International Roundup

PAOK in sole possession of Greek top spot

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- PAOK beat Ionikos Nikea 3-0 Sunday to retain its spot at the top of the Greek first division soccer league.

Nikos Froussos, Cyprus striker Yiannakis Okkas and countryman Yassemis Yiassemakis were PAOK's scorers.

PAOK's win, its sixth of the season, put the Thessaloniki club in sole possession of first place with 21 points from 10 games.

Defending champion Olympiakos Piraeus enjoyed its largest victory of the season, hammering Panachaiki Patras 7-0 to move to second place with 20 points.

Panathinaikos beat Iraklis Thessaloniki 2-0 to move to third place with 19 points. Both goals were scored by Polish striker Emmanuel Olisadebe. Iraklis's defeat means the club drop two places to fourth.

AEK Athens lost more ground in its race for the title after playing to a 1-1 draw against Proodeftiki. Goalkeeper Thanassis Kois salvaged a point by saving a penalty from AEK's star striker Demis Nikolaidis.

AEK is now eighth in the 16-team standings with 15 points.

PAOK controlled play throughout the match against a disappointing Ionikos. Coach Angelos Anastassiadis rested three regular starters in view of PAOK's third round, second-leg away game against Slavia Prague for the UEFA Cup on Thursday. PAOK beat the Czechs 1-0 in the first leg in Thessaloniki.

Okkas gave PAOK the lead with a header in the fifth minute off a perfectly placed free-kick by Giorgos Georgiadis.

Froussos made it 2-0 in the 55th and Yiassemakis closed the scoring in second-half injury time. Ionikos complained that Yiassemakis had used his hand to push the ball into the net.

Olympiakos had an easy task against last-place Panachaiki.

Christos Patsatzoglou opened the scoring for the Piraeus club in the 10th after a melee in front of the Panachaiki goalmouth. Brazilian midfielder Ze Elias made it 2-0 with a powerful shot from outside the area in the 24th.

French star Christian Karembeu got the third in the 26th and Stelios Yiannacopoulos made it 4-0 in the 47th.

It was Alexis Alexandris' turn to score in the 69th while Par Zetterberg made it 6-0 in the 82nd. Lambros Houtos sealed the easy win five minutes later.

Panathinaikos striker Olisadebe squandered a scoring chance against Iraklis in the 21st but made up for it 10 minutes later with a shot off a cross from Giorgos Karagounis.

Olisadebe scored again in the 42nd, making it 2-0. A few minutes earlier, Iraklis 'keeper Costas Halkias had made a fingertip save to a blistering shot by Angelos Basinas.

In other action Sunday it was: Ioannina 1, Xanthi 1; Panionios 0, OFI 0; and Aegaleo 0, Kallithea 0. On Saturday, Aris beat Akratitos 2-0.

Porto cements top spot in with win over Santa Clara

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- FC Porto cemented its place atop the Portuguese Super League on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Santa Clara, while defending champion Sporting Lisbon lost to rival Benfica 2-0.

Striker Helder Postiga scored twice for Porto while Lithuanian striker Jankauskas added the third. Santa Clara got its goal in the 76th minute from Figueiredo.

Porto (10-3-0) is the first in Portuguese league with 33 points, followed by Benfica with 29 and Sporting with 25.

Also Sunday, Boavista, second in the Portuguese league last season, comfortably won 3-0 over Maritimo.

On Saturday, Slovenian midfielder Zlatko Zahovic and Tiago scored for Benfica, which is firmly in second place with a 9-2-3 record.

Zahovic scored in the 16th minute while Tiago netted the second in the 42nd.

Benfica, which has been managed by ex-Real Madrid coach Jose Antonio Camacho for its last two matches, has won three straight. A string of bad results led to the sacking of previous trainer Jesualdo Ferreira.

In other 13th-round matches, it was: Moreirense 1, Academica 0; Braga 1, Leiria 1; and Pacos Ferreira 1, Setubal 2.

