Football Dispatch

Weekend Football
16-19 May 2008
by Jerrad Peters

The Emperor has returned and his kingdom is smiling. Adriano scored his fifth goal of the Copa Libertadores, Wednesday – an accurate strike which justified Dagoberto’s storming run down the left flank. The 19th-minute tally opened and closed the scoring at the Morumbi; and Sao Paulo, ahead 1-0 on aggregate, will have the advantage when they visit Fluminense in the second leg next week.

With defender Thiago Silva unavailable to manager Renato Gaucho, The Fluzao were always going to struggle at the back. To their credit, however, they were mostly spotless. Goalkeeper Fernando Henrique’s lapse in concentration which allowed Adriano to score was the lone mistake of the evening.

For his part, Adriano was magnificent. Attacking from the left, from the right, and through the middle of the park, the 26-year-old looked every bit the striker who scored prolifically for Inter Milan and led both the 2004 Copa America and 2005 Confederations Cup in goals.

Thiago Neves nearly equalized after 53 minutes when he hit the cross-bar. But in holding Adriano and Dagoberto to a single goal between them, Fluminense are well situated to overturn the result at the Maracana next week.

Atlas took a pair of valuable away-goals from Buenos Aires on Wednesday. Jorge Torres Nilo scored an 88th-minute equalizer with goalkeeper Mauricio Caranta out of position as the Mexican side earned a well-deserved 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors at Ciudad Autonoma. Boca were forced into using Velez Sarsfield’s home ground after a linesman was struck with a chunk of ice at la Bonbonera last month.

The hosts were clearly out of sorts on their de-facto home pitch. Omar Flores struck after just six minutes for the guests; and Boca struggled for a cutting edge in the attacking third. Nevertheless, after Martin Palermo had tipped Rodrigo Palacio’s cross in the 36th-minute, the ball took a fortunate bounce off the back of Atlas defender Hugo Ayalo and left the goalkeeper helpless.

With a quarter-hour remaining, Boca finally went ahead. This time it was Palermo creating the pressure as Julio Caceres ran onto the ball. The 28-year-old Paraguayan defender made no mistake; and when Juan Roman Riquelme struck the woodwork just moments later, it appeared that the match was done and dusted.

Nilo’s goal changed all that, however, and altered the complexion of the tie. The two sides will meet for the second quarterfinal leg on Wednesday in Guadalajara.

In Thursday’s Copa Libertadores quarterfinal matches, LDU Quito drew San Lorenzo in Buenos Aires and America were 2-0 winners over Santos in front of 100,000 fans at the Azteca.

A sloppy bit of goalkeeping from San Lorenzo’s Agaustin Orion allowed Claudio Bieler to open the scoring in the 36th minute at Estadio Pedro Bidegain. The hosts replied just two minutes later, however, with a successful 20-yard effort from Adrian Gonzalez. El Ciclon made a furious push for an equalizer in the second half. But with a score draw at home, they will be under the kosh when the two sides collide in the return leg next week.

Salvador Cabanas struck a brace to ensure a 2-0 win for America over visiting Santos. The 27-year-old Paraguay international opened the scoring after running onto an Alejandro Anguello corner-kick in the 24th-minute and rounded out the scoring after connecting with a German Villa pass just after the hour-mark.

Despite finishing dead last in the state championship, America are cruising in the Copa Libertadores. After overturning a 4-2 defeat to Flamengo in April, Cabanas scored twice en route to a 3-0 win in Brazil the following week.

Manchester City will be playing European football next season after earning the Premier League’s UEFA Cup designation for fair play. England, after finishing atop the continent’s Fair Play league, was given an additional place in the cup competition. And as City finished six points ahead of Wigan in the domestic fair play ledger, they will enter the UEFA Cup at the first qualifying stage in July.

The first round draw will take place on June 30 and City will be paired with an opponent from the Northern Section. As a result, they will have an excellent chance of advancing over a side from one of Estonia, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Northern Ireland, Iceland, and Wales.

Rafael Benitez looks set to nab Albert Riera from Espanyol. Without a natural left winger in his squad, the Liverpool manager has also been keeping tabs on Atletico Madrid’s Maxi Rodriguez and AS Roma’s Alessandro Mancini.

Riera, however, would come at a lesser price than Maxi. And, as he is Spanish, is more likely than Mancini to catch Benitez’ attention. He has also played briefly in the Premier League – with Manchester City in 2006 – and has earned four caps for Spain, scoring a brilliant, long-range goal against Denmark in October, 2007.

The 2008 FA Cup final may be one of the least-anticipated centerpiece matches in history, but it will be a shop window through which the likes of Manchester United will be evaluating young Aaron Ramsey. Just 17-years-old, the Caerphilly-born midfielder is already attracting the attention of the Premier League champions. Sir Alex Ferguson, it seems, fancies the player as a possible replacement for the ageing Paul Scholes.

Nicknamed “Rambo,” Ramsey became the youngest player in Cardiff City history when he donned the blue shirt as a 16-year-old in 2005. Having idolized Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard as a child, his game is thought to emulate more of the latter. His exceptional vision and pin-point passing accuracy make him the ideal, all-around midfielder.

“We don’t have to sell him,” stated Bluebirds manager Dave Jones. “But if Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, or Liverpool come calling – and the price is right – it’s difficult to say to the kid that you are not going to play with Rooney and Ronaldo.”

Ramsey will line up alongside his Cardiff City teammates when the 127th FA Cup final is contested against Portsmouth at Wembley on Saturday.

Join me and other Winnipeg football fans for the Champions’ League final on Wednesday, May 21 at Confusion Corner Bar and Grill. We will be watching the match live at 1:30pm.

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters is a football journalist based in Winnipeg, Canada. His weekly column for the Winnipeg Free Press is the largest of its kind in the country. A regular contributor to Soccer Three-Sixty, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com, his work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.