International Roundup

Belenenses loses 2-1 to Maritimo in Portugal

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- Belenenses lost to Maritimo 2-1 Sunday and missed its chance to move into third place in the Portuguese Super League, while Sporting Lisbon beat Beira Mar 3-1 to cement its second place.

Brazilian striker Eric Gaucho scored twice for host Maritimo, in the 35th and 44th minutes. Brazilian midfielder Eduardo Marques scored for Belenenses in the 46th.

Belenenses (6-2-4) is in fourth place with 20 points.

On Saturday, defending champion Sporting Lisbon won 3-1 against Beira Mar.

Beira Mar defender Filipe scored in the seventh minute, but Brazilian striker Mario Jardel, Europe's top scorer last season, scored one for Sporting. Romanian striker Niculae and Spanish striker Tonito added the others.

Sporting (8-1-3) has 25 points.

Also Saturday, Benfica comfortably won 3-0 against Braga, a much needed result after losing a Portuguese Cup tie last week to minnow Gondomarense.

That defeat, and a previous string of bad results, resulted in the sacking of trainer Jesualdo Ferreira.

New coach Jose Antonio Camacho, who led the Spanish national team to the quarterfinals in the World Cup, was in Benfica's stadium and watched Saturday's match.

Midfielder Tiago and strikers Mantorras and Simao Sabrosa each scored for Benfica (7-2-3), which is third with 23 points.

In other 12th-round play it was: Gil Vicente 2, Moreirense 1; Setubal 0, Santa Clara 0; Leiria 3, Varzim 1; and Nacional 4, Pacos Ferreira.

On Monday, league leader FC Porto is to meet Academica, while Guimaraes is to play against Boavista.

PAOK beats AEK 4-3, takes Greek league lead

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Three days after hammering Maccabi Haifa 4-0 in a UEFA Cup game, AEK Athens suffered a 4-3 home defeat Sunday at the hands of PAOK in the Greek soccer first division.

PAOK's win, combined with a scoreless draw by Olympiakos Piraeus against Aris, sent the Thessaloniki club to the top of the 16-team standings with 18 points, one ahead of Olympiakos, with nine rounds completed.

With a first-half goal by Ieroklis Stoltidis, Iraklis Thessaloniki beat Proodeftiki 1-0 on Saturday and also has 18 points, but PAOK has a better goal difference.

AEK's and Olympiakos' unfavorable results helped Panathinaikos move to fourth place with 16 points after a 1-0 home win over lowly Ioannina.

Exploiting a weak AEK defense, PAOK took a comfortable 3-0 lead in the opening 30 minutes.

Nikos Frousos began the scoring with a first-minute goal.

AEK came close to equalizing when Vassilis Lakis' shot in the 18th hit a post.

In a deadly counterattack just seconds later, Cyprus striker Yiannis Okkas made it 2-0 to PAOK and Vangelis Nastos stretched the lead to 3-0 in the 27th.

Hosts AEK narrowed the difference, thanks to Costas Katsouranis in the 35th.

In first-half injury time, Demis Nikolaidis converted a penalty to make it 3-2 after being brought down by goalkeeper Radoslaw Majdan.

As AEK fought to level the score, Okkas exploited a mistake by Costa Rican defender Mauricio Wright to give the visitors some breathing space at 4-2.

Vassilis Borbokis, who replaced Bulgarian midfielder Milen Petkov in the 56th, scored the final goal with a header in the 76th.

Olympiakos attacked aggressively for long spells against Aris but failed to penetrate the hosts' sturdy defense in Thessaloniki.

Aris nearly scored in the 36th minute when 'keeper Dimitris Eleftheropoulos did well to save a shot by Dutch midfielder Richard Knopper.

Olympiakos launched one attack after another but missed several scoring chances. Their best opportunity came in the 69th when Christos Patsatzoglou's shot sailed over the bar with goalie Christos Lampakis out of position and an open goal in front of him.

In Athens, a blunder by Bulgarian goalminder Georgi Sheytanov, following a free-kick by Angelos Basinas, gifted Panathinaikos a much-needed 1-0 home win against Ioannina.

On a wet and muddy pitch, Basinas's ground-hugging free-kick from 30 meters (yards) in the 45th slipped through Sheytanov's hands.

Panathinaikos almost made it 2-0 in the 56th when a header from Polish striker Emmanuel Olisadebe hit the crossbar.

Ioannina, which fielded a defensive-minded squad, had its best scoring chance in second-half injury time when a free-kick by Dusan Vidojevic from the edge of the box went just wide.

In other action Sunday it was: Xanthi 5, Aegaleo 0; Ionikos 1, Akratitos 1; Kallithea 1, Panionios 1; OFI 3, Panachaiki 0.

Raja held by Zamalek in Champions League final

CASABLANCA (Reuters) -- Raja Casablanca were held to a goalless draw by Zamalek after having most of the play in the first leg of the African Champions League final on Saturday.

The Egyptians came to defend with a five-man rearguard and pinned their hopes on getting an away goal on the counter-attack as veteran Hossam Hassan led the forward line alone.

The poor condition of the pitch did not allow the players to show their skills and the first 30 minutes was a dull affair with little to excite a packed stadium impatient for action.

Raja tried to play at pace but failed to test goalkeeper Mohamed Medhat as Zamalek defended well, although left-winger Hicham Aboucharouane missed a chance on the stroke of halftime.

Raja stepped up the pressure in the second half as they increased the speed of their attacks and Cameroon forward Francois Endene Elokan had two impressive shots at goal.

Right midfielder Hamid Nater played in a number of testing crosses but Raja's strikers did not come close to scoring.

Ten minutes from time Medhat had to make a smart save from midfielder Sami Tajdine who shot from 25 metres. Raja laid siege to the Zamalek goal as the game drew to a close but could not find a way through a well-marshalled defence that was content to just clear its lines.

The draw leaves Zamalek with a good chance to win their fifth title after successes in 1984, 1986, 1993 and 1996, but they will have to improve in the second leg in Cairo on December 13 as Raja are always capable of scoring away from home.

 

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Reuters contributed to this report.