INTERCONTINENTAL CUP: AC Milan 1:1 Boca Juniors (2:4 on pens) - report
14.12 || scharatz

Tomasson 24 (M), Donnet 29 (B)
Yokohama



Penalties went against Milan this time around as Boca Juniors lift the Intercontinental Cup after a shoot-out.

Milan made a record seventh appearance in the Intercontinental Cup and had the opportunity to lift the trophy for the fourth time.

The Rossoneri are representative of Europe after winning the Champions' League, while Boca Juniors are the reigning club side in South America with the Copa Libertadores under their belts.

There were injury worries ahead of the game, as Alessandro Nesta pulled out with a meniscus problem and Pippo Inzaghi was not considered fit enough to start.

Brazilian Kaka' has done enough in recent outings to earn his spot in the starting line-up and push Manuel Rui Costa on to the bench. Nesta's injury means that the defence had an average age of 34.

Milan have not been particularly fortunate in this tournament over the last few years, losing their last appearance in 1994 to Velez Sarsfield. Carlos Bianchi was on the bench that day and is again their opponent in Tokyo.

19-year-old star Boca striker Carlos Tevez started from the sidelines after suffering a series of knee injuries over the last few weeks.

The Italians had a bright start and after 2 minutes Kaka' gathered a poor clearance to send a dipping volley over the bar.

There were fears before the game that Boca would use tough tackling to reduce Milan's threat, but referee Ivanov stamped his authority with a yellow card after six minutes for Luis Perea's late challenge on Clarence Seedorf.

Soon after the Dutchman's cross was off target as Andriy Shevchenko and Jon Dahl Tomasson ran into the box.

There was a curious moment during the first half when Boca Coach Bianchi made an official protest to remove Italian journalists on the sidelines as he accused them of spying. Bianchi is a familiar face to Serie A as he flopped during his time at Roma.

Boca Juniors went close on 19 minutes, as ex-Venezia midfielder Donnet was left completely unmarked from six yards and Dida pushed out his volley.

On the resulting corner kick the Brazilian goalkeeper was again called to palm out a Schiavi header at the near post.

But just as Boca began to increase the pressure, Milan took the lead. Andrea Pirlo recovered the ball in the centre circle and placed a perfect slide-rule pass forward to set the two strikers running. Shevchenko's dummy allowed the unmarked Tomasson to turn through the goalkeepers' legs.

The Rossoneri nearly made it two moments later when Tomasson couldn't quite get his head on a Marcos Cafu cross from a good position.

However, a defensive error allowed Boca Juniors to draw level within five minutes. Cafu lost the ball in midfield and although Dida parried the first effort from Iarley, Matias Donnet was able to volley in the loose ball.

The game sprung into life and Milan could not have gone closer to restoring their lead 60 seconds later when Kaka's swerving drive from the edge of the box slammed on to the upright.

Boca tried every trick in the book to make the Europeans more tense and kept Milan waiting for several minutes to start the second half.

The Rossoneri had the first chance of the second period when a defensive error sent Shevchenko running on goal and he was hacked down by Burdisso. The resulting Pirlo free kick was deflected wide of the goal.

Boca tried to push forward on the counter-attack, but Paolo Maldini performed a curious and effective backheel clearance to prevent the through ball reaching Iarley.

Seedorf was particularly poor and seemed to be not 100 per cent fit, often passing the ball to opponents in midfield.

On the hour mark Inzaghi made his entrance in place of goalscorer Tomasson, as the Italian international is not 100 per cent fit.

Within moments Milan almost took the lead. Shevchenko nodded a free kick back across the face of goal and Maldini's finish was parried by a fine Abbondanzieri reaction save.

Pirlo placed another slide rule pass for Inzaghi, but the goalkeeper rushed off his line to block his path, then Kaka's volley from a very acute angle shook the side netting.

There was a moment of panic at the other end of the field when Pirlo's poor backpass was intercepted by Schelotto, but as the move continued it was halted by an offside flag.

Carlos Tevez eventually stepped on to the field for the final 20 minutes, his first real appearance since suffering that knee injury on Nov 2. There were fears he wouldn't available at all following a row between Boca and the Argentine Federation.

The 19-year-old saw his first touch charged down and Cagna's follow-up was also deflected over the bar.

From the resulting corner Schiavi's looping header seemed to be going in, but fell on to the roof of the net.

Kaka was not up to his usual standings and Manuel Rui Costa took over from the 77th minute.

The Portuguese international saw a fierce effort from distance deflected out for a corner kick, while at the other end Battaglia ballooned over.

Deep into stoppage time Pirlo gave the ball away under pressure and Tevez fired inches over from just inside the box.

That was the last real move of the game and the Final went into extra time with the Silver Goal rule in Tokyo.

Ancelotti made his last substitution and replaced Gattuso with Massimo Ambrosini.

Milan thought they had grabbed a winner at the dawn of the second period of extra time. Pirlo took a free kick quickly and Shevchenko brought a desperate save out of Abbondanzieri.

Inzaghi hit the back of the net when he nodded in a Pirlo free kick, but the move was halted as several Milan players were offside.

Boca had the chance to sneak the trophy in the last minute of extra time, but Seedorf managed to block a Tevez effort after a poorly cleared set-piece.

There were no goals and, like the Champions' League Final that qualified Milan for this match, it went to penalties.

Pirlo was the first up and Milan's regular penalty taker saw his effort saved by Pato Abbondanzieri.

Schiavi converted successfully to send Dida the wrong way as Boca took an immediate 1-0 lead.

Rui Costa drilled a low effort in by the near post and Dida saved Battaglia's spot-kick to draw the Rossoneri level.

Seedorf capped off a dreadful performance in this Final by ballooning his penalty well over the bar and Donnet turned a powerful effort in to restore Boca's lead.

Veteran defender Alessandro Costacurta made matters worse with a very weak effort that was easily saved by the Argentine goalkeeper. It proved decisive, as Cascini converted the final kick to hand Boca Juniors the trophy 4-2 on penalties.



Milan: Dida; Pancaro, Costacurta, Maldini, Cafu; Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso (Ambrosini 100); Kaka (Rui Costa 77); Tomasson (Inzaghi 60), Shevchenko

Boca Juniors: Abbondanzieri; Schiavi, Perea, Burdisso, Rodriguez; Cagna, Cascini, Battaglia; Donnet; Schelotto (Tevez 72), Iarley

Ref: Ivanov (Rus)

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