France Reaches Final of Confederations Cup
On a day overshadowed by the death of Marc-Vivien Foe, defending champion France and African champion Cameroon advanced Thursday to the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup.
France edged Turkey, 3-2, in front of 41,195 at the Stade de France in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, building a two-goal lead in the first half-hour and then fighting off a Turkish rally.
Arsenal’s Thierry Henry opened the scoring in the 11th minute, beating Barcelona-bound goalkeeper Rustu Recber from close range, and then set up his Gunner teammate Robert Pires for the second goal in the 26th minute.
The Turks could have gone into the locker room trailing by only a goal after midfielder Gokdeniz Karadeniz cut the deficit in half at the 42-minute mark, but moments later a third Arsenal player, Sylvain Wiltord, made it 3-1.
Turkey stepped up its attack in the second half and got a goal eight minutes in from striker Tuncay Sanli, but its chance of tying the match disappeared in the 87th minute when Okan Yilmaz hit a penalty kick wide of the net after a foul by Olivier Dacourt on Alpay Ozalan.
Cameroon reached Sunday’s final by beating South American champion Colombia, 1-0, on a ninth-minute goal by Pius Ndiefi in front of 12,352 at Lyon, France.
$11-Million Fine
Argentina national team midfielder Ariel Ortega was suspended for six months and fined $11 million by FIFA on Thursday after breaking his contract with Fenerbahce of Turkey.
Ortega, 29, was under contract to the Turkish team until 2006 after being acquired from River Plate last year. He walked out on the club in February and returned to Argentina, citing differences with teammates.
Tracking Beckham
Midfielder David Beckham arrived back in England after his promotional tour of Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand on Thursday, only to learn that his new team, Real Madrid, and its new coach, Carlos Queiroz, will be leaving for Asia on July 24.
The Spanish club will play in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia during a two-week preseason tour, including games against China in Hong Kong on Aug. 8 and Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 10.
Quick Passes
Barcelona said that it would not exercise its option to buy Spanish international Gaizka Mendieta from Lazio for $24 million, but instead would return the midfielder to the Italian club when his one-year loan expires next month.... New York/New Jersey MetroStar defender Steve Jolley will be sidelined for two months after injuring his right hip.... Aston Villa of the English Premier League has acquired goalkeeper Paul Robinson from Leeds United for $5 million.
