MetroStars Pin a Loss on the Wizards
Cornell Glen and Amado Guevara scored to lead the MetroStars to a 2-1 victory over the Wizards on Wednesday night in front of 8,138 at Kansas City, Mo., ending the Wizards’ nine-game unbeaten streak.
It also assured that the Galaxy will head into this weekend’s Major League Soccer All-Star break in first place in the Western Conference. The Wizards (9-5-5) have 32 points and still have a game in hand on the Galaxy (9-5-6, 33 points)
The MetroStars (8-6-5, 29 points) won for the third time in their last four games and maintained their lead in the Eastern Conference by five points over the Columbus Crew.
Chris Klein scored for the Wizards, who hadn’t lost since June 2 but were coming off a 2-2 home tie against the Galaxy.
The MetroStars scored in the 23rd minute when John Wolyniec passed to an onrushing Glen, who one-timed a shot past goalkeeper Tony Meola.
Klein tied it 14 minutes later on a penalty kick. Klein had another penalty kick early in the second half, but goalkeeper Jonny Walker stopped it.
Guevara scored the winning goal on a free kick in the 66th minute.
In other MLS games, Edson Buddle scored twice on passes from Simon Elliott to lead Columbus (6-5-6) to a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Burn (6-7-5) in front of 13,069 at Columbus, Ohio.
Buddle scored in the 38th and 43rd minutes to give the Crew a 2-0 lead. Jason Kreis had a goal in the 59th minute for Dallas, which didn’t take another shot.
At Denver, Jean Philippe Peguero and Mark Chung scored to lead the Colorado Rapids (6-5-8) to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire (4-8-7) in front of 9,453.
Celtic Beats Man U
Craig Beattie scored in the 71st minute to give Glasgow Celtic a 2-1 victory over Manchester United in a ChampionsWorld Series exhibition game at Philadelphia.
Beattie took a pass at midfield and rushed down the right side, beating charging goalkeeper Tim Howard before watching the ball roll into the net to break a 1-1 tie.
Chris Sutton scored for Celtic in the ninth minute on a penalty kick. After being taken down in the box by United defenseman Jonathan Spector, Sutton beat Howard to the bottom-left corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Alan Smith scored in the 35th minute for United, heading in a corner kick by Christopher Eagles.
The ChampionsWorld Series tour continues today in Pittsburgh when Chelsea takes on AS Roma.
Osieck Won’t Coach
Holger Osieck has turned down an offer to become the assistant to Germany Coach Juergen Klinsmann, dealing a blow to the former star striker’s hopes of teaming up with one of the country’s most experienced coaches.
Klinsmann, who agreed to a contract Monday to lead Germany through the 2006 World Cup, met with the 56-year-old Osieck, but the two had different ideas of how the job should be handled.
Former VfB Stuttgart and Hannover 96 coach Ralf Rangnick is now the front-runner to become Klinsmann’s assistant.
U.S. U-21 Women Win
Natasha Kai scored two goals and Sarah Huffman had another to lead the U.S. under-21 women’s team to a 3-0 victory over Germany at Dalvik, Iceland, to clinch a spot in the finals of the Nordic Cup.
The U.S will be seeking its sixth consecutive Cup title when it plays Sweden today.
Quick Passes
Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira has not agreed to contract terms with Real Madrid, his agent, Steve Kutner, said a day after reports surfaced that the French international had.... Barcelona wants to take Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse on loan this season, but Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said that it wouldn’t happen.
Bolton signed Israeli captain Tal Ben Haim to a three-year contract, hours after completing a deal for former Spain and Real Madrid captain Fernando Hierro.... Santos midfielder Diego has been signed by Portugal’s FC Porto, according to Pele’s website. That move comes a day after Chelsea signed defender Ricardo Carvalho from Porto for $36.5 million.
France defender Bixente Lizarazu has left German club Bayern Munich and signed a two-year contract with Olympique Marseille of the French league.... Former England star Paul Gascoigne, 37, said he was “110%” sure of signing with division three Boston United as a player-coach.... Iran moved into the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup after a 0-0 tie against Japan at Chongqing, China. Japan, which won its group, also advanced.
-- Compiled by Jim Barrero
