Soccer / DAILY REPORT
Tim Howard’s debut in goal for Manchester United was a spectacular success Thursday night as the former New York/New Jersey MetroStar helped the English Premier League champions rout Italian Serie A champion Juventus, 4-1, in front of 79,005 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
It was the largest crowd to see a game in the United States since the 1999 Women’s World Cup.
Howard, from New Brunwick, N.J., made 12 saves as United won for the third time in as many ChampionsWorld Series games.
“I thought he was brilliant, absolutely fantastic,” Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United coach, told Fox Sports World.
The same could be said for the United team, whose superb possession play, exceptional passing and lethal finishing served as a warning notice to the rest of Europe for the season ahead.
A free kick goal by Ryan Giggs started the Italians’ downfall, the Welshman lifting the ball over the defensive wall and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the 24th minute. Paul Scholes made it 2-0 off an incisive pass by Norway’s Ole Gunnar Solksjaer in the 57th minute, and Ruud Van Nistelrooy underlined United’s superiority with a volleyed goal three minutes later. Controlling a pass from Argentina’s Juan Sebastian Veron with his chest, the Dutch striker turned and hit an unstoppable shot for his third goal in as many matches in the seven-team, seven-game series.
Stunned by the onslaught, Juventus Coach Marcello Lippi yanked seven of his 11 starters in one simultaneous mass substitution, and the fresh legs briefly helped. Juventus threatened to make a game of it, especially after Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved’s goal in the 70th minute denied Howard the shutout.
But Solksjaer scored United’s fourth in the 79th minute off a pass from Uruguay’s Diego Forlan, and Manchester’s victory could have been even more lopsided had Scholes not hit the post with a shot and had Forlan not missed two chances, including an open-net effort that he guided wide.
United also made liberal substitutions, with Veron coming off in the 66th minute of what might have been his final game for the English champions. Britain’s SkySports News reported Thursday that Veron would join rival Chelsea by the weekend.
Vittorio Chiusano, the 74-year-old president of Juventus, died at a private clinic in Turin, Italy, Thursday. He had been suffering from heart problems for several years and did not accompany the team on its current U.S. tour.
*
Chacon Traded
Less than 24 hours after defeating the Columbus Crew, 2-1, and little more than one week before playing the Crew again, the Galaxy traded veteran midfielder Alex Pineda Chacon to Columbus.
Major League Soccer’s 2001 most valuable player had been acquired from the New England Revolution in January in exchange for goalkeeper Matt Reis and the 19th overall pick in the 2003 draft. But Chacon, 33, failed to rediscover his form of two seasons ago and appeared in only six games for Los Angeles. Columbus gave the Galaxy a conditional 2004 draft pick for the former Honduran international.
*
Barcelona Bows
Throughout the 104-year history of FC Barcelona, the Catalan club has proudly maintained the tradition of keeping its club colors free of advertising. No sponsor’s name has ever appeared on the players’ shirts.
That might change soon, however, because the team’s new president, Joan Laporta, has been negotiating with several international companies in New York that could be willing to pay as much as $15 million a year to have their name associated with Barcelona.
The Spanish sports daily El Mundo Deportivo quoted Laporta as saying the club, which is deeply in debt and having just spent $34 million to acquire Ronaldinho, was “open to all proposals.”
Times wire services contributed to this report.
