International Roundup

Monaco shocks Marseille to reach League Cup final

PARIS (Reuters) -- Monaco recorded their first victory in 23 years at Olympique Marseille on Wednesday, winning 1-0 to join Sochaux in the French League Cup final.

The principality team came through thanks to a goal by Croatian striker Dado Prso two minutes into the second half.

Monaco, who have never won the League Cup but have claimed five French Cups and seven league titles in their history, will face Sochaux, winners over Ligue 2 Metz 3-2 after extra time on Tuesday, in the final on May 17 at the Stade de France.

Sochaux have not lifted a trophy since the Second World War.

Under pressure from a 56,605 Stade Velodrome capacity crowd, Marseille, who had lost their last two home Ligue 1 matches against Paris St Germain and En Avant Guingamp, won the early midfield battle.

Monaco came back into the game through swift counter-attacks led by captain Ludovic Giuly and midfielder Jerome Rothen with the power of Shabani Nonda and Dado Prso up front.

The game turned into a classic confrontation between Monaco's technical flair and Marseille's fighting power and between two Mediterranean neighbors who lie second and third in the league standings.

Halftime came at a goalless stalemate without any real scoring opportunity for either side.

But two minutes into the second half Rothen ended a good run on the left with a center behind the Marseille defenders. Prso outsprinted Daniel van Buyten and Johnny Ecker and slipped the ball past goalkeeper Vedran Runje.

The Stade Velodrome went quiet and the Marseille players tried to push forward without success.

Their best chance came on the hour but Ibrahima Bakayoko slipped as he was firing a late shot after a scramble in front of goal.

Tempers flared up 15 minutes from the whistle, a brawl erupting between the two teams after Rothen fouled Brahim Hemdani.

Referee Alain Sars brought the match under control with three yellow cards in five minutes and Monaco hung on to the final whistle.

Porto president criticizes Portugal coach

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- FC Porto president Jorge Pinto da Costa criticized Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Wednesday for wanting to play scheduled national team friendlies while the domestic league season is reaching its critical stage.

On Tuesday, Scolari said he was unhappy about a glut of club games at the end of the season and warned that he won't spare national team players involved in crucial matches.

The Portuguese league has matches scheduled just two days before Portugal takes on the Netherlands on April 30 in Eindhoven. Portugal also plans friendly games on June 7 and 11, even though the Portuguese Cup final is on June 15.

Porto plays Uniao Leiria in the domestic Cup final.

Pinto da Costa said that Portuguese soccer federation boss Gilberto Madail, through his adviser Joao Rodrigues, offered to play the Cup final at an earlier date, but that recent Scolari statements seem to contradict that offer.

"Scolari said that the final would be on June 15 and that he was the one that is in charge," Pinto da Costa told national news agency Lusa. "Either Madail and Rodrigues are extraneous in the federation or Scolari is abusing his power."

Porto has several key players in the national team, including Brazilian-born star midfielder Deco.

Deco recently took Portuguese citizenship and was promptly called by Scolari to play against World Cup champion Brazil on March 29. He scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win.

Porto, which also leads the Portuguese league by 13 points with six rounds to play, could add a third trophy this season -- the UEFA Cup.

The club thrashed Lazio 4-1 in the first leg of the semifinals last week. The return leg is set for April 22 in Italy.

Winning all three trophies would make this Porto's most successful season. Porto won the Champions Cup in 1987, but it has never won the UEFA Cup.

Portugal, however, automatically qualifies for next year's European Championship as host.

More than a dozen exhibition games over the next 12 months are planned for the national team.

Azerbaijan bids to overturn FIFA ban

Azeri soccer has been in chaos since 2000 when leading clubs accused federation chief Fuad Musayev of corruption. In May 2002, 10 of 11 premier division clubs quit the national championship to form a breakaway league.

World soccer's ruling body said in a statement on Tuesday that the Azeri federation had been suspended over "severe and unacceptable levels of external pressure in recent times."

"Within the next two months we will start a championship, decide on a new charter and organise a conference to choose a president," Musayev told reporters. "Then I will appeal to FIFA to overturn this sanction."

Azeri clubs are due to meet on April 20 and the championship could restart by April 25.

Musayev dismissed reports the ex-Soviet state had been suspended over corruption worries.

"Information that the ASF was excluded from FIFA because of widespread corruption is not true," he said.

"We were excluded from FIFA because we did not fulfil our duties set out in the Zurich agreement," he added, referring to a deal in which Azeri clubs and the country's football authority agreed to restart the championship and elect a new leadership.

UEFA, European soccer's ruling body, has banned Azeri clubs from European club competitions this season because of turmoil in the domestic game.

But Azerbaijan had been allowed to play the qualifying competition for the 2004 European championships, where they have lost four and drawn one of their Group Nine games.

Bulgarian Cup semi-final marred by crowd brawl

SOFIA (Reuters) -- A mass brawl among fans, in which three policemen were injured, marred a Bulgarian Cup semi-final derby between CSKA and Levski Sofia on Wednesday.

A police spokesman said in an interview with local television that groups of CSKA fans started fighting among themselves in the stands during the second half.

When police tried to stop the fighting, fans started smashing up seats and three officers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Police chief Vassil Vassilev told reporters that 29 fans had been arrested. Around 1,400 officers had been employed at the match.

CSKA lost 1-0 the first leg semi-final to visiting Levski, whose winning goal came deep into injury-time.

Directors of Swedish club Helsingborg resign

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- The board of 1999 Swedish soccer champions Helsingborgs IF resigned Wednesday, citing the club's mounting financial troubles.

The former club of national team striker Henrik Larsson, now with Glasgow Celtic, has racked up debts of 40 million kronor (US$4.7 million), spokesman Kjell Jakobsson said.

The nine-person board resigned as part of a restructuring effort to help the organization improve its financial situation, he said. A new board will be elected at a member meeting next month.

Helsingborg played in the Champions League in 2000 after upsetting Inter Milan in a qualifier.

Tunisia

Former winners Etoile Sahel are expected to be handed a walk over into the second round of the African Cup Winners' Cup after their first round opponents JS Pobe failed to arrive at the weekend.

The Benin side, who had won a preliminary round tie in February, were due to meet Etoile in the first leg of their tie at Sousse on Saturday.

The Tunisian Football federation said they were told on Thursday by telephone that Pobe would arrive on Friday on a flight from Dakar in Senegal but when officials went to receive the team they were not on the plane.

The formality of disqualification is expected to be announced by the Confederation of African Football in Cairo in the next few days.

Etoile, winners of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1997, will play either Club Olympique Bamako of Mali or AS Douanes of Senegal in the second round in May.

Angola

Serbian coach Dusan Kondic has returned to Angola to take over as coach of the army club Primeiro Agosto, club officials confirmed on Monday.

Primeiro fired coach Jaime Chimalanga last week after three successive league defeats

Kondic took Primeiro to the Angolan Girabola title in 1991 and 1992 and also served as coach of the Angolan national team.

Assistant coach Ivo Traca took charge for Primeiro's 2-0 win over South African club Mamelodi Sundowns in their Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup first round, first leg tie in Luanda at the weekend.

Traca played under Kondic in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers.

South Africa

Black Leopards coach Walter Rautmann twisted his knee after jumping off the bench to celebrate a goal during the team's surprise 3-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Austrian-born Rautmann, a colorful and controversial character in South African professional football over the last three decades, will be on crutches for the next few weeks.

Leopards' shock victory lifted the club out of the relegation zone but they have just three matches left to avoid the drop.

 

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