Valencia Steps Up to Win UEFA Cup
Spanish champion Valencia added another trophy to its list of season honors Wednesday when it defeated Olympique Marseille of France, 2-0, in front of a sellout crowd of 42,000 at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, to win the UEFA Cup.
The turning point in the match came 35 seconds before halftime, when Valencia striker Miguel Angel “Mista” Ferrer chested down a long pass from teammate Curro Torres and was immediately upended by Marseille and France national team goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
Italian referee Pierluigi Collina ejected the 1998 World Cup winner for his lunging, feet-first tackle and awarded Valencia a penalty kick, which Vicente Rodriguez drove past 20-year-old reserve goalkeeper Jeremy Gavanon.
In order to bring Gavanon on in place of Barthez, Marseille elected to remove influential forward Camel Meriem, depriving their best player, Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba, of his strike partner.
“The red card changed the match,” Marseille Coach Jose Anigo said. “I really thought it was a bit harsh. Sometimes in similar situations you have only a yellow card.”
Playing with 10 men, Marseille was no match for Valencia in the second half and it was no surprise when Mista doubled the Spaniards’ advantage in the 58th minute with a driving left-foot shot off a pass from Vicente.
Valencia, which ended Real Madrid’s reign as Spanish champion 10 days ago, had lost in the 2000 and 2001 European Champions Cup finals, and Wednesday’s victory was a just reward for the thousands of Valencia fans who traveled to Sweden for the match.
Just to rub it in against rival Real Madrid, Valencia’s polished Italian defender Amedo Carboni became the oldest player to win a European final at 39 years 43 days, beating the mark of 37 years 149 days set by then-Real Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Angel in the 1985 UEFA Cup final.
U.S. Names Roster
U.S. Coach Bruce Arena included 11 European-based players on his 18-man roster for a June 2 game against Honduras -- the Americans’ final warmup match before beginning qualifying play for the 2006 World Cup.
If he plays, midfielder Claudio Reyna will make his 100th appearance for the U.S., which is 2-1-2 so far in 2004. The full roster:
Goalkeepers: Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers) and Tim Howard (Manchester United).
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Bobby Convey (D.C. United), Cory Gibbs (Dallas Burn), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Tony Sanneh (Nuremberg) and Greg Vanney (Bastia).
Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire), Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes), Eddie Lewis (Preston North End), Reyna (Manchester City), Earnie Stewart (D.C. United).
Forwards: Conor Casey (Karlsruhe), Clint Mathis (Hannover 96) and Brian McBride (Fulham).
Quick Passes
More than 150 fans of the Greek club AEK Athens invaded the team’s training ground and damaged players’ cars and other AEK property after the players refused to write off some of the money owed to them, a move that ended plans by former AEK star Demis Nikolaidis to buy the financially troubled team. No injuries were reported.... Former German international Felix Magath told his players at VfB Stuttgart that Saturday’s game will be his last as coach of the team and that he is leaving to become coach of Bayern Munich.... Former Argentine international Fernando Redondo, 34, said he will leave Italian champion AC Milan after its summer tour of the U.S.
-- Compiled by Grahame L. Jones
