Real start life after Becks with win
MADRID: Real Madrid showed that they can be successful without David Beckham, who was watching from the VIP stands, as they got their first win in four outings with a 1-0 victory over Real Zaragoza on Sunday.
Real Madrid’s Ruud van Nistelrooy (center) celebrates with his team mates Ivan Helguera (left) and Fabio Cannavaro after scoring against Zaragoza during their Spanish First Division soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on Sunday. Reutes |
Ruud Van Nistelrooy got the only goal to keep the Spanish giants in third place but move them to just two points behind the league leaders Sevilla.
However, despite the victory, the controversy over Beckham's move to the Los Angeles Galaxy would not go away.
"Beckham signed a contract with another club before talking to Real Madrid and I think this is a bad thing," said the Spanish giant's coach Fabio Capello.
Capello announced on Saturday that Beckham would not play again for Madrid after his announcement two days before that he would be moving to the Major League Soccer club in the United States when his Real contract expires on June 30.
"It's not just Fabio Capello who is saying this. The whole club has seen that at this moment we can't count on him."
The Italian coach also left open the question about whether Beckham has acted illegally in talking to LA Galaxy before January 1, when contact with other clubs is allowed for a player whose contract will expire.
Beckham and his representatives have been less-than-explicit over just who spoke to whom and when.
In the game itself, which was almost overshadowed by the continuing soap opera surrounding Beckham, Van Nistelrooy got his tenth goal of the season after 41 minutes.
Jose Antonio Reyes sent a short corner to Robinho, who in turn put a pass across the face of the goal for new Argentine signing Gonzalo Higuain to turn the ball back and leave van Nistelrooy with the job of sidefooting the ball into the net.
Real marginally had the best of an uninspiring first half before the Van Nistelrooy goal but they stepped up a gear and dominated the second half despite not adding to their tally.
"I'm very happy. Everybody played well and supported each other. It's the first time this season that we have been in touch with Sevilla and Barcelona," added Capello.
Higuain was particularly impressive on his debut in the Santiago Bernabeu.
"I'm very happy. I had a good feeling here," said Higuain, who has moved quickly to step into the slot alongside Van Nistelrooy that is likely to be soon vacated permanently by another departing superstar Ronaldo.
Ruben De La Red also almost scored after 68 minutes, just a few seconds after taking over from Reyes, but had his shot just turned away for a corner by Zaragoza goalkeeper Cesar Perez.
Ironically, Zaragoza are currently negotiating for the loan of De la Red, one of the brightest stars of the Real Madrid reserve team that plies its trade in the Spanish second division.
De La Red has said that he wants to go to get more top level playing time but Capello's decision to axe Beckham and Antonio Cassano could open up a place for him in Real's first team squad.
The closest Zaragoza came to scoring was when Gerard Pique sent the ball into the box from the edge of the area and it hit the post, although more by accident than design.
One negative note for Real Madrid was club captain Raul Gonzalez straining his right hamstring early in the game.
He was replaced by Robinho after 14 minutes although the injury did not appear too serious and Raul spent the rest of the game in the dug out.
Capello celebrated the win by making an obscene gesture towards a small section of the crowd that had been calling for his head.
"I want to apologise to everyone but this has been going on since the first day I arrived here. There are two people behind the dug out that are continually offensive," he said.
"The gesture was towards those two but as the coach of Real Madrid I should apologise," said Capello, outraged that his abusers this time had a sign which said 'Ronaldo stay, Capello get lost.'
The Spanish media also speculated on Sunday that disgruntled Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho could take over from Capello in the summer.
AFP
(China Daily 01/16/2007 page23)
