AC Milan Eliminated
A dramatic upset once again highlighted the quarterfinals of the European Champions League on Wednesday, when defending champion and six-time winner AC Milan was knocked out of the tournament by Deportivo La Coruna.
The Spanish club, trailing, 4-1, after the first leg in Italy, scored an improbable 4-0 victory in Spain to win the series, 5-4 on aggregate, and advance to the semifinals.
There, Coach Javier Irureta’s team will play FC Porto, which tied French champion Olympique Lyon, 2-2, in France, to win its quarterfinal series, 4-2 on aggregate.
Goals by Walter Pandiani, Juan Carlos Valeron and Albert Luque in the first half and Fran Gonzalez in the second half earned Deportivo the surprise result.
“There was always hope,” Irureta told Spanish television. “It was a sensational first half, and we knew how to play the second half with care.”
FC Porto, the reigning Portuguese champion and UEFA Cup holder, had little difficulty earning the tie that put it in the semifinals. Maniche scored both of its goals; Peguy Luyindula and Giovane Elber scored for Lyon.
The Day After
Real Madrid, which was knocked out of the European Champions League on Tuesday by AS Monaco, remained shell-shocked Wednesday.
“There are no words to describe the disappointment,” team captain Raul said. Coach Carlos Queiroz found some anyway.
“There are two places which are similar in life -- hell and soccer,” Queiroz told Spain’s El Pais newspaper.
In London, Arsenal was still reeling from being ousted from the English F.A. Cup by Manchester United in the semifinals Saturday and from the European Champions League by Chelsea in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
The first-place Gunners are unbeaten in 30 English Premier League games this season but play Liverpool and Newcastle this weekend, and both of those clubs are fighting for fourth place and a spot in next season’s Champions League.
If Arsenal stumbles again, Chelsea could overtake it.
“It will be difficult to lift the players, but it’s a great test of our mental strength,” Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger said.
“We must show that we are about more than just winning games when it is going well. We must show that we have the togetherness when things are not going well.”
No Autographs Please
Manchester United has ordered its players not to sign soccer balls and jerseys outside its training ground.
The club believes unscrupulous dealers are using children to get the autographed items and then selling them on the Internet.
“Due to dealers profiteering from the sale of signed memorabilia via the Internet ... the players will no longer sign footballs or shirts,” states a sign posted at the training ground. “We apologize to our genuine supporters.”
Quick Passes
Goals by Kerri Hanks and Alexa Orand earned the United States under-19 women’s national team a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands at the Home Depot Center on Tuesday afternoon. In another match, Japan edged China, 2-1. China plays the Netherlands today at 4 p.m. and the U.S. plays Japan at 6:30 p.m.... Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire traded Jamaican midfielder Khari Stephenson, 23, to the Kansas City Wizards in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2005 MLS draft.... World champion Brazil will play Germany on Sept. 8 in Berlin’s refurbished Olympiastadion -- site of the 2006 World Cup final -- in a rematch of the 2002 World Cup final, which Brazil won, 2-0, on two goals by Ronaldo.
-- Compiled by Grahame L. Jones
