This week in soccer

By Grahame L. Jones

March 12, 2008 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

1_Five-time European champion Liverpool, which has made soccer history on more than a few occasions, did so again Tuesday by shutting out Inter Milan, 1-0, in Italy in the European Champions League.

The victory meant that for the first time in the 53-year history of the European Cup, as the competition also is known, four teams from the same country have reached the quarterfinals.

Earlier, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United advanced to the last eight, and Liverpool’s 3-0 aggregate victory over Inter, the defending Italian champion and current Serie A leader, made it a clean sweep for English teams.

Liverpool had won the first leg, 2-0, at Anfield on goals by Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt and English midfielder Steven Gerrard, but Tuesday it was two Spaniards who were the key. Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reyna made two first-class saves to deny Inter Milan the goals it desperately needed, and Fernando Torres scored with a stunning second-half shot that effectively sealed the Italian club’s fate.

“I think if you look at our form over the season, we are a force in Europe,” Gerrard said. “We’re lucky to have Fernando. He only needs one chance, as he showed tonight.”

The draw for the quarterfinals, which also will feature AS Roma, Barcelona, Fenerbahce and Schalke 04, will be made Friday.

2_There was some odd news from further down the Italian peninsula this week when it was reported in Rome that a soccer-playing priest had been ejected from a game for throwing his shirt at a referee.

According to all accounts, the unnamed priest from Burkina Faso in Africa got the red card while playing for Paul the Apostle’s College in the Clericus Cup, a popular 16-team tournament held in Vatican City.

3_Someone of a higher profile who has frequently clashed with referees was back at it again in Brazil, where former national team coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo was fined almost $30,000 Monday.

Luxemburgo, who has coached the likes of Real Madrid and now has charge of Palmeiras, had faced the possibility of a lengthy suspension but seemed happy to receive a fine instead.

“If the club wants me to pay this, I will do so without any problem,” he said. “A financial fine is an idea worth considering. Maybe it could also be used for players when they are given a red card.”

4_Austria is preparing to stage the June 7-29 European Championship along with co-host Switzerland. The trouble is, Austria has a feeble national team, one that is expected to be eliminated in the first round.

That bleak prospect has Austrians so worried that psychologists are offering courses in “despair management” to help fans cope with the humiliation.

“Fans can turn defeat into internal joy,” according to psychologist and course leader Henriette Wursag. “It’s about avoiding the sense of catastrophe. Fans must breathe deeply, all the way from the stomach.”

5_There are plenty of other teams that do have a realistic chance of winning Euro 2008, and each of them will have a large contingent of traveling fans, whose nerves will be on edge throughout the three-week tournament.

As a result, the Viennese Union of Hospitals (VUH) has banned all doctors in Vienna from taking vacation time during the event and has also added extra staff at city hospitals.

“The 2006 World Cup in Germany showed there was a clear link between the drama of tournament football and fans suffering heart attacks on days when people’s teams are playing,” explained Wilhelm Marhold, general director of the VUH.

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TOP EARNERS

*--* Player Club Millions Kaka AC Milan $13.8 Ronaldinho Barcelona $13.0 Frank Lampard Chelsea $12.5 John Terry Chelsea $12.5 Fernando Torres Liverpool $12.1 Andriy Shevchenko Chelsea $11.9 Michael Ballack Chelsea $11.9 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester Un. $11.7 Thierry Henry Barcelona $11.7 Steven Gerrard Liverpool $11.7 Didier Drogba Chelsea $11.3 Wayne Rooney Manchester U. $11.2 Iker Casillas Real Madrid $11.0 Michael Owen Newcastle U. $10.3 Sol Campbell Portsmouth $10.1 Raul Real Madrid $9.8 Ruud Van Nistelrooy Real Madrid $9.8 Rio Ferdinand Manchester U. $9.2 Darren Bent Tottenham Hotspur $9.1 Carlos Tevez Manchester U. $9.0 *--*

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