Latin American Roundup

Disgruntled Santos dumped out of state championship

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- Brazilian champions Santos failed to qualify for the quarterfinal phase of the Sao Paulo state championship on Sunday when a drawn game involving rivals Sao Paulo led to allegations of match-fixing.

A poor campaign had left Santos trailing both Portuguesa Santista and Sao Paulo, and banking on Sao Paulo to either beat or draw with Santo Andre on Sunday.

Sao Paulo coasted into a 2-0 lead, with goals from an overhead shot by Luis Fabiano and a close-range strike by Gustavo Nery.

But Sao Paulo emerged for the second half in a more lethargic mood, and the visiting team met little resistance in the midfield.

A defensive lapse allowed Wesley Brasilia to break through and score.

Sao Paulo defender Julio Santo then gifted the ball to Romerito, whose cross was converted by Deni for the equalizer.

The remainder of the game was played out with little sign of attacking intent from either team

A section of the Sao Paulo fans jeered their own team as cries of "fix" rang around the Morumbi stadium.

The result sets Sao Paulo and Santo Andre up for a quarter final rematch and removes the threat posed by the young Santos team that took the Brazilian championship by storm last year, eliminating Sao Paulo along the way.

Frustrated Oliveira

Santos striker Ricardo Oliveira gave voice to his team's frustration.

"I am absolutely sure that they set that up to get rid of us. It is always bad to depend on others, especially a rival such as Sao Paulo...but this is bad for football," he told Globo radio.

"There was no match-fixing. Sao Paulo was looking to qualify and that's what we did. If it was a fix, we would not have scored twice and hit the bar later on," said Sao Paulo president Marcelo Portugal Gouvea.

"Santos cannot complain. They had their chance to qualify against us, but they lost," added Sao Paulo striker Luis Fabiano, referring to his team's 2-1 win at Santos last week.

Ironically, it was Santos' less illustrious neighbours, Santos Portuguesa that topped Group two, sealing their strong qualifying run with a solid 3-0 win against Paulista.

Palmeiras scraped into the quarter-finals, thanks to an unconvincing 1-1 draw with Rio Branco. They will face in-form Sao Caetano who coasted to a 5-1 win over Marilia to maintain their 100 percent record after six games.

Corinthians thumped Uniao Sao Jorge 4-1 to book a quarter final meeting with Barbarense.

The weak resistance offered by the Uniao team was the perfect tonic for recently appointed coach Geninho, who has faced some hostility from Corinthians' notoriously demanding fans.

Romario farewell

In Rio de Janeiro's Carioca championship Romario showed Fluminense fans what they will be missing if his three-month deal with Qatar Al-Sad goes through, as expected.

The hero of Brazil's 1994 World Cup victory scored three goals as Fluminense trounced Botafogo by 5-0.

Promising to play one more game for Fluminense before heading for the Middle East and a US$1.5 million payout, Romario said that the move was "90 percent complete."

With a contract with Fluminense that expires in late 2003, he said he hoped the club would agree a loan deal to allow him to return in late May.

Fluminense made up ground on pace-setters Flamengo, who lost 3-2 to America.

Flamengo were playing without Athirson, whose surging runs down the left wing have Been a positive feature for the club in recent weeks.

Flamengo strikers Ze Carlos and Fernando Baiano squandered a string of chances in the first half. Ze Carlos eventually made amends by squeezing a loose ball past goalkeeper Wagner.

America surprised Flamengo with a display of free-flowing football, and equalized when Marcelo Cardoso scored a headed goal from a free kick.

The frailty of the Flamengo defense was increasingly exposed in the second half, and a penalty by Sergio Manoel and a well-worked goal by Edvaldo put the game beyond Flamengo's reach.

Vasco da Gama drew 2-2 with Bangu and missed their chance to make certain of a place in the semifinal knockout phase.

The improved form of midfielder Marcelinho Carioca and striker Valdir was the bright spot for Vasco. Both players scored goals from angled shots.

Chile's Gonzalez hits five goals in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Chilean striker Sebastian Gonzalez scored all five goals as Atlante beat Chiapas 5-1 in the Mexican championship at the weekend.

Gonzalez took his tally to 11 goals in only seven matches after his amazing display tamed the team nicknamed the Jaguars.

The 24-year-old opened his account with a 21st minute penalty.

He scored a second two minutes later, completed a 15-minute hat-trick in the 36th minute, then added two more to his tally in the last quarter of an hour.

Argentine striker Lucio Filomeno scored a consolation for Chiapas with a 48th minute penalty.

The win lifted Atlante to third in Group Four of the championship, four points behind Guadalajara who kept up their surprisingly good start with a 3-1 win over Pachuca.

Emilio Mora, Omar Bravo and Ramon Morales scored for the Chivas, who field only Mexican players and have one of the country's most fanatical followings.

Little had been expected of Guadalajara under newcomer coach Eduardo de la Torre and club president Jorge Vergara has offered his squad a US$1 million bonus to share between them if they upset the odds and win the title.

