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AC Milan keeper injured by thrown flare
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-13 15:58
Italian police braced for crowd trouble all week. They
weren't expecting it to flare up in Milan.
AC Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper Dida receives
first aid after being hit by an object thrown by fans during their
Champions League quarterfinal second leg match at the San Siro stadium in
Milan, Italy, Tuesday. [AP] |
AC Milan was leading crosstown rival Inter Milan 1-0 and 3-0 on aggregate in
a quarterfinal match Tuesday when the game was stopped because AC goalkeeper
Dida was injured by a burning flare thrown from the stands.
"Tonight's episode doesn't just hurt Inter, but the entire city of Milan," AC
coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "I've played and coached in Milan for 10 years and
I've never seen anything like it."
Security is expected to be tight for Wednesday's Champions League
quarterfinal between Juventus and Liverpool in Turin, but few were expecting the
trouble to begin 24 hours earlier.
The six-time European champions were awarded a 1-0 win, but UEFA's
disciplinary committee could make the final 3-0 after an investigation.
In the other quarterfinal, Chelsea lost to Bayern Munich 3-2 but still
advanced with a 6-5 aggregate win.
The scene at San Siro stadium followed one of the worst violence-marred
weekends in Italian league play this season, when scores of fans were arrested
due to confrontations with police and racial slogans.
Inter fans started the trouble after a goal by Esteban Cambiasso was ruled
out for a foul in the 71st minute.
Dida was hit on the left shoulder in the 73rd and treated at midfield. Both
teams were escorted off the field about 10 minutes later.
"He's OK, although he does have some pain where he was hit," AC midfielder
Clarence Seedorf said of Dida. "The government, the entire country, has to
understand that something must be done."
After 10 more minutes passed, German referee Markus Merk tried to restart
play, but more flares were thrown onto the field and UEFA officials quickly
abandoned the match in the 75th, sending AC to the last four and in search of
its seventh European Cup title.
"After the goal was annulled, the fans' anger was understandable, although
the reaction of throwing objects onto the field is not justified," Inter
defender Ivan Cordoba said.
Dida, who played superbly before he was struck by the flare, was replaced by
Christian Abbiati for the brief restart.
Andriy Shevchenko gave AC the lead in the 30th minute, blasting a shot from
the edge of the area for his fifth goal in this season's Champions League.
In 2003, AC eliminated Inter from the semifinals and went on to win its sixth
Champions Cup title.
On Wednesday, Liverpool takes a 2-1 lead to Stadio delle Alpi.
Last week's first leg was the first meeting between the clubs since the
Heysel Stadium tragedy in which 39 fans were crushed to death in rioting before
the 1985 European Cup final in Brussels, Belgium.
Hundreds of riot police are expected to be deployed around the stadium and in
downtown Turin after Italian extremists threatened English fans on the Internet.
About 3,000 Liverpool fans were expected to travel to Italy, and English
officials warned them to avoid singing and chanting.
Police said about 1,000 tickets reserved for Liverpool fans were not sold
because of security fears.
In Munich, Frank Lampard scored the first goal in the 30th minute, his third
against Bayern in the two-leg series. Claudio Pizarro leveled in the 65th, but
Didier Drogba reclaimed the lead for Chelsea with a header in the 80th. Paolo
Guerreo then scored in the 90th, and Mehmet Scholl added the winner in injury
time.
Chelsea was playing without manager Jose Mourinho on the bench for the second
straight Champions League match. The Portuguese coach was banned last week after
UEFA found him guilty of bringing the game into disrepute and "making false
declarations."
He originally took his seat away from the field at Munich's Olympiastadion,
but soon left and reportedly watched the match at the team's hotel.
Mourinho, who won the European title last season with FC Porto, will be back
for the semifinals.
"We missed the manager tonight. You miss his presence in the changing room,"
Lampard said.
Also Wednesday, PSV Eindhoven hosts Lyon after a 1-1 draw in the first leg.
In the semifinals, Chelsea will face either Liverpool or Juventus, while
Milan challenges PSV or Lyon.
The semifinals are scheduled for April 26-27 and May 3-4, with the final set
for May 25 in Istanbul, Turkey.
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 | | | A night of shame | | |  | | | Bayer Munich VS Chelsea | | |  | | | Real Madrid beat Barcelona 4-2 | | |
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