Ronaldinho picked the ideal time to open his AC Milan account as his first-half goal gave it a 1-0 win over city rivals Internazionale on Sunday.

The Brazilian powerfully headed home a cross from compatriot Kaka in the 36th minute as Jose Mourinho tasted his first defeat as Inter boss.

The Nerazzurri finished the game with 10 men after Nicolas Burdisso was sent off in the 77th minute, while Marco Materazzi was also sent to the stands from the Inter bench for protesting too strongly in a fiery end to the derby.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side look to have banished their woeful early-season form though after their third straight win lifted them up to sixth in the Serie A table.

Inter’s first defeat of the season leaves them fourth, two points behind leaders Lazio.
Mauro Zarate was once again the star of the show in the Biancocelesti’s 3-1 victory in Torino, although the match ended on a sour note as the hosts were reduced to nine men in a stormy finish.

Zarate set up Goran Pandev’s opener after half an hour and then doubled Lazio’s lead soon after the hour mark.

With less than 10 minutes to go, Matteo Sereni saw red for bringing down Christian Brocchi in the box, and Zarate stepped up to score Lazio’s third from the penalty spot.

Francesco Pratali also saw red for Torino before Nicola Amoruso got them a consolation goal from the spot, but home coach Gianni De Biasi was not around to see it after being sent from the sidelines as tempers flared.

Napoli lie a surprise second, one point off the pace, after a late strike from substitute German Denis maintained their unbeaten start to the season and inflicted a fourth successive defeat on Bologna.

The Argentinian forward broke the deadlock with just three minutes left on the clock to snatch the spoils for the visitors.

Simone Pepe struck his second goal of the week to help Udinese claim a 2-1 victory over Siena which lifted them up to third.

Fabio Quagliarella opened the scoring after 22 minutes on his return to the first team before Pepe doubled his side’s advantage seven minutes later.

And the 25-year-old midfielder’s strike would prove to be decisive as Houssine Kharja grabbed a goal back for Siena after 38 minutes, but it was not enough.

Catania gave further evidence they could be the surprise package in Serie A this season by moving into the top five with victory over Chievo.

Michele Paolucci scored the only goal of the game to earn the hosts their third 1-0 win of the season and extend their perfect home record.

Chievo finished the game with 10 men after Davide Mandelli was sent off five minutes from time, and find themselves hovering just a point above the bottom three.

Roma recovered from their midweek defeat at Genoa with a 2-0 win over Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Giallorossi’s second win of the season was sealed by first-half goals from Christian Panucci and Mirko Vucinic.

Davide Ballardini’s promising start to life as Palermo coach continued as Fabrizio Miccoli’s second-half strike prolonged Reggina’s dismal early-season form.

The former Italy international struck after 52 minutes to seal a 1-0 win for the hosts and condemn Reggina to their fourth defeat in their opening five fixtures.

And Lecce piled the misery on Cagliari and their coach Massimiliano Allegri as they ran out 2-0 winners.

Goals in either half from Guillermo Giacomazzi and Jose Castillo left Cagliari without a single point to show from their five games so far this season.

from: sports.yahoo.com

Argentina defeated Nigeria, 1-0, at the Bird’s Nest stadium, to win the gold, and continue a run of success by Argentine youth teams that may herald a resurgence of the South American power at the senior level.
Leading that resurgence will be Lionel Messi, the Argentine forward who garnered the loudest applause every time he touched the ball. Messi, known for his dazzling dribbling skills, attacked the Nigerian back line, trying to force mistakes by defenders Dele Adeleye and Onyekachi Apam, who have been solid this tournament, but far from flawless.

Between Messi’s darting runs and Juan Roman Riquelme’s long, low passes to Sergio Aguero, meeting the forward in stride as he ran at goal, Argentina controlled most of the first half.

Although Argentina and Nigeria also played for the gold medal in 1996 in Atlanta — with Nigeria winning, 3-2, for the country’s only gold medal in soccer — a more recent game between the countries is more indicative of their rivalry. Messi and Aguerowere also key players on the 2005 FIFA Youth World Cup final. In that game, Argentina beat Nigeria, 2-1. Fourteen players from that 2005 match were featured in Saturday’s game here, including Messi, the difference-maker both times.