Ruggeri woes

Meanwhile, former Argentina captain Oscar Ruggeri was still waiting for his first win as coach of struggling UAG.

Ruggeri's troubles continued at Guadalajara's local rivals, as his team conceded three goals in the last quarter of an hour to lose 3-1 at Santos Laguna.

Patrico Camps gave UAG a 10th minute lead and the Tecos looked set to give the former Guadalajara coach his first win until Paraguayan Denis Caniza equalized in the 77th minute.

Goals by Jaime Manjarin and Mexican international Jared Borgetti in the following six minutes left UAG bottom of Group Two with only two points from seven games.

Defending champions Toluca, who had made a stuttering start, refound their form with a 4-1 over Cuernavaca, who are now their local rivals after the franchise owners moved the club from the city of Celaya to Cuernavaca in the close season.

Paraguayan striker Jose Cardozo, who hit a remarkable 36 goals in 25 matches in the previous championship, was among the scorers when he converted a second-half penalty.

America, Mexico's richest club, won the so-called "television classic" when they beat Morelia 2-1 away with second-half goals from Pavel Pardo and Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

America are owned by television giants Televisa while Morelia belong to the rival Azteca network.

Peru thrashes Haiti as coach Autuori debuts

LIMA (Reuters) -- Peru won their first match for 18 months on Sunday, thrashing Haiti 5-1 in a friendly on the debut of coach Paulo Autuori.

The South Americans, without any of their foreign-based players such as Newcastle's Nolberto Solano and Bayern Munich's Claudio Pizarro, quickly took control and opened the scoring with a Jose Soto penalty after 13 minutes.

Antonio Serrano headed in a Jefferson Farfan cross for the second five minutes later and midfielder Jorge Soto, a stalwart in a team consisting largely of new faces, made it 3-0 in the 27th minute.

Despite their superiority, Peru left holes at the back and were punished early in the second half as Jean-Robert Menelas, who missed a penalty in the 47th minute, atoned by scoring in the 49th minute.

Peru, whose last victory was in a World Cup qualifier away to Colombia in August 2001, only came to life again in the last ten minutes.

Jose Soto scored his second goal in the 82nd minute and Farfan completed the rout with his first international goal two minutes later.

Autuori, whose main task is to qualify Peru for their first World Cup since 1982, kept his feet firmly on the ground.

"We mustn't get carried away with the result, this was just for the players to get to know each other," said the Brazilian, who won the South American Libertadores Cup with Cruzeiro in 1997 and led Sporting Cristal to the Peruivan title last year.

"We have to work hard on the defense, this is a weakness of Peruvian football."

Ecuador

Ecuador's championship, which had been due to start at the weekend, failed to get under way because of a referees' strike.

The officials, who are demanding a 40 percent increase on their fees of $200 a match and the payment of fees which are still outstanding from last year, announced their decision on Friday night.

Most clubs held training sessions instead as the stadiums lay empty. Some clubs said they would demand compensation from the Ecuador Football Federation (FEF) for wasted hotel and travel expenses.

The FEF have described the referees' demands as unacceptable and threatened to hit back with suspensions.

Chile

Universidad de Chile's match away to Puerto Montt was held up for 10 minutes when a linesman was struck by an object thrown by the visiting fans after the home team were awarded a penalty.

When play resumed, Marcelo Corrales stepped up to convert the kick against his old club and wipe out Mauricio Pinilla's early goal.

A stormy match, in which Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla produced a modest performance for the "U" after starting for the first time, also saw Paraguay Favio Escobar of Puerto Montt and Universidad's Baltazar Astorga sent off for second bookable offenses in the second half.

Veteran striker Ivan Zamorano kept up his record of scoring in every game since joining Colo Colo, heading the equalizer as his team drew their derby 1-1 with arch-rivals Universidad Catolica.

Zamorano has scored four goals in three games since returning to Chile after 14 years in Europe and Mexico.

Colombia

Veteran goalkeeper Rene Higuita was one of three players sent off in the 3-3 draw between Deportivo Cali and Pereira.

Higuita, who since joining Pereira in August has already completed a six-match suspension for testing positive for cocaine, was dismissed midway through the second half for a second bookable offense.

Pereira finished with nine after defender Jose Velasco was also dismissed while Cali's Luis Ernesto Rojas was also shown the red card.

Twenty-year-old Carlos Ortiz scored twice in his debut as Millonarios beat America 3-0 in Bogota.

Uruguay

Titleholders Nacional were held to a 1-1 draw by provincial club Tacuarembo, who finished the match with nine players after having Alejandro Curbelo and Diego Lugano sent off on the opening weekend of this year's championship.

Victor Piriz put Tacuarembo ahead after 17 minutes, Alejandro Melo equalized in the 32nd and Nacional clung on for a point despite being put under heavy pressure in the second half.

Penarol, Nacional's arch-rivals, got off on the right foot as they beat Defensor Sporting 2-0 with goals in each half by Fabian Canobbio and Fabian Estoyanoff.

 

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