 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||
|
Grazie, Toldo Inter scrapes past Valencia despite loss, into semifinalsPosted: Tuesday April 22, 2003 4:54 PMUpdated: Tuesday April 22, 2003 8:11 PM
VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) -- An early strike from in-form Christian Vieri was just enough to help Inter Milan scrape into the Champions League semifinals on away goals despite a 2-1 defeat to Valencia at the Mestalla on Tuesday. The Italian side had Francesco Toldo to thank for an inspired goalkeeping display that enabled his side to weather a storm of Valencia attacks and put them into the last four for the first time in over 20 years. Hector Cuper's team will now face the winners of Wednesday's quarterfinal between neighbors AC Milan and Ajax. Valencia, who lost 1-0 in the first leg at the San Siro, made an ambitious start, pouring forward in search of an early goal to level the tie. Midfielder Miguel Angel Angulo went close with a rising 30-meter drive in the third minute but just as Valencia, who reached the final in their last two Champions League appearances, looked set to take control Inter made the most of an uncharacteristic error by center back Roberto Ayala to snatch the lead. The Argentine international failed to cut out a simple through ball from the Inter midfield on four minutes and it squirted free into the path of Vieri who sprinted clear towards goal. Keeper Santiago Canizares produced a superb reflex save to get his hand to Vieri's first shot but he was powerless to stop the Italian from snapping up the rebound and poking home into the open net. Vieri later hobbled off in the 32nd minute with was thought to be a knee ligament injury to be replaced by Uruguayan striker Alvaro Recoba. Inter barely had time to celebrate their early lead before the Spaniards netted a beautifully crafted equalizer in the seventh minute. Receiving the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the area, Norwegian striker John Carew turned defender Ivan Cordoba before slipping the ball square to Aimar who side-stepped Carlos Gamarra and drilled a low shot past Francesco Toldo into the far corner. Intense pressure Valencia went on to subject Inter to a period of intense pressure with right back Anthony Reveillere producing a succession of dangerous crosses from the right and Vicente following suit on the left. But a combination of some desperate last-ditch defending and some brilliant goalkeeping from Toldo kept the Spaniards at bay. The Inter keeper parried a testing Aimar free kick on 21 minutes and then pulled off a superb one-handed save to deny Reveillere soon after. Valencia continued to pepper the Inter goal with shots, but once again it was Toldo who came to the rescue producing a superb one-handed save to cut out a powerful Reveillere shot on the half hour mark. The Italian international went on to produce a succession of three brilliant reflex saves in the 40th minute to parry a double from Vicente and a follow-up from Reveillere. There was no respite in the relentless Valencia pressure after the break and Toldo pulled off yet another spectacular save to turn a goal-bound volley from Ruben Baraja in the 50th minute. But he could do nothing to stop the midfielder from putting the home side 2-1 ahead with a diving header from the resulting corner. The 50,000 Mestalla crowd went wild a couple of minutes later when defender Marco Materazzi appeared to bring Juan Sanchez down as the pocket-sized forward darted into the Inter area, but referee Kim Milton Nielsen waved play on. Inter were rarely able to venture into the Valencia half and their only real chance of the half came 10 minutes from time when Canizares got his foot to a sharp shot from Alvaro Recoba. Mission accomplished, says delighted Inter coachVALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) -- Inter Milan coach Hector Cuper believes his former club Valencia may have been the better side in their Champions League quarterfinal, but said that what counted was going through to the next round. An early strike from in-form Christian Vieri, who later had to leave the field with a serious knee injury, and a towering performance from goalkeeper Francesco Toldo were enough to see Inter through on away goals despite a 2-1 defeat on the night. The result means the Serie A side are in the last four of the European Cup for the first time in 22 years and could now face a possible tie against city rivals AC Milan, who play Ajax Amsterdam in another quarterfinal match on Wednesday. "I am delighted that we have made the semis," Cuper told a news conference. "We got there by right and we have achieved something historic." But the 47-year-old Argentine acknowledged that Valencia had subjected his team to intense pressure and had been the better side on the night. "We suffered for the whole game, but less than we did when we beat Valencia in last season's UEFA Cup, and I felt that although they created lots of dangerous situations they did not have that many clear scoring chances. "I knew