Manchester United Eases Into Title
Manchester United on Sunday won the English Premier League title without so much as kicking a ball when defending champion Arsenal was upset by Leeds United, 3-2, and knocked out of the race.
It was the 15th English championship for United and its eighth since the Premier League began in 1993.
Arsenal, knowing it had to win to avoid elimination, twice fell behind Sunday to goals by Harry Kewell and Ian Harte and twice rallied to tie on goals by Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp before Mark Viduka scored the winner in the 88th minute.
Arsenal led the Premier League by eight points only two months ago and also had a game in hand, but the team was 4-2-4 in its last 10 games. Manchester United, meanwhile, was in the midst of a 14-0-3 run that won it the title.
“In recent weeks, things went against us,” said Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger. “But you have to congratulate the team that wins it. We didn’t throw it away.”
Scolari’s Choice
Brazil is the reigning world champion and Real Madrid is the reigning world club champion, so which team is better?
Portugal Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who coached Brazil to its World Cup triumph at Korea/Japan ‘02, said there is little doubt.
“The Brazilian national side is better,” he told Reuters. “National sides in general are better than club sides. I bet if you play 10 matches, Brazil would win five or six, draw three and maybe lose two.
“Real is for sure the best club side in the world, but it is not possible to compare them to a national side, although they are in essence an international select.”
Platini’s Plan
Michel Platini, the former French World Cup star and three-time world player of the year, told L’Equipe’s Web site that he believes the UEFA Cup should be abandoned.
“The UEFA Cup has lost its prestige,” he said. “It contains teams that finished sixth and seventh in their domestic leagues, whereas before it was for teams that finished second and third.”
This year’s UEFA Cup final pits Celtic of Scotland against FC Porto of Portugal on May 21 at Seville, Spain.
Turin Tribute
A crowd of 50,000 marched Sunday through Turin, Italy, partly to honor the memory of the Torino players and coaches who died in a plane crash in Turin on May 4, 1949, and partly to show support for the current Torino team, which was relegated to Italy’s Serie B on Saturday.
Quick Passes
FC Brugge won its 12th Belgian league title and its first since 1998 after four consecutive second-place finishes.... Oswaldo de Oliveira, who coached Corinthians to a Brazilian championship and to a FIFA World Club Championship, was fired as coach of Sao Paulo....Manchester United’s David Beckham and other leading players will spearhead the English Football Assn.’s fight against racism by recording messages that will be broadcast before England’s home games, England’s Observer newspaper reported.
