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International Roundup MTK beats Ujpest, wins Hungarian championshipPosted: Friday May 30, 2003 6:45 PMBUDAPEST (Reuters) -- MTK won the Hungarian first division title for the 22nd time, beating fourth-placed Ujpest 1-0 in a nail-biting final round of league matches on Friday. Rivals Ferencvaros, denied a sixth league and Cup double, finished runners-up for the second consecutive season after they were held to a goalless draw by third-placed Debrecen. MTK finished on 66 points, two ahead of Ferencvaros. Under UEFA's national rankings, AC Milan's win over Juventus in Wednesday's all-Italian Champions League final could mean MTK are now 'promoted' to next season's Champions league second qualifying round, a step up from the first qualifiers. A UEFA spokesman said a decision was due by June 16. Ferencvaros, expected to seek a stock market listing later this year, and losing cup finalists Debrecen go into the UEFA Cup. After slugging it out neck-and-neck for most of the season, Ferencvaros squandered a five-point lead over MTK in May, setting up a tense finale. The title was ultimately decided by Roland Juhasz, MTK's central defender, who headed home a corner just after the half-hour. "It's the biggest game of my career. We won because we fought for each other and played as a unit," he said. MTK manager Sandor Egervari saluted his side for clawing their way back into the title hunt. "We were quite a way off the title for some time in May, but at the end we sorted ourselves out. It's no miracle, but a very pleasant surprise," he said. Zalaegerszeg's Krisztian Kenesei finished as the league's top scorer, and will be looking to add to his haul of 23 goals when last year's champions wind up their season against Bekescsaba on Saturday. Kispest-Honved, the old Red Army club made famous by the
legendary "Galloping Major" Ferenc Puskas, goalkeeper Gyula
Grosics and Sandor Kocsis in the 1950s and 60s, were relegated
from Hungary's top flight for the first time since 1916-17,
along with Dunaferr.
Kispest, who won the last of their 13 championships back in
1993, had a torrid season, going through five managers.
As Honved the club won five titles in seven years back in
the 1950s and provided the backbone of the "Magical Magyars,"
Hungary's national team that dazzled the world in a glorious
spell that won them everything bar the World Cup.
Puskas, who made his league debut aged just 15, was one of
several Honved players who went into exile after the Soviet army
put down a popular uprising in Hungary in 1956 while the club
were on tour in Europe and South America.
The two clubs winning promotion to the first division will
be decided next month.
TBILISI (Reuters) -- Dinamo Tbilisi clinched the
Georgian league title with a 3-1 win over Sioni Bolnisi on
Friday -- the final day of the season.
It was Dinamo's second trophy in the last four days after
winning the Georgian Cup by beating the same team with the
identical 3-1 score on Monday.
On Friday, Dinamo scored three goals in a space of 22
minutes shortly after the interval to secure a comfortable win.
Sioni striker Levan Shavgulidze pulled one back with 13
minutes remaining.
The win gave Dinamo 48 points, two points clear of former
champions Torpedo Kutaisi, who edged Lokomotivi Tbilisi 2-1 on
Friday to finish second.
WIT Georgia Tbilisi finished third on 41 points after
battling Kolkheti 1913 Poti to a 2-2 draw.
Dinamo's Croatian coach Ivo Susak said winning the league
and cup double in his first season with the Georgian side was
beyond his most wild dreams.
"I feel even better now than when Croatia won third place at
the 1998 World Cup finals," said Susak, who was Croatia's
assistant coach under Miroslav Blazevic in 1998.
It was Dinamo's 11th league title, but first since 1999.
They won 10 successive league titles when Georgia began
their own independent championship in 1990 before Torpedo
Kutaisi broke their streak three years ago. They also won six
Georgian Cup finals between 1990 and 1997.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Bnei Sakhnin from Israel's
Arab sector gained promotion to the premier league on Friday,
joining fellow-Arab team Ahi Nazareth in the Israeli top flight.
Sakhnin, who were in fourth place in the second division at
the start of play, beat Maccabi Kiryat Gat 1-0.
Hapoel Jerusalem, who started in second, could manage only a
goalless draw at Hapoel Ra'anana, while third-placed Maccabi
Herzliya lost 2-1 at Hapoel Ramat Gan.
Sakhnin, from a small town in the heart of the lower
Galillee in northern Israel, were stunned to discover their good
fortune when their rivals faltered.
"This is truly a miracle, we are the smallest team in the
league with the lowest budget, it is beyond belief," said coach
Momi Zafran.
The winning goal came from Sakhnin's Bassam Ghnaim in the
55th minute.
Zaafran said immediately that he would not stay on at the
club, saying Sakhnin had no chance of remaining in the top
flight with no budget.
"Our stadium is not suitable, we need at least nine new
players and we have no money. I am much happier leaving now,
with a legacy of success, it's better than being fired three
months into next season after we fail against all our
opponents," Zafran said.
The Israeli Arab minority, which numbers about one million,
some 20 percent of the population, is now proportionally
represented in the 12-team premier league.
The Israeli soccer season concludes on Saturday, when the
premier league title will be decided. In the closest race ever,
Maccabi Tel Aviv lead Maccabi Haifa on goal difference, with
Hapoel Tel Aviv two points off the pace.
ZURICH (Reuters) -- Grasshoppers have topped the
Swiss league for the entire season, but Basel could still pip
them to the Nationalliga title in the final round of matches on
Saturday.
Grasshoppers, unbeaten in the second stage of the
championship, have a one-point lead over Basel and remain on
course for the championship and the significant cash windfall
that comes with a place in the Champions League.
The Zurich side travel to Berne to face Young Boys and
victory will secure them their 19th Nationalliga title, while
Basel must beat Neuchatel Xamax at home and hope their rivals
slip up.
"We have been top of the table since the first day of the
championship, but that does not mean anything. We have to hold
our nerve to keep it like that," Grasshoppers coach Marcel
Koller said.
The stakes are even higher this year after AC Milan's
victory in Wednesday's Champions League final.
The Swiss champions would have qualified for the second
qualifying round but now the Italian side's place in the third
qualifying round will now almost certainly go to Switzerland.
That means that they would have to win only one two-legged
fixture to qualify for the extremely lucrative group stage.
Basel know all about the Champions League, having become the
first Swiss side to reach the second phase this season.
Christian Gross's team are chasing not only a 10th Swiss
title but a second successive double after their 6-0 thrashing
of Neuchatel in the final of the Swiss Cup three weeks ago.
For the decisive games, Grasshoppers are expected to be
without Brazilian striker Eduardo because of a knee injury,
while Basel are missing Christian Gimenez and Mario Cantaluppi
because of suspension.
In the unlikely event that Grasshoppers lose and Basel draw,
goal difference would be used to separate the sides with the
Zurich side having a two-goal advantage going into Saturday's
games.
Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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