Foreign Players Lead FC Porto Past AS Monaco
Portuguese champion FC Porto defeated AS Monaco, 3-0, in the European Champions League final Wednesday to become only the second team after Liverpool in 1976 and 1977 to win the UEFA Cup and the European Cup in successive seasons.
The victory was built on Brazilian flair, Russian resolve and the tactical genius of Portuguese Coach Jose Mourinho, who was in charge of Porto for the final time before a rumored move to Chelsea.
Goals by Brazilians Carlos Alberto and Deco Souza and by Russian midfielder Dmitri Alenitchev earned Porto its triumph in front of more than 52,000 at the Arena Aufschalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and an estimated worldwide television audience in excess of 250 million.
Mourinho’s farewell was of more interest than Porto’s disciplined performance in a game that had little edge to it after Alberto’s 39th-minute goal. Monaco’s Spanish striker, Fernando Morientes, was off form and the team from the principality seldom threatened.
“I’m very proud of what we did, but the time to leave has arrived,” Mourinho said. “It’s the best way. It was 2 1/2 years, and it was fantastic, absolutely fantastic. We won everything.”
Vitor Baia, Porto’s goalkeeper, joined an elite group of players who have won the UEFA Cup, the defunct European Cup Winner’s Cup and the European Cup.
Monaco Coach Didier Deschamps, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, said poor officiating played a part in the outcome.
“There were three or four offside calls that were actually wrong, and things like that can change a match,” he said.
Deschamps, who twice won the European Cup and three times was on the losing side as a player, is expected to leave AS Monaco, with Juventus a possible destination.
Liverpool’s Choice
Liverpool, which is close to finalizing the sale of 30% of the club to the Thai government of billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for $115 million, reportedly will hire Valencia Coach Rafael Benitez to replace the fired Gerard Houllier.
The Liverpool Echo reported that the club’s board was unanimous in its choice of the 44-year-old Benitez, who this season led Valencia to the Spanish title and the UEFA Cup.
But Benitez told Spain’s Radio Nou he was in no hurry to leave.
Euro 2004
In an effort to prevent English hooligans from disrupting next month’s European Championship, the British government has banned 2,188 known troublemakers from traveling to Portugal for the June 12-July 4 tournament.
An additional 500 hooligans face a similar ban depending on the outcome of court cases in progress.
While England addressed its fan problems, Sweden selected Alexander Ostlund to replace injured defender Michael Svensson on its team.
Meanwhile, Dutch Coach Dick Advocaat said the Netherlands might lose PSV Eindhoven midfielder Mark Van Bommel for the tournament because of an Achilles’ tendon injury.
Elsewhere, host Portugal sought to quell rumors that Brazilian Luis Felipe Scolari would step down as Portugal’s coach after the championship. Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup, is a candidate for the South Korea coaching vacancy.
Real Madrid’s Call
With a new coach, Jose Antonio Camacho, in place and facing an Aug. 11 qualifying game to get into next season’s European Champions League, Real Madrid is undecided about taking part in the July 31 MLS All-Star game.
A Real Madrid spokeswoman said “nothing has been canceled yet.”
Blimey, More Footy
The English Premier League and England’s national team will gain even more exposure in the U.S. next season after Fox Sports International announced terms of separate agreements with the league and with England’s Football Assn.
Fox Sports World will televise 195 league games per season over the next three years, up from 180 this season, and will also broadcast England’s home qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup and the 2008 European Championship.
Quick Passes
New York/New Jersey MetroStar goalkeeper Jonny Walker was called up to the U.S. national team for a June 2 friendly against Honduras at Foxboro, Mass., after Brad Friedel had to withdraw from the squad because of a quadriceps injury.... Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas, sidelined since April 17, when he aggravated a groin injury, underwent surgery in Philadelphia and will be unavailable to the team for an undetermined time.... Manchester United signed England striker Alan Smith, 23, to a five-year contract after acquiring him from relegated Leeds United for $12.8 million.
-- Compiled by Grahame L. Jones
