Howard Is Stellar for Manchester
American Tim Howard took another giant stride toward becoming Manchester United’s starting goalkeeper Sunday when he saved two penalty kicks while leading the Red Devils to a 4-3 shootout victory over Arsenal in the annual F.A. Community Shield match.
The game, between the defending English champion and the English F.A. Cup holder, marked the start of the English season and was played in temperatures of nearly 100 degrees in front of 50,000 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
A header by Mikael Silvestre gave United the lead in the 15th minute, but Arsenal’s Thierry Henry tied the score five minutes later with a perfectly struck 25-yard free kick that sneaked inside Howard’s right post.
Regulation ended with the score 1-1, and during the penalty shootout that followed Howard first stopped a shot from Giovanni van Bronckhorst and then made the decisive save on 1998 World Cup winner Robert Pires.
“I couldn’t fault him today,” United Coach Sir Alex Ferguson said of the former New York/New Jersey MetroStars’ goalkeeper. “He enjoyed the penalty kicks. He shows no fear, which is terrific to see. His spring is great, his agility. We’re very pleased with him.”
Howard is challenging last season’s first-choice goalkeeper, Fabien Barthez, and two others for the starting position.
Players wore black armbands and the crowd observed a minute of silence before the match in honor of Jimmy Davis, a 21-year-old United player on loan to Watford, who was killed in a car crash Saturday, and former Blackburn Rover coach Ray Harford, who died Saturday at 58 after a lengthy fight against cancer.
Real Madrid Wins
Spanish champion Real Madrid ended its four-match tour of the Far East by defeating Thailand’s national team, 2-1, in front of 60,000 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
Goals by Javier Portillo and Fernando Morientes were enough to give Real its fourth victory in as many games on the trip.
“We played below our standard today because this was the fourth match in Asia,” Real striker Raul said. “We were exhausted.”
Thailand Coach Peter Withe, a veteran of the long-defunct North American Soccer League, was pleased that his team had held its own with Real’s star-studded lineup.
“Our team did not panic playing against such a big team,” he said. “Our strikers have trained hard. It is such a great experience for our players.”
PSV Unimpressive
Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven won the Dutch Super Cup for the seventh time in the last 13 years when it defeated Utrecht, 3-1, in Amsterdam on goals by Arjen Robben, Mark van Bommel and Mateja Kezman.
The result left PSV Coach Guus Hiddink unimpressed, however.
“The first half we played statically, we didn’t move enough and hardly created any chances,” Hiddink said. “But a team like PSV is always obliged to win trophies and that is what we did today.”
Swedish Women
Sweden, the United States’ first opponent in next month’s fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup, continued its qualifying march toward the European Women’s Championship by edging Finland, 2-1.
It was a far less dominating performance than the Swedes’ earlier 6-0 and 5-0 victories over Switzerland and Italy, respectively, and Coach Marika Domanski Lyfors was unhappy despite Hanna Ljungberg’s second-half, game-winning goal.
“I’m pleased that we won the game, but I’m disappointed with the performance,” Lyfors said. “Our defense was very passive and that spread throughout the whole team. Finland proved today that they’re a good side -- you have to play at top level, otherwise you’re in for a tough ride.”
In the first round of the Women’s World Cup, the U.S. plays Sweden in Washington on Sept. 21, then meets Nigeria four days later in Philadelphia and North Korea on Sept. 28 in Columbus, Ohio.
WUSA Wrap
A penalty kick by Kristine Lilly earned the Boston Breakers (10-4-7) a 1-0 victory over the San Jose CyberRays (7-10-4) in San Jose in the final match of the regular season in the Women’s United Soccer Assn.
The win also secured first place for Boston in the eight-team league and home-field advantage in the playoffs.
In an earlier game, the Atlanta Beat (9-3-8) was held to a 1-1 tie at home by the New York Power (7-9-5). The Beat got an early goal from Charmaine Hooper but later conceded one to New York’s Margaret Tietjen.
Meanwhile, WUSA announced its playoff semifinal pairings, in which the Washington Freedom will play at Boston on Saturday and the San Diego Spirit will play at Atlanta on Sunday. The league’s championship match will be in San Diego on Aug. 24.
Quick Passes
FC Porto, which this year already has won the UEFA Cup, the Portuguese league championship and the Portuguese Cup, on Sunday added the Portuguese Super Cup to its array of trophies by beating Uniao Leiria, 1-0, in Guimares, Portugal, on a goal by Francisco Costinha.... South Africa lost one of its most promising players Saturday night when Lesley Manyathela, 21, a striker for the Orlando Pirates and the top goal-scorer in the South African league last season, was killed in a car crash near his hometown of Mussina, South Africa.... Iraq returns to international competition this week when it plays Iran, Uruguay and Cameroon in a quadrangular tournament in Tehran.... Leeds United lost defender Michael Duberry for eight weeks after he fractured his cheekbone in a friendly against Aston Villa in Dublin, Ireland.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
