International Football - Around the world in 80 goals

Eurosport - Mon, 01 Jun 15:09:00 2009

We take our weekly trip around the world of football with Adriano scoring a winning goal on his Flamengo debut.

FOOTBALL Flamengo Adriano 2009 torcida - 0

BRAZIL

Former Internazionale striker Adriano scored on his debut for Flamengo to give his new team a 2-1 win over Atletico Paranaense.

Adriano, rejoining the club where he began his career, played the full 90 minutes despite admitting that he is still not fully fit after two months out of action.

"When I'm feeling good and happy, it doesn't matter if I'm 100 per ent fit or not," he said

"The important thing is to play for Flamengo again, score a goal and win the match. There's no money that can buy this happiness."

"I've got back my happiness," he added. "I think it was a good debut but I know I can do more. Little by little, with humility and dedication, I'm going to get back to my best."

Adriano walked out on Inter in April, failing to return to Italy after a World Cup qualifier for Brazil against Peru where he was an unused substitute.

The Serie A club later agreed to end his contract after he said he was not happy in Italy and wanted time to re-think his career. He joined Flamengo shortly afterwards.

Adriano was involved in Flamengo's first goal when Atletico defender Antonio Carlos turned the ball into his own net under pressure from the Brazil international.

A crowd of nearly 72,000 at the Maracana then saw Adriano head the second from Leonardo Moura's cross two minutes after halftime.

Rafael Moura pulled one back for the visitors in the 69th minute.

Sao Paulo, champions for the last three years, produced their best result of the season as they beat Cruzeiro 3-0 at the Morumbi, with Washington, Borges and Dagoberto sharing the goals.

Paulo Renato scored twice to help Santos to a 3-1 win over arch-rivals Corinthians.

MEXICO

Pumas UNAM won the Mexican championship on Sunday after snatching a 2-2 extra-time draw away to Pachuca in the second-leg of the final thanks to a dreadful blunder by goalkeeper Miguel Calero.

The Colombian allowed Pumas substitute Pablo Barrera's weak shot across goal to slip through his hands and into the net in the 107th minute.

The goal gave Pumas a 3-2 aggregate win in the Clausura championship final as they clinched their sixth domestic title and their first since 2004.

Pachuca midfielder Cristian Gimenez celebrated his first Argentina call-up by twice putting the home team ahead in a game which also produced an extraordinary Pumas miss.

Pachuca, also attempting to win their sixth title, went ahead in the 21st minute when Gimenez converted a penalty after Blas Perez was pushed by Efrain Juarez.

Paraguay forward Dante Lopez equalised with a shot on the turn in the 62nd minute but Gimenez put the Beavers back in front when he scored with a low free kick 16 minutes later, his 13th goal of the championship.

Pachuca had Javier Munoz sent off in the 90th minute for a lunging tackle on Martin Bravo and the game went to extra-time as the away goals rule is not used.

Pumas missed an extraordinary chance in the first period when Bravo slipped between two defenders and shot against the inside of the post.

The ball rebounded across the face of the goal but Bravo failed to make contact and Lopez shot wide from point-blank range.

ARGENTINA

Velez Sarsfield won 1-0 at Gimnasia-Jujuy on Sunday to keep up the pressure on Argentine championship leaders Lanus and condemn their opponents to relegation.

With three games to play in the Clausura championship, Velez stayed one point behind Lanus and one ahead of third-placed Huracan, who both won at the weekend, after Jonathan Cristaldo headed the only goal five minutes into the second half.

The defeat meant that Gimnasia will finish in the bottom two of the relegation standings which are decided over three seasons.

Lanus, coached by 28-year-old Luis Zubeldia, beat San Lorenzo 2-1 on Saturday with a controversial penalty converted by Jose Sand in the 77th minute.

The penalty was awarded for an alleged pushing incident and even Lanus players appeared surprised by the decision.

Velez Sarsfield coach Ricardo Gareca refused to join in the row over the penalty.

"I don't think about what happens to other teams, just to mine," he said. "Anything else is a distraction and that does not favour us."

Huracan beat Banfield 2-1 on Friday.

VENEZUELA

Caracas FC won the 2008/09 championship in emphatic style, demolishing local rivals Deportivo Italia 5-0 to win the two-leg final 6-1 on aggregate.

The club, which only turned professional in 1984, has won 10 Venezuelan titles, including six in the last nine seasons. It was their fifth under Noel Sanvicente, one of the longest-serving coaches in South America.

Franklin Lucena and Rafael Castellin scored in a four-minute spell early in the game to put Caracas on their way and Alejandro Guerra added a third in the 26th minute with the help of a mistake by Italia goalkeeper Alan Liebeskind.

Jose Manuel Rey missed a penalty for Caracas early in the second half but Zamir Valoyes scored shortly afterwards and Rey then atoned by scoring the fifth in the 77th minute.

COLOMBIA

Cucuta were held 1-1 at home by Atletico Junior as coach Jorge Luis Pinto began his unprecedented stadium ban by watching the game from a nearby sports institute.

Pinto watched the game on television, although the signal went down during the first half adding to his frustration.