In Saturday’s game, Messi dictated the play and set up the game’s only goal by Angel Di Maria.

In the 58th minute, Messi quickly dribbled the ball out of his own half, and sent a perfectly timed through ball to Di Maria, who was not well marked, streaking down the left side. Di Maria ran in on goal alone, expertly chipping from 18 yards over the advancing goalkeeper, Ambruse Vanzekin.

Before the goal, both teams had controlled stretches of the game, with Argentina maintaining possession but Nigeria winning a number of dangerous chances on goal.

For Argentina, it was the second consecutive gold medal. The same core group of players also won the under-20 World Cup titles in 2005 and 2007, and many of them already star for the senior national team.

Nigeria tried early in the first half to involve the tall and dynamic forward Solomon Okoronkwo in the attack. But he was castigated to the right flank and the Argentinians did a good job of controlling the ball in the center and switching fields.

Nigeria enjoyed far less possession, but each early foray into attack was direct and threatening, causing Argentina keeper Sergio Romero to come out recklessly for the ball, looking shaky more than a few times. After the 26th minute, Nigeria gained more and more advantages as the midfielder Promise Isaac exerted his influence.

Isaac broke down the left side in the 34th minute and ran right at the Argentina goal, forcing Romero, who had been quick and careless off his line, to commit early. Sani Kaita was too far outside the back post to do much with the low cross and his angled shot was cleared away. It was one of five Nigerian chances in 15 minutes as the attacking opportunities fell more and more to the Africans.

Argentina reasserted itself in the second half. Messi’s first run of the second period ended with a hard shot on goal. Javier Mascherano, who was content to defend in the first half, played more advanced, making a long run from the back to the edge of the Nigeria box. Isaac, Kaita and Victor Obinna found little time or space to handle the ball in midfield.

When Di Maria put Argentina ahead, Nigeria felt the pressure and responded urgently. The defense executed harder slide tackles and Isaac forced the ball into attack. Nigeria had two good shots on goal in two minutes, but the team’s failure to get the talented Okoronkwo involved made him increasingly frustrated. Victor Anichebe replaced him, energizing Nigeria.

Isaac, who played well, was replaced in the 69th minute because of fatigue. Once during each half, the referee stopped the game for a water break, urging players to the sideline for a drink to ease the midday heat. After some hydration, Emanuel Ekpo came on and was immediately effective. His passes forced miscues by Argentina’s Ezequiel Garay and Nicolas Pareja, and earned Nigeria several corner kicks.

Argentina, tired and trying to protect its lead, was content to let Messi and Aguero run free in counter attack until a series of defensive substitutions saw each player walk slowly off the field. Twice in a minute Argentina was penalized for wasting time. Luciano Monzon was cautioned for taking extra seconds on a throw in and Riquelme was similarly penalized for stalling on a free kick in the 81st minute.

Late chances by Nigeria were off target and, when the final whistle blew, the men in green shirts fell to the field, exhausted. The Argentina players bounced and danced in a circle at the center of the field where they would later stand on the top platform to accept their medals.

source: nytimes.com

Belgium and Nigeria will play in Shanghai in the other semi-final.

The Argentina - Brazil match is being billed as the Ronaldinho-Lionel Messi clash.

“It’s a match between two great teams,” Brazil midfielder Anderson said. “We are not afraid of them and they are not afraid of us. At the end we will know who will continue to the final and who was the best team.”

