SOCCER DIGEST:PARAGUAY beat Venezuela 5-3 in a penalty shootout to reach their first Copa America final in 32 years without having won a single game at the tournament.
Dario Veron scored the winning kick in Mendoza, Argentina, after Venezuela's Franklin Lucena earlier had his penalty saved by Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar.
The teams finished 0-0 after extra-time in a match that went on past midnight local time. Venezuela had a goal disallowed for offside and hit the goal frame three times, while Paraguay had Jonathan Santana red-carded in extra-time and held on to secure a place in the July 24th final against Uruguay.
"It's not that we have been practising penalties, we've been rather lucky," Villar said.
Paraguay drew their three group games and also needed penalty kicks to get past Brazil.
Duff scores as Fulham progress
FULHAM kept their European dream alive with a comprehensive 4-0 victory (7-1 on aggregate) over Crusaders in the Europa League second qualifying round at Craven Cottage last night.
The west Londoners’ second leg win came after a 3-1 success at Seaview and sets up a trip to Croatian side RNK Split next week. Fulham were frustrated in the first half and Andrew Johnson’s neat finish to a team move was the only goal to show for their barrage of attacks. However, goals were much easier to come by after the restart as Damien Duff, Bobby Zamora and Steve Sidwell all netted.
Martin Jol sent out a strong-looking side as Fulham looked to secure safe passage into the third round, handing recent signing John Arne Riise his debut.
Everton reject bid for Jagielka
EVERTON are determined to hang on to centre back Phil Jagielka in the face of a bid from Arsenal. The Gunners made an €11 million offer to take the 28-year-old to the Emirates Stadium which was rejected out of hand. Reports suggest it was €3 million lower than the one made 12 months ago. The Merseyside club view the bid as being well below the player’s market value, particularly as the defender signed a four-year contract in March.
Beckham shows United front
FORMER England and Manchester United midfielder David Beckham insists there will only ever be one team in the city he used to call home.
Unsurprisingly, after six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and one Champions League triumph during his 10 campaigns at Old Trafford, the 36-year-old still believes United will never be overtaken by their big-spending neighbours. City finished third in the Premier League last season, nine points behind United, to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.
“They’re bringing good players in, they’ve got strong people with a lot of money behind them, so they’re going to improve,” Beckham said.
“But they’ll never be Manchester United. They might be a threat this season, but United have got the history, the silverware over the last 20 years. There’s only one team in Manchester, but City I’m sure will be a team to look at going forward.
“Tevez was a really strong player for them last season, so if they lose him it will be disappointing.”
Barcelona agree deal for Sanchez
BARCELONA have agreed to sign Chile forward Alexis Sanchez from Udinese on a five-year contract, the La Liga club said yesterday. “Udinese and FC Barcelona have reached a final agreement for the transfer of Alexis Sanchez,” the Spanish and European champions said. Barca will pay €26 million plus €11.5 million in variables and the player will sign his contract after completing a medical on Monday.
Bin Hammam to try to clear name
MOHAMED bin Hammam will fight to clear his name of bribery allegations at a Fifa ethics committee hearing today.
The Asian Football Confederation president has been suspended from all football activity since May 29th along with Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, whose cases will also be heard.
The allegations stem from a meeting for associations of the CFU organised by Bin Hammam and Warner during the Qatari’s campaign to oust Sepp Blatter as Fifa president.
Several members of the CFU claim they were offered thousands of dollars for “development projects” at the meeting, with Minguell and Sylvester alleged to have handed over the money.
Tevez agent confident of new bids
MANCHESTER City’s want-away striker Carlos Tevez is not “overly worried” by the collapse of his move to Corinthians with representative Kia Joorabchian confident new bids will be made for the player.
The 27-year-old saw his hopes of returning to South America to be closer to his wife and two daughters dashed when the Brazilian club pulled out of a €45 million move, citing the impossibility of concluding the deal before the closure of their transfer window. However, Tevez, on holiday in his homeland after Argentina were knocked out of the Copa America, still wants to leave the Premier League club.
“This is Carlos Tevez we are talking about, one of the best players in the world. We are not overly worried,” Joorabchian said.
“We’ve just got to wait and see who comes in next for him.”
Bullard reported to be suspended
HULL yesterday refused to comment on reports midfielder Jimmy Bullard has been suspended for a breach of club discipline. The midfielder’s exact misdemeanour remains unclear, although it has been suggested the incident occurred during the club’s training camp in Slovenia last week. Bullard is believed to have returned to England with his team-mates before being ordered to stay away from City’s training ground for two weeks.
