
Airesh Aly, the provincial governor, told Reuters that initial reports suggested the minibus had been speeding, but the cause of Tuesday’s crash, Mozambique’s worst soccer accident, remained under investigation.
Quick Passes
Defending South American champion Olimpia of Paraguay was upset, 3-2, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday night by Gremio of Brazil in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores second-round series.... South Korean international midfielder Lee Young-Pyo celebrated his 26th birthday Wednesday by signing a three-year contract with Dutch league leader PSV Eindhoven.
