Adu Has Impressive First Game
Freddy Adu, the 13-year-old Ghanaian-born youngster from Potomac, Md., made a spectacular debut for the United States on Wednesday night, scoring one goal and creating another as the U.S. under-17 national team defeated Jamaica, 3-0, at Guatemala, in a qualifying game for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Finland in August.
In a later match, El Salvador tied host Guatemala, 2-2, in the same Mateo Flores Stadium at Guatemala City.
The U.S. dominated its game, taking the lead in the fifth minute when Adu, who became an American citizen only last month, beat two defenders before crossing the ball for Corey Ashe to score from close range.
Coach John Ellinger’s team doubled its lead in the 37th minute when Galaxy rookie Guillermo “Memo” Gonzalez took a short corner from Adu and sent the ball to John DiRaimondo, who headed it in.
Adu capped his debut with a goal in the game’s dying moments, taking a long pass from U.S. goalkeeper Phil Marfuggi, drawing the Jamaican goalkeeper out wide, and then cutting inside and beating three defenders before scoring.
U.S. Tops Norway
Coach Thomas Rongen’s U.S. under-20 national team remained unbeaten Wednesday in the seventh annual Madeira International Tournament in Camacha, Portugal, when it shut out Norway, 2-0, on goals by San Jose Earthquake forward Arturo Alvarez and Indiana University midfielder Ned Grabavoy.
On Tuesday, in its tournament opener, the U.S. tied host Portugal, 1-1, with New York/New Jersey MetroStar midfielder Mike Magee scoring for the Americans, who can win the event with a victory Friday over a Madeira Regional Select team.
War Decision
A decision on whether to postpone the scheduled March 25-April 16 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates because of the threat of war in nearby Iraq will be made either today or Friday, world soccer’s governing body said Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.
Julio Grondona, a FIFA vice president from Argentina, tipped FIFA’s hand by telling Argentine media that “the idea is to postpone the tournament but not to change the venue.”
Argentina is the defending under-20 world champion. Several of the 24 participating teams have expressed concern about safety, especially England and the U.S.
Copa Libertadores
Cruz Azul of Mexico was routed, 6-1, by Fenix of Uruguay in a Copa Libertadores match played in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Sebastian Abreu gave the Mexican League team the early lead, but three goals by Martin Liguera and one each by Javier Campora, German Hornos and Milton Cortes brought about the rout.
Spanish Cup
A seemingly endless wait ended Wednesday for Recreativo Huelva when Spain’s oldest club tied Osasuna, 2-2, to win its two-game semifinal series, 4-2 on aggregate, and qualify for the Spanish King’s Cup final for the first time in the club’s 114-year history.
Recreativo Huelva will play Real Mallorca in the final after the latter club tied Deportivo Coruna, 1-1, Wednesday to secure its semifinal series, 4-3 on aggregate.
German Cup
Bayern Munich remained on course for the league and Cup double when the runaway Bundesliga leader defeated Bayer Leverkusen, 3-1, in Munich to reach the German Cup final. Brazilian striker Elber scored twice and Michael Ballack once for Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s team.
First-place Bayern Munich will play last-place Kaiserslautern in the May 31 final in Berlin after debt-ridden Kaiserslautern beat Werder Bremen, 3-0, on goals by Lincoln, Miroslav Klose and Christian Timm in the other semifinal Tuesday.
UEFA Cup
Lazio of Rome became the last team to reach the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup on Wednesday when it edged Wisla Krakow of Poland, 2-1, in Krakow, to win the two-game series, 5-4 on aggregate.