Read more: It’s Messi vs. Ronaldinho just as much as Brazil vs. Argentina

NO FUN
Brazil and Cameroon produced one of the tournament’s low points as they shared 12 yellow cards and 56 fouls in a cynical game which also saw Cameroon’s Albert Baning dismissed in the 52nd minute for a second bookable offence.
Rafael Sobis and Marcelo scored in a four-minute spell in extra-time to keep Brazil — jeered by the crowd — on course for a first Olympic gold.
“It’s not even fun to talk about the referees any more,” said Brazil coach Dunga. “When you have players of this level and officials who make the sort of decisions we saw today … that says it all.”
The match was watched by FIFA president Sepp Blatter who spoke too soon when he praised the controversial tournament, which is restricted to under-23 teams with three over-age players allowed per side.
“The standard of football at the Olympics has never been higher,” he told reporters before kick off.
Nigeria, publicly criticized by coach Samson Siasia for ball-hogging in their last match, beat Ivory Coast 2-0.
In a match played to the backing of the off-key trumpets of the Nigerian supporters’ club, Peter Odemwingie swept home Victor Obinna’s pass in the 44th minute and Obinna converted an 82nd minute penalty.

from: reuters.com

Nigeria on Wednesday beat a ten-man US team 2-1 in a Group B match at the men’s football tournament at the Beijing Olympics, to advance to the quarter-finals with the Netherlands, who beat Japan 1-0.

A near capacity crowd in the 64,000-seater Beijing Workers Stadium saw the Americans, who were topping the group going into the last game, reduced to ten men after just three minutes.

German referee Wolfgang Stark sent off Michael Orozco for elbowing Nigerian forward Solomon Okoronkwo. Although virtually no contact was made the Bundesliga-based forward went down theatrically, leaving Stark few options.

The red card in effect killed off US coach Peter Nowak’s game plan and forced him to push players back in an attempt to keep the Nigerian forwards at bay.

The 1996 champions could have opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Chinedu Obasi had a free header, but keeper Brad Guzan did well to go down and save.

On the half hour Guzan again pulled off a great stop when he palmed away a powerful Obasi drive.

Against the run of play the US had a chance to open the scoring in the 35th minute after defender Marvell Wynne ran virtually the entire length of the field, only for his cross to be cleared.

Nigeria finally broke the deadlock seven minutes from the end through Promise Isaac, who was set up in the area by Obasi.

The Americans had two opportunities to come back early in the second half, but Stuart Holden first missed from close range and then none of the forwards were on hand to push in a ball Danny Szetela had lobbed over goalkeeper Ambrose Vanzekin.

In the 79th minute Nigeria scored their second through Victor Obinna who beat Guzan from close range.

America were handed a lifeline three minutes from the end when Vanzekin had a rush of blood and lunged with two legs at Maurice Edu. Stark pointed to the spot and Sacha Kljestan made no mistake in converting.

Two minutes later substitute Charlie Davies saw his header from a Dax McCarthy freekick hit the crossbar.

The result sees Nigeria top the group with seven points from the Netherlands, who finished on five after beating Japan with a 73rd minute penalty from Gerald Sibon.

In Group D, Italy and Cameroon played to a goalless draw - a result that sees Italy go through first with seven points, while Cameroon advance on five.

South Korea’s 1-0 victory through a goal in the 23rd minute by Kim Dong Jin was not enough to see them advance.

from: bangkokpost.com

Isaac scored in the 39th minute with an easy tap-in off Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi’s centering pass, and Obinna curled a right-footed shot into the top of goal in the 80th.

Sacha Kljestan converted an 88th-minute penalty for the Americans and substitute Benny Feilhaber headed onto the post in the 90th, as the United States was eliminated from Group B after the Netherlands beat Japan.

The Americans played with 10 men from the third minute when defender Michael Orozco was ejected.

source: ap.google.com

Lionel Messi had missed three chances, Lavezzi scored in the 78th minute of the game.

“We have three goals from two games, that might not sound enough but you can score 10 goals but still not qualify for the next round,” said Argentina coach Sergio Batista. “So I’m happy with three goals and qualifying for the next round.”

“I am very confident in my team. We knew our goal and we are marching towards our goal. We still need a few improvements to keep mistakes to a minimum.”

Australia has just one point after a 1-1 draw with Serbia.

“I’m extremely proud of the performance of my team and frustrated that we lost,” Australian coach Graham Arnold said. “When you have four or five gilt edged chances against that type of opposition you need to score them and unfortunately that didn’t happen.”

Read more: Argentina beats Australia 1-0 in Olympic soccer