Monaco Reaches Final
“Old money beat new,” wrote Paul Hayward of the London Telegraph after watching AS Monaco tie Chelsea, 2-2, Wednesday night at London and earn a spot in the Champions League final May 26 against FC Porto of Portugal.
If only it were that simple.
Monaco rebounded from the brink of financial extinction 11 months ago to become only the sixth French league team to play in the Champions League final.
“We deserve to be in the final,” Monaco Coach Didier Deschamps told the French sports daily L’Equipe. “Monaco has grown up, like the rest of French football. We are competitive because we work hard. A year ago, we were all at the beginning of an adventure. We were missing a lot of things.”
Chief among them: a balanced budget.
Monaco had debts of about $60.5 million and was relegated to the second division before Prince Albert, an enthusiastic supporter, urged local companies to invest in the club. Despite a last-minute reprieve that kept the club in the top division for 2003-04, Monaco could not afford new players.
Deschamps, a midfielder for the French World Cup championship team in 1998, almost quit as coach during a power struggle with team director Jean-Louis Campora.
It was Deschamps, however, who persuaded Monaco to get Fernando Morientes on loan from Spanish league power Real Madrid this season. Morientes, who has nine goals to lead the Champions League, set up one goal and scored another Wednesday against Chelsea.
“I think all the big players show up in big matches,” Deschamps said. “Morientes knows what the Champions League is all about. He goes way beyond his duty and is an example for others to look up to.”
Meanwhile ...
The future isn’t so rosy for Chelsea.
It’s a good bet the best team money could buy won’t look quite the same next season. For starters, Coach Claudio Ranieri said earlier in the week he expected to be fired, the result of his failure to turn the $251 million owner Roman Abramovich poured into the club into a sufficient number of victories.
Chelsea failed to win a spot in the Champions League final and also appears destined to finish second in the England Premiership behind Arsenal, which is trying to finish the league season undefeated.
UEFA Cup
Didier Drogba scored two goals during Marseille’s 2-0 victory Thursday over Newcastle United in a UEFA Cup semifinal. Marseille advanced to the final May 19 against Valencia, a 1-0 winner over Villarreal in the other semifinal.
Maradona Update
Diego Maradona remained hospitalized while family members and doctors considered moving him to a new clinic specializing in heart and lung treatments. Maradona returned to an intensive care unit at a Buenos Aires hospital Wednesday. He was first admitted to the hospital April 18, but checked out last week.
More Medical News
Uruguay striker Fernando Correa tested positive for cocaine after a 3-0 loss against Venezuela in a World Cup qualifier, a team doctor said. Correa is the second Uruguayan player to test positive for drugs this year.
Calling It Quits
Emerson Leao resigned as coach of Santos after the Brazilian club was upset, 4-2, by Ecuador’s Liga de Quito in the Copa Libertadores.
