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International roundup Real downs Inter in friendly; Owen to miss season's start
Posted: Saturday July 31, 1999 06:36 PM
MILAN (Reuters) -- An injury-time strike from Fernando Morientes gave Real Madrid a 3-2 win over Inter Milan in a friendly at San Siro on Saturday. Both teams fielded strong sides with several summer signings. Inter, under new coach Marcello Lippi, featured its world record signing Christian Vieri in attack but was without Brazilian Ronaldo, resting after the Copa America. It was two of Real's new faces who combined to help open the scoring in the 21st minute. England international Steve McManaman was brought down after a weaving run down the right, and Inter keeper Fabrizio Ferron could only parry Bosnian Elvir Bolic's fierce free kick with Raul making no mistake as he followed up. Inter enjoyed the better of the early possession and drew level in the 30th when Vieri tapped in from close range after Alvaro Recoba headed a Francesco Moriero cross into his path. But straight from the restart Morientes latched onto a through ball from Raul and blasted past Ferron. With both teams looking lively in attack but shaky in defense, Inter should have drawn level in the 36th minute when Vieri put Roberto Baggio in on goal but he sliced wide. A stream of substitutions spoiled what had promised to be a fascinating second half but the drama was saved for the final minute. Inter substitute Andrea Pirlo jinked into the penalty area and fired a powerful shot past Real 'keeper Bodo Illgner, and seemed to have given Inter a draw. But in injury time a low shot from Real substitute Guti was pushed out by Ferron, and Morientes pounced. Injured Owen to miss start of season for LiverpoolLONDON (Reuters) -- Injured England striker Michael Owen will miss the start of the Premier League season next week, his club Liverpool confirmed on Saturday. "Michael is training hard and running well, but the season has come too early for him," said manager Gerard Houllier, who forecast mid-August was a more likely start date. "He will not be involved next Saturday, and realistically it will be at least another couple of weeks before he is." Owen has not played since early April when he suffered a torn hamstring and tendon damage in a goalless league draw at Leeds. The teenager has also missed England's last two Euro 2000 championship qualifiers against Sweden and Bulgaria. Police fire shots to clear Yugoslav crowdBELGRADE (Reuters) -- Police fired shots in the air to clear rampaging Crvena Zvezda fans off the pitch in Cacak, central Serbia, on the first day of the Yugoslav soccer championship on Saturday. Visiting Zvezda (formerly Red Star) fans invaded the pitch after their team took the lead in the ninth minute against league newcomers Borac. Radio Belgrade reported that stewards took 24 minutes to clear the pitch. After the home team equalized towards the end of the first half, about 200 Zvezda fans ran riot again and police had to intervene and empty their part of the stands. "A disgrace and a scandal -- hooligans and criminals who call themselves fans of Crvena Zvezda," the radio said. Play resumed after another fifty minutes, and the match ended in twilight in a 2-2 draw. Partizan Belgrade, which was scheduled to play at home to Pristina, had a quiet afternoon by contrast. Pristina appear on the official list of fixtures, but have not licensed any players and will be unable to play in the 22-team championship due to the volatile situation in Kosovo province, where the club is formally based. Zimbabwe beat Senegal in Nations Cup qualifierHARARE (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe beat Senegal 2-1 on Saturday to take a big step towards reaching its first African Nations Cup finals. Peter Ndlovu in the eighth minute and Agent Sawu in the 55th put the home side 2-0 up, and Senegeal's reply from Omar Traore 13 minutes from time was not enough. The two countries are in a special group with Eritrea, and Zimbabwe is now favorites to make the finals. English-based Ndlovu, making a rare appearance for Zimbabwe, shrugged off two defenders to put his side ahead with an excellent left foot shot. He wasted two others chances but a good header from Sawu put the home team in control. One point will be enough for Zimbabwe when the two sides meet in Senegal. Coach Clemens Westerhoff said: "We will have to make new plans but you can't say we will field many strikers in Senegal. Namibia defeats favored South AfricaWINDHOEK (Reuters) -- Namibia continued the run of giant-killing upsets in this year's Cosafa Castle Cup, beating heavily fancied South Africa on penalties in their quarterfinal match on Saturday. Namibia won 4-1 on kicks after a 1-1 draw, just two weeks after lowly ranked Swaziland had beaten Zimbabwe in the same tournament. It was also the second successive year that South Africa had lost to their northern neighbors in the annual southern African championship, and the defeat is sure to increase the pressure on beleaguered coach Trott Moloto. South Africa led in the first half with a goal from Pollen Ndlanya, forcefully heading home from a corner kick in the 32nd minute. The visitors, the top ranked country in the region, could have had a second just 60 seconds later but were foiled by Namibia's goalkeeper Fillemon Kanalelo. In the second-half, Kanalelo made two further breathtaking saves at close range from Ndlanya. Namibia's equalizer also came from a corner with Johannes Hindjou getting a close-range touch-in in the 50th minute. Kanalelo continued with his heroics in the shootout, saving twice and scoring a penalty himself. The win means Namibia join Swaziland and Angola in the last four with Zambia still to play Mozambique in the last quarter-final match on August 7. The draw for the semifinals of the competition was due to be made later on Saturday. Ziege completes transfer from Milan to MiddlesbroughMIDDLESBROUGH, England (Reuters) -- German international wingback Christian Ziege completed his transfer from AC Milan to Middlesbrough on Saturday. Ziege, 27, signed a five-year contract with the English premier league club after medical tests. It was manager Bryan Robson's second important signing in two days. The former England captain signed 31-year-old Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince for $1.62 million on Friday -- and Ziege cost a reported 4.0 million pounds (US$6.48 million). "Ziege is one of the best wingbacks in the world," said Robson of the player who could make his club debut in the season-opening game against promoted Bradford City at the Riverside Stadium next Saturday. "He is a very adaptable player who will prove a fine asset," added Robson. "The experience of Ziege and Ince will be invaluable to our squad."
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