Valencia would attack us and would keep hold of the ball. In the first half we were a little uncertain of ourselves and a bit disorganized at times. "After the break we suffered a lot and they had their chances. We had one or two but it was never easy to deal with their attacks. "We had some problems but it was important to defend the result, although it was Valencia who had the better of the game." Cuper said Toldo had been instrumental in his side's progress to the semifinals, but praised the whole team for their gritty performance. "Toldo had a remarkable match, but we should talk about the whole team. We didn't produce a great performance but the important thing was to go through and we did it." Cuper, who steered Valencia to consecutive Champions League finals in 2000 and 2001, said he had no preference as to their opponents in the semifinals. "I don't mind who we get, but if it is Milan it will be good because it will give us a chance to get our revenge for our defeats in the league derbies against them." Benitez claims football is the loserVALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) -- Valencia coach Rafa Benitez was damning in his criticism of referee Kim Milton Nielsen and opponents Inter Milan after his side were knocked out of the Champions League on the away goals rule on Tuesday. The Spanish side, who lost the first leg at the San Siro 1-0, dominated the game at the Mestalla from start to finish but an early goal from Christian Vieri was enough to see the Serie A side into the semifinals despite a 2-1 defeat on the night. "We were superior in both games against Inter and deserved to win," said Benitez. "There was no justice in our elimination from the competition." Valencia roared back into the game after Vieri's early strike as Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar fired in an equalizer three minutes later. The home side then took the lead early in the second half when midfielder Ruben Baraja scored with a powerful diving header. But a succession of top-class saves from the outstanding Francesco Toldo kept Inter in the game and denied Valencia a crucial third goal. Benitez said he was particularly annoyed that the referee had not awarded a penalty when Inter's Marco Materazzi had appeared to foul striker Juan Sanchez as he darted into the area midway through the second half. "There was only one team out there playing football and if the referee had done what he should have done we would have gone through. "There was a clear penalty against [Juan Sanchez] and an aggression in the area that both went unpenalized." He also bemoaned what he claimed were the negative tactics of the Italian side coached by former Valencia boss Hector Cuper. "Unfortunately, football lost out there," said Benitez. "We have to put a stop to the foul play, repeated offences and time wasting of sides like this." "If a team plays as well as we did and still goes out it is very sad. If all sides played like Inter I don't know if football would disappear, but the stadiums would be empty that's for sure." In the semifinals Inter will face either rivals AC Milan or Ajax Amsterdam, who play their second leg on Wednesday after a goalless draw in the first match in the Netherlands. Suspected knee ligament injury for Inter's VieriMILAN (Reuters) -- Inter Milan striker Christian Vieri, who scored as his team qualified for the semifinals of the Champions League on Tuesday, has suffered a suspected knee ligament injury. Inter said on their official Web site that the injury, which forced Vieri out of the game after 32 minutes at the Mestalla, was a "suspected sprain to the internal collateral [ligament] of the right knee." The club said a full evaluation of the injury would be made in the coming days but if ligament damage is confirmed Vieri could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Inter coach Hector Cuper said: "It seems quite serious. It is hard to say for sure at the moment, but it seems serious." Vieri scored in the fourth minute and although Pablo Aimar and Ruben Baraja netted to give Valencia a 2-1 win on the night Inter went through on away goals, having won the first leg 1-0. SummaryValencia 2 Inter Milan 1 -- result Champions League quarterfinal, second leg First leg: 0-1; aggregate result 2-2 Inter Milan win on away goals rule Scorers: Valencia -- Pablo Aimar 7, Ruben Baraja 50 Inter Milan -- Christian Vieri 4 Halftime: 1-1; Attendance: 52,000 Teams: Valencia: 1-Santiago Canizares; 33-Anthony Reveillere, 4-Roberto Ayala, 12-Carlos Marchena, 15-Amedeo Carboni (3-Fabio Aurelio 80); 10-Miguel Angel Angulo, 8-Ruben Baraja, 21-Pablo Aimar (20-Mista 84), 14-Vicente; 11-Juan Sanchez, 7-John Carew (19-Francisco Rufete 73) Inter Milan: 1-Francesco Toldo; 2-Ivan Cordoba, 24-Carlos Gamarra, 23-Marco Materazzi, 26-Giovanni Pasquale (15-Daniele Adani 46); 4-Javier Zanetti, 6-Cristiano Zanetti, 14-Luigi Di Biagio (22-Buruk Okan 75), 18-Stephane Dalmat; 32-Christian Vieri (20-Alvaro Recoba 32), 9-Hernan Crespo Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
