Manchester United Advances
Manchester United thumped Juventus, 3-0, in Turin, Italy, and AC Milan edged Lokomotiv Moscow, 1-0, in Russia on Tuesday to become the first teams to qualify for the quarterfinals of the European Champions League.
Meanwhile, defending champion Real Madrid stayed alive, barely managing a 1-1 tie at Borussia Dortmund, thanks to an injury-time goal, and Deportivo Coruna also remained in the hunt with a 1-0 home victory over Basel.
AC Milan was the first to make the final eight, taking the lead against Lokomotiv on a 34th-minute penalty kick by Rivaldo after Filippo Inzaghi had been brought down by Vadim Yevseyev, and then holding on to win in front of 30,000 in Moscow.
Manchester United’s victory was more comprehensive, albeit against a curiously mistake-prone and out-of-sorts Juventus team. Manchester Coach Alex Ferguson chose to leave Welsh winger Ryan Giggs and Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on the bench, but both came on as substitutes to score the goals.
After Uruguayan forward Diego Forlan had injured an ankle ligament in the eighth minute in front of 59,111 at the Stadium of the Alps, Giggs entered and took over the game, scoring in the 15th and 41st minutes. He was replaced by Van Nistelrooy in the second half and the striker tied his own Champions League record by scoring his 10th goal this season in the 63rd minute.
At Dortmund, 52,400 saw the German champions take the lead on a goal by Czech striker Jan Koller in the 22nd minute, and for the rest of regulation that appeared sufficient. But Javier Portillo scored two minutes into stoppage time to snatch a point for Real Madrid.
In La Coruna, Spain, Diego Tristan put Deportivo ahead in the fourth minute and the Spaniards hung on to defeat Basel, the Swiss champion, in front of 21,000.
Four more Champions League games will be played today, when Barcelona also can secure a quarterfinal place by beating Inter Milan in Italy.
U.S. Squad
Galaxy rookie midfielder Guillermo “Memo” Gonzalez of Paramount was among 18 players selected Tuesday by Coach John Ellinger for the United States under-17 national team that will travel to Guatemala on Sunday to play three qualifying matches for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Finland in August.
Also chosen was defender Brandon Owens of Murrieta.
Gonzalez and Owens were not the most intriguing of Ellinger’s picks, however. That honor went to forward Freddy Adu, a Ghana-born 13-year-old from Potomac, Md., who obtained his U.S. citizenship only this month but is seen as one of the country’s brightest soccer prospects.
Quick Passes
Mexican national team striker Antonio de Negris, 24, joined Villarreal of the Spanish league on loan from Monterrey of the Mexican league.... Germany World Cup midfielder Michael Ballack, 26, was fined more than $11,000 by his club, Bayern Munich, for criticizing Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s tactics.... Torino was banned from using its home stadium for five games after fans rioted Saturday during a loss to AC Milan in a Serie A game that had to be abandoned after 63 minutes.... Thirty-nine Manchester United fans were arrested and briefly detained after damaging a city tram in Turin the night before Wednesday’s game.
