Feyenoord holds Inter, makes final

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Feyenoord Rotterdam clung on Thursday for a 2-2 draw against Internazionale of Milan, winning the semifinal tie 3-2 on aggregate and booking a dream ticket to the UEFA Cup final in its home De Kuip stadium.

Giant striker Pierre van Hooijdonk hang in midair to bury a powerful header for his seventh European goal this season and Feyenoord were ahead in the 17th minute. It was 18-year-old winger Robin van Persie who had burst down the left to deliver the most inviting of centers.

The Italian powerhouse responded with a period of continuous pressure but was caught wide open in the 34th minute when Van Hooijdonk poked the ball past the last man and Bonaventure Kalou was handed a one-on-one with Francesco Toldo. The Inter keeper stretched out his foot to save, but Jon Dahl Tomasson side-footed the return into an empty net.

It took the Italians 84 minutes to score when Cristiano Zanetti thumped the ball into the roof of the net from a corner, above the head of tiny Feyenoord fullback Christian Gyan.

And incredibly enough Turkish midfielder Emre went down in the box in injury time and Mohamed Kallon whacked the penalty high into the roof of the net to set up one final frantic onslaught from the Italians.

But Inter could not quite muster the third goal it would have taken to save the tie and Feyenoord can look forward to May 8, when it gets to play its first European cup final in 28 years in front of its own fans.

Brazilian star Ronaldo started the game in a team in which coach Hector Raul Cuper made seven changes from last week's 1-0 upset defeat at San Siro.

Ronaldo, despite never appearing fit after his recent 102-day injury layoff, remained Inter's best attacking hope, sending an early left-foot shot just wide off the post and almost squeezing a shot through the massed Feyenoord defense on a 31st-minute corner.

But his best chance came in the 42nd minute when he skipped round home keeper Edwin Zoetebier but saw his shot cleared off the line by retreating defender Kees van Wonderen. The diminutive star twice lifted the ball onto the roof of the Feyenoord net early in the second half, but his fitness ran out and he was replaced by Kallon in the 69th minute.

Zoetebier was quick off his line to deny the clean-through Nicola Ventola 17 minutes from time.

Spanish referee Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto pulled out the yellow card seven times in the game.

Summary

Feyenoord (Netherlands) 2 Inter Milan (Italy) 2 -- result

UEFA Cup semifinal, second leg

First leg: 1-0; Feyenoord win 3-2 on agrregate

Scorers:

Feyenoord -- Pierre van Hooijdonk 16, Jon Dahl Tomasson 34

Inter -- Cristiano Zanetti 84, Mohamed Kallon 90pen

Halftime: 2-0; Attendance: 45,000

Teams:

Feyenoord: 1-Edwin Zoetebier; 2-Cristian Gyan, 8-Kees Van Wonderen, 17-Patrick Paauwe, 4-Mauricio Aros; 23-Brett Emerton, 6-Paul Bosvelt, 7-Bonaventure Kalou (24-Leonardo dos Santos 74), 32-Robin Van Persie (11-Leonardo 35); 10-Jon Dahl Tomasson, 9-Pierre Van Hooijdonk

Inter Milan: 1-Francesco Toldo; 4-Javier Zanetti, 14-Luigi di Biagio, 23-Marco Materazzi, 39-Salvator Ferraro; 18-Stephane Dalmat, 6-Cristiano Zanetti, 10-Clarence Seedorf (7-Sergio Conceicao 58), 33-Emre Belozoglu; 9-Ronaldo (3-Mohamed Kallon 69), 78-Nicola Ventola.

Referee: Antonio Lopez Nieto (Spain)

 

Related information
Stories
Inter seeks to keep Italian hopes alive in Europe
Multimedia
Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Reuters contributed to this report.