Under-20 Upset for U.S. Team
Chad Barrett scored in the 39th minute with a bouncing header that hit the roof of the net and the United States defeated Argentina, 1-0, Saturday in Group D of the World Youth Championship at Enschede, Netherlands.
Freddy Adu could have put the game away in the 70th minute, but his penalty kick hit the inside of the post.
“It’s a great victory. I couldn’t care if I had 10 goals or none, we still won,” said Adu, 16, the youngest player in the under-20 tournament.
Argentina’s Gustavo Oberman hit the post in the 19th minute with a drive that had goalkeeper Quentin Westberg well beaten.
The U.S. defense met the challenge, especially after Jonathan Spector limped off in the 37th minute because of a right thigh strain.
For Adu, it was a measure of revenge. Argentina eliminated the U.S. at the championship two years ago, when he made his debut at 14.
“It is so sweet,” he said, flashing a smile.
Argentina is considered one of the favorites in the tournament.
The U.S. is in position to advance from the toughest group in the competition. In the other Group D game, Germany beat Egypt, 2-0.
Germany, which leads the U.S. on goal differential, got goals from Nicky Adler in the 75th and Marvin Matip in injury time.
In Group B games at Utrecht, China upset Turkey, 2-1, with a goal in injury time and Ukraine beat Panama, 3-1.
In Group C games at Doetinchem, Spain beat Morocco, 3-1, and Chile beat Honduras, 7-0.
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Italy finished a two-game North American exhibition tour with a lackluster 1-1 tie against Ecuador in front of 27,583 in a mostly empty Giants Stadium at East Rutherford, N.J.
Luca Toni put Italy ahead in the sixth minute and Marlon Ayovi tied the score 12 minutes later with a penalty kick.
Italy’s top players did not take part in the tour.
It was the first game in the U.S. for Italy since it lost to Brazil on penalty kicks in the 1994 World Cup final in the Rose Bowl, and the first in Giants Stadium since it beat Bulgaria, 2-1, in the 1994 semifinals.
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Substitute Dani Martin scored in the 22nd minute of extra time to give Real Betis a 2-1 victory over Osasuna in the Copa del Rey final at Madrid.
Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira scored for Betis in the 75th minute and John Aloisi tied the score eight minutes later.
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Sweden and Finland earned semifinal spots with victories in Group A games in the European Women’s Championship.
Anna Sjostrom scored to lift Sweden over host England, 1-0, at Blackburn.
At Blackpool, Finland scored twice in the first 16 minutes and held on to beat Denmark, 2-1, on goals by Tine Cederkvist and Heidi Kackur.
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Steaua Bucharest defeated Poli Timisoara, 2-1, at Bucharest in the last league match of the Romanian season, winning its first championship in five years.
Poli took the lead in the 29th minute on Gueye Mansour’s goal. Andrei Cristea tied the score and Nicolae Dica scored the winner on a header five minutes after halftime.
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Former Brazil player and coach Mario Zagallo was released from a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, more than a month after undergoing surgery for an intestinal blockage.
Zagallo, 73, led Brazil to the 1970 World Cup title. He is an assistant to Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.