Gil Vicente plays Guimaraes on Monday.

Partizan well ahead of closest rivals at break

BELGRADE (Reuters) -- Yugoslav champions and league leaders Partizan Belgrade ended the first half of the season on a high note with a 2-1 win at Javor Ivanjica on Saturday to stay nine points clear of their closest rivals at the winter break.

Second-placed Zeleznik Belgrade lost ground with a 1-0 defeat at city rivals Cukaricki and the chasing pack led by Red Star Belgrade and OFK Belgrade took full advantage.

Red Star enjoyed a 2-0 win at first division newcommers Radnicki Obrenovac while OFK Beograd laboured to a 1-0 home victory over struggling Rad Belgrade.

Partizan have 44 points from 17 matches, followed by Zeleznik with 35. Red Star and OFK Beograd are on 34 points each while fifth-placed Sutjeska Niksic are a further four points adrift.

First division newcomers Javor gave the champions a good contest and Miroslav Curcic crowned an excellent first half performance by the hosts in the 37th minute to give them a deserved 1-0 first half lead.

But Partizan rallied after the break with two quick goals from international midfielder Vladimir Ivic and Yugoslavia's under-21 striker Andrija Delibasic.

Ivic drew level with a powerful 51st-minute header after a good move down the left flank and Delibasic was on target only two minutes later to keep Partizan in firm control of the championship which resumes next February 26.

Slipped up

Zeleznik slipped up in the title race with a 1-0 defeat at Cukaricki, who clawed their way out of the relegation zone for the time being.

Six teams go down at the end of the season and four will be promoted to cut the first division to 16 clubs from the current 18 and Cukaricki are now one place above the cutoff point.

Midfielder Nebojsa Pavlovic scored the winning goal for the hosts with a stunning 54th minute effort from 20 metres out after a dazzling solo run that left his markers flat-footed.

Both sides missed several good chances in a volatile match that culminated in a 69th minute brawl between Cukaricki's Goran Aleksic and Zeleznik's Branko Radovanovic who were sent off as a result.

Red Star cruised to a 2-0 win at Obrenovac with an early goal from international center back Nemanja Vidic and a late strike by midfielder Branko Boskovic.

Vidic converted a fifth-minute penalty after Boskovic was felled in the box by the home team's keeper Viborg Kocejic and Boskovic sealed the match with an 82nd-minute goal after beating the offside trap.

OFK Belgrade kept alive their hopes of playing in Europe next season with a 1-0 win over 15th-placed Rad, striker Milos Kolakovic grabbing a 16th minute winner when he capitalised on a defensive blunder.

Brazil wins Beach Soccer Latin Cup for fourth time

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Fighting back from behind, Brazil beat Portugal 5-3 to win the fifth beach soccer Latin Cup on Sunday, securing its fourth victory in the five years of the championship.

Playing in warm temperatures on the beach at Camburi in Espirito Santo state, the Brazilians resisted the initial pressure from the Portuguese and put on a memorable fight-back.

"We got a scare at the beginning of the game, but then we managed to impose our rhythm and win the match," Junior Negao said, quoted by the GloboNews agency.

Junior Negao scored twice while Nenem, Benjamim and Duda added the others for Brazil. Goalie Robertinho made several key saves. For Portugal, the goals were scored by Hernani, Alan and Madjer.

Brazil is unbeaten in the championship after flattening archrival Argentina (11-1) and Uruguay (9-1) along the way.

Earlier, in the third-place playoff, Uruguay beat Argentina 3-2.

Nico opened the scoring for the Uruguayans, with the Argentines quickly getting a goal back through Hilaire. Early in the second period, Argentina went a goal ahead through Pajaro, but Uruguay came back again as Gato scored from a free kick in the third period.

Inspired by the soccer played at the beaches of Brazil and marketed in a Californian style, both athletes and spectators feel the amusing ambiance.

Brazil won the Latin Cup in 1998, '99 and 2001. In 2000, Portugal beat Spain in the final and Brazil came third.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.