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England vs. Greece, Part 2 Postponed Champions League games set for Wednesday
Updated: Tuesday October 09, 2001 4:31 PM
LONDON (AP) -- It's England versus Greece -- part 2. Four days after England conjured up a last-gasp equalizer against Greece to qualify for the World Cup, Olympiakos hosts Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday. Greece had dominated Saturday's World Cup match in Manchester and was leading 2-1 when David Beckham tied the score from a free kick in injury time. A draw was enough for England to win the group, at the expense of Germany, and qualify for next year's World Cup finals. On Wednesday, Beckham will lead United against another Greek opponent at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. Olympiakos' coach Takis Lemonis wants his players to use the Greek performance as inspiration against the English champions. "We have to play with the same passion as the national team did, with the same strength but with more thought if we want to beat Manchester," Lemonis said. At the same time, he warned that after Saturday's performance by the Greek team, "the English will be much more careful and passionate to win in Athens." Wednesday's eight Champions League games were originally scheduled on Sept. 12, but were postponed after the terrorist attacks on the United States the previous day. The other games: Celtic vs. Rosenborg, Porto vs. Juventus, Barcelona vs. Olympique Lyonnais, Bayer Leverkusen vs. Fenerbahce, Lille vs. Deportivo la Coruna, Feyenoord vs. Bayern Munich and Sparta Prague vs. Spartak Moscow. Despite the launch of U.S. military strikes on Afghanistan this week, UEFA says Wednesday's games will go ahead as scheduled. "We are, of course, aware of the current security issues following the events ... in Afghanistan, and continue to monitor the situation closely," UEFA spokesman Mike Lee said. The status of Manchester United midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron was uncertain for the Group G game in Athens. Veron played for Argentina in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier, and United manager Alex Ferguson hopes he will arrive in time after flying back from South America. Defender Wes Brown is available for United after being out with a hamstring pull, but Nicky Butt is out with a rib injury. Olympiakos' goalkeeping situation is in disarray. Regular 'keeper Dimitris Eleftheropoulos, who withdrew from the Greek squad for the England game citing family reasons, has a knee problem and has conceded 10 goals in his last three European and international matches. His replacement, Angelos Georgiou, is doubtful after picking up a leg injury in his last league match against Panionios. United is coming off a stunning Champions League defeat last month to Deportivo la Coruna, giving up two goals in the last four minutes to lose 2-1. Olympiakos lost 3-1 to Lille on the same night. Deportivo, which leads Group G, defeated Barcelona 2-1 over the weekend to lift itself into third place in the Spanish league, but lost Dutch international striker Roy Makaay with a thigh injury for Wednesday's game at Lille. Brazilian midfielder Mauro Silva, with a similar injury, and Spanish international right back Manuel Pablo Garcia, who broke his right leg a week ago, will also be missing. "We're paying the price of having to play two games a week," Deportivo coach Javier Irureta said. "While we were playing Barcelona, Lille was enjoying a weekend off as France had a game." Star midfielder Djalminha, who has not played all season through a series of injuries, is fit again and may make an appearance although is not expected to start. Barcelona welcomes back Rivaldo, Francesco Coco and Patrik Andersson from international duty for Wednesday's Group F game against Olympique Lyonnais. Argentine striker Javier Saviola has recovered from a bruised toe, but injury worries include Brazilian winger Geovanni Deiberson with a strained thigh and Dutch midfielder Philip Cocu with an ankle injury. Bayer Leverkusen, which leads Group F, is monitoring the fitness of Brazilian Lucio and Diego Placente of Argentina, who return from South America after international duty, for the game against winless Fenerbahce. Leverkusen's business manager, Reiner Calmund, is worried that Germany's failure to gain automatic qualification for the World Cup will rub off on his club. Leverkusen provided several players to the German team, which managed only a 0-0 draw with Finland. "The players were insulted, crushed, partly subjected to discrimination," he said. "It will leave traces with the players." The interest of Turkish fans in Germany is so great that Leverkusen is installing a giant video screen at nearby Rehinstadion in Duesseldorf offering a live telecast of the game. Leverkusen's small 22,500-seat stadium has sold out its tickets for the game. Juventus will be without David Trezeguet for its Group E match against Porto, after the striker left France's friendly against Algeria with a knee injury. Trezeguet played until the match was abandoned in the 73rd minute after a pitch invasion. Several other Juventus players also played in World Cup matches over the weekend -- Frenchman Lilian Thuram, South Americans Marcelo Salas (Chile) and Paolo Montero (Uruguay) and Italian stars Gianluca Zambrotta, Gianluigi Buffon and Alessandro del Piero, who scored the winning goal against Hungary to qualify Italy for the World Cup. Juventus is coming off a disappointing 2-0 loss at home to defending champion AS Roma last weekend, losing first place in the Serie A. But the Turin club leads group E in the Champions League. "The fact that we are leading our group does not give us any tranquility," del Piero said. "We must continue in Portugal with the same spirit we showed against Celtic and Rosenborg to show that the match against Roma was only an episode." In Group H, Bayern Munich, seeking a second straight away win, will be missing Mehmet Scholl, Stefan Effenberg, Jens Jeremies and striker Carsten Jancker for the game at Feyenoord.
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