Galaxy Trounces FC Lyn of Norway
The Galaxy restored some of the shine to Major League Soccer’s slightly tarnished image in Europe when it defeated FC Lyn of Norway, 5-0, Tuesday in its opening game in the La Manga Cup at Cartagena, Spain.
The victory was all the more satisfying for Coach Sigi Schmid’s team because it came one day after the San Jose Earthquakes had been shut out, 2-0, by Norwegian champion Rosenborg Trondheim in the same eight-team tournament.
The Galaxy, playing without its top scoring threat, striker Carlos Ruiz, who is playing with Guatemala in the UNCAF Copa de Naciones in Panama, nevertheless managed to overpower the Norwegians.
Forward Gavin Glinton filled in admirably for Ruiz, scoring two goals and assisting on a third. Also scoring for the MLS champion Galaxy were Chris Albright, Alexi Lalas and Sasha Victorine. Midfielder Simon Elliott assisted on three of the goals.
“I’m pleased with our first game, especially with the performance of [South Korean defender Hong] Myung-Bo and [Honduran midfielder] Alex Pineda Chacon,” Schmid said.
The Galaxy’s next game is against Torpedo Moscow of Russia on Friday.
Hat Trick for Ruiz
If the Galaxy was fine without Ruiz, Guatemala was equally fine with him.
“El Pescadito” -- “Little Fish” -- scored three goals and Guatemala routed Nicaragua, 5-0, at Panama City.
The victory, in which Fredy Garcia of the Columbus Crew and Carlos Figueroa also scored, lifted Guatemala back into contention for a place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup that goes to the Copa de Naciones tournament’s top three finishers.
Ruiz scored on a free kick in the 33rd minute, on a header off a Garcia pass in the 45th and with a shot off a rebound in the 66th.
In the second game, host Panama tied Honduras, 1-1, leaving the two teams tied with Guatemala for third place, each with four points, and behind El Salvador (nine points) and Costa Rica (seven).
Honduras took the lead on a headed goal by Jairo Martinez in the first half but Rene Mendieta tied the score in the 60th minute to the delight of Panamanian fans at Estadio Rommel Fernandez.
Beckham’s Boot
The story that Manchester United wanted to see die took on new life when Juventus Coach Marcello Lippi said he could understand the actions of United’s Scottish Coach, Alex Ferguson, in lashing out in anger at a soccer boot, sending it flying and accidentally hitting midfielder David Beckham in the face.
“What happened in that changing room [after United lost to Arsenal in the F.A. Cup on Saturday] has happened to me 50 times or more in my career,” Lippi told Reuters. “I have kicked bottles of mineral water and buckets, and it’s just by chance that I have never hit any people.
“It’s a question of technique, and Scots must have a better touch.”
Ferguson, whose Manchester United team is at home today against Juventus in the Champions League, disagreed.
“If I tried it a hundred times or a million times, it couldn’t happen again,” he said at a news conference in Manchester. “If I could do that [kick that accurately], I would have carried on playing.”
Beckham, who received a minor cut above his left eye, told Britain’s Sky TV with a straight face that there was “complete harmony” within the Manchester United camp.
Champions League
Only a couple of weeks after firing Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal, Barcelona established a European Champions League record by defeating Inter Milan, 3-0, in front of 87,000 at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona for its 11th victory in a row.
That surpassed the mark set by AC Milan in the 1992-1993 Champions League season. Barcelona won its first 10 matches of the 2003 tournament under Van Gaal, who was dismissed because of the team’s appalling performance in Spain’s La Liga.
Argentine Javier Saviola and Dutchmen Philip Cocu and Patrick Kluivert scored for new Serbian Coach Radomir Antic’s team. Inter Milan had Uruguayan midfielder Alvaro Recoba red-carded for violent play 10 minutes from the end when it appeared that he stepped on Carlos Puyol’s face after the two had tussled for the ball.
“It is a long time since Barcelona has played with such confidence,” Antic said. “A victory like this one is worth more than three points.”
At Leverkusen, Germany, Bayer Leverkusen, which fired Klaus Toppmoeller as coach Sunday after a dismal run of Bundesliga results, lost to Newcastle United, 3-1, in front of 22,500.
All the goals came in the first 32 minutes, with Shola Ameobi scoring twice and Lomana Lua Lua once for the English team. Brazilian Franca scored for Leverkusen, which lost last year’s Champions League final to Real Madrid.
The victory was achieved on Newcastle Coach Bobby Robson’s 70th birthday.
“The three points were the only present I wanted,” England’s 1990 World Cup coach said. “If we had lost here, it [the chance of reaching the quarterfinals] would probably have been over for us.”
At London, Frenchman Sylvain Wiltord gave English champion Arsenal an early lead, but Nigel De Jong soon tied the score for Ajax Amsterdam and the teams tied, 1-1, in front of a Highbury crowd of 35,427.
At Rome, AS Roma appeared ready to disappoint its 40,000 fans at Olympic Stadium by settling for a scoreless tie with Valencia, but things got even worse when Norwegian striker John Carew scored from an unlikely angle in the 79th minute to give the Spanish champion a 1-0 victory.
Carew’s shot was intended as a crossing pass but curled in at the near post with AS Roma goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli stranded at the far post.
“It wasn’t a pretty match,” said Valencia Coach Rafael Benitez. “To talk about ‘the right result’ or ‘justice’ in football doesn’t make much sense.
“It’s a win -- three more points in the bag -- and that’s enough.”
The Champions League continues with four more matches today.
