Football Dispatch

Summer Football
18 June 2007
The goddess Cybele was draped with a Spanish flag and adorned with a Real Madrid scarf, yesterday, after Madrid defeated Mallorca 3-1 to claim a 30th La Liga title. Captain Raul, lifted to the peak of the statue by crane, decorated the Phrygian goddess of fertility at the centre of Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles admid thousands of celebrating supporters. After the festivities at the club's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, fans streamed down the Paseo de la Castellana and congregated around the Cibeles Fountain where they awaited the victorious players. Just before 1-o'clock in the morning, a bus ferrying the Madrid players arrived in the square. Fireworks were lit over the fountain and riot-police had to interrupt the celebrations long after the players had gone.

On the field, Madrid quickly fell behind visiting Mallorca. And with Barcelona punishing Gimnastic de Tarragona as Madrid struggled for an equalizer, it looked as though the drought at the Bernabeu would extend into a fifth year. Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes finally leveled matteers for the hosts in the 68th-minutes. And when Mallorca goal-keeper Miguel Moya fumbled the ball into his own goal with just 10-minutes remaining, the Bernabeu exploded into an all-out carnival. Reyes added an insurance-marker 3-minutes later; and at the final whistle, David Beckham led the rush onto the pitch. The former England captain had been replaced by Reyes in the 66th-minute -- just 2-minutes ahead of the equalizer. But he was at the head of the celebration -- wrapping himself in the Cross of St. George and parading about the pitch with his three sons. "I couldn't have dreamed it any better," reflected Beckham. "It's been about winning the title for the last sixth months and we've deserved it."

Real Madrid's victory in the capital rendered Barcelona's convincing win at Gimnastic de Tarragona meaningless. Within a space of 18-minutes, Carlos Puyol, Lionel Messi, and Ronaldinho had given the visitors a 3-0 lead. Messi added his second of the night and 16th league-goal of the season shortly after the interval. Tobias Grahn pulled one back for Gimnastic; but Gianlucca Zambrotta popped Barcelona's 5th-goal in 2nd-half stoppage-time.

Barcelona finish the season with 76-points and a goal-differential of +45. Real Madrid, also on 76-points and with an inferior goal-differential of +26, claimed the trophy by virtue of their head-to-head record with the Catalans. Sevilla retained 3rd-spot in the standings despite a 1-0 loss at home to Villarreal. Fabricio Fuentes scored the only goal of the match as Villarreal leapfrogged Real Zaragoza into 5th-place in the ledger. With 60-points, Zaragoza claim the final UEFA Cup berth for next season.

Canada and the United States are on collision-course for a spot in the final of the Gold Cup. The CONCACAF championship entered its quarter-final stage at the weekend -- with Canada advancing with a 3-0 win over Guatemala and the host Americans narrowly beating Panama 2-1 in Foxboro. Ali Gerda scored twice for Canada in the first-half and Henry Medina deflected the ball into his own goal before the interval. The Canadians rested on their 3-goal advantage in the second period. In Saturday's late start, Landon Donovan broke a nervous draw on the hour-mark with a penalty-kick after being pulled down in the penalty area. Donovan and Demarcus Beasley terrorized the Panama back-line throughout the night -- though the Panamese forwards looked nearly as dangerous on the counter-attack. American captain and Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra scored the eventual match-winner just 2-minutes after Donovan's opener. Blaz Perez narrowed the scoreline to a single goal with just 6-minutes to play in normal time. But Panama could not create another goal; and the United States and Canada will play their semi-final contest on Thursday, 21 June at Chicago's Soldier Field.

Guadeloupe are this year's Cinderalla-story in the Gold Cup. An upset victory over Canada in the Group Phase paved the way for a place in the quarter-finals -- an opportunity which they took full advantage of by defeating Honduras 2-1 in Houston. Jocelyn Angloma and Richard Socrier scored just 3-minutes apart in the opening 20-minutes. They kept the potent Honduras attack from capitalizing on several opportunities until Carlos Pavon broke through for his 5th-goal of the competition in the 71st-minute. Guadeloupe held the lead from thereon in and will face Mexico in the semi-finals.

Mexico, tournament favorites at the outset, dispatched Costa Rica 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. They appeared rather reluctant to do so, however, as Costa Rica played the entire second-half with just ten-men following the dismissal of Allan Aleman in the 43rd-minute. Jared Borguetti's match-winner came after 7-minutes of stoppage time -- 7-minutes before Alvaro Saborio was sent-off for the Mexicans, leveling the playing field at ten-men per-side.

Elsewhere on the summer's international football circuit, England's Under-21s defeated group-leaders Serbia 2-0 in Nijmegen on Sunday, 17 June. Leroy Lita opened the scoring after just 5-minutes and Blackburn Rovers forward Matt Derbyshire added an insurance-marker in the 77th-minute. His celebrations after the goal, however, sparked a bust-up which proceeded to involve most of the players from either side. The match was further marred by the racist abuse hurled at England's Nedum Onuoha by the Serbian fans. UEFA are investigating the incident.

Italy will miss-out on the knock-out stages of the competition despite beating Czech Republic 3-1. Alberto Aquilani, Giorgio Chiellini, and Giuseppe Rossi scored for the Azzuri. In other action, Belgium drew the host Netherlands 22 and Portugal drubbed Israel 4-0. The semi-final round of the tournament will be contested on Wednesday, 20 June, with Holland tied to England and Serbia to Belgium.