According to Colombian media, Pinto gave his pre-match team talk to his players with the help a closed circuit television system which was set up in their dressing-room. A camera filmed him and relayed the pictures to the players.

The coach, banned for insulting and threatening the fourth official after being sent off last week, again criticised the referee, saying Cucuta were turned down a penalty and that Atletico Junior's goal should have been disallowed for a foul.

The result took Cucuta top of semi-final Group B in the Apertura championship with five points from three games, ahead of Envigado on goal difference.

Sixteen-year-old goalkeeper Johan Wallens made an outstanding debut for Deportivo Cali as he helped them to a goalless draw at Envigado.

Deportes Tolima, 3-1 winners over Once Caldas, lead Group A.

PARAGUAY

Libertad's chances of winning a fifth successive title took a severe knock as they where thrashed 4-0 at Guarani in front of only 624 supporters.

Federico Santander gave Guarani a halftime lead, Miguel Paniagua added two more in the second half and Jonathan Fabbro completed the rout.

With five games remaining, Libertad dropped four points behind leaders Cerro Porteno in the Apertura championship.

Cerro won 1-0 at first division newcomers Rubio Nu despite a straight red card for Miguel Torren in the 16th minute. Celso Ortiz scored the winner with a 25-metre shot just before halftime.

ECUADOR

Emelec stayed top of the championship's first stage despite losing 1-0 at home to Olmedo. Substitute Cristian Suarez stunned the Capwell crowd in the 88th minute with a dipping cross-shot which caught goalkeeper Marcelo Elizaga off his guard.

Second-placed LDU closed the gap to one point when Claudio Bieler, the championship's top scorer, gave them a 1-1 draw at Deportivo Cuenca with his 13th goal of the season.

PERU

Modest Juan Aurich moved four points clear at the top of the championship's first stage by beating Total Chalaco 2-0, Carlos Zamora and William Chiroque scoring in a 10-minute spell during the second half.

URUGUAY

Defensor Sporting, leaders of the championship's second stage, went down to a shock 3-2 defeat at home to Tacuarembo.

Second-placed River Plate closed the gap to one point with one game each to play by beating Nacional 2-1.

PORTUGAL

Porto beat Pacos de Ferreira 1-0 to win the Portuguese Cup final and complete the domestic double.

Lisando Lopez scored with a shot in the seventh minute in a game dominated by Porto, although Pacos de Ferreira had a few chances in the first half during their first ever Cup final appearance.

Porto's victory secured their 14th cup triumph, within striking distance of Sporting's record 15 titles.

Porto wrapped up their fourth successive league title this month.

GREECE

Panathinaikos secured a place in next season's Champions League after defeating city rivals AEK Athens 2-0 in the final game of the Greek Super League playoffs.

Henk Ten Cate's team, who finished the regular Super League season in third place, clinched victory at the Olympic Stadium courtesy of goals from Giorgos Karagounis and Ante Rukavina, which ensured they topped the playoff mini-league by six points ahead of AEK.

Panathinaikos join Greek champions Olympiakos Pireaus in the draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Greece's representatives in the new-look Europa League, which replaces the UEFA Cup, will be AEK, PAOK and Larissa.

POLAND

Wisla Krakow retained the league title after a 2-0 home win over Slask Wroclaw enabled them to finish three points ahead of traditional rivals Legia Warsaw.

Strikers Radoslaw Sobolewski and Marek Zienczuk scored either side of halftime to give Wisla their fifth league title in seven seasons and their 12th overall.

Arka Gdynia escaped relegation with a 2-1 home success against Odra Wodzislaw, at the expense of Cracovia Krakow and Gornik Zabrze who both failed to win.

BULGARIA

Levski Sofia clinched their 26th league title with a match to spare after a 1-1 home draw with Minor Pernik left them three points clear at the top before the final day.

Second-placed CSKA Sofia, who cannot overhaul Levski because their city foes have a better head-to-head record, saw their title hopes vanish with a 1-0 defeat at Litex Lovech which was marred by crowd trouble.

Dozens of CSKA fans invaded the pitch and clashed with riot police after a disallowed goal and the match was halted for several minutes as they received medical treatment.

ROMANIA

Unirea Urziceni won their first league title with a match to spare after a 2-1 win at third-placed Timisoara left them four points clear of Dinamo Bucharest, who lost 2-0 home to mid-table Brasov.

Unirea, founded in 1954 and promoted to the top tier of Romanian football for the first time in 2006, came from behind at Timisoara with second-half goals from Iulian Apostol and Marius Bilasco.

RUSSIA

CSKA Moscow won the Cup with a 1-0 win over champions Rubin Kazan in the final, courtesy of an injury-time effort from Russia midfielder Evgeny Aldonin.

Rubin will take some consolation from staying top of the March-November league after closest rivals Krylya Sovetov Samara were held to a 1-1 home draw by third-placed FC Moscow.

UKRAINE

Vorskla Poltava won their first trophy in the club's 54-year history when they beat 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 in the Cup final thanks to a Vasyl Sachko goal.

Shakhtar, who won this season's UEFA Cup, failed to end the season on a high note and had Brazilian forward Fernandinho sent off shortly before the hour.

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