Sunday, August 02, 2009

Peace Cup - RM 1:2 Juventus ; Cris scores but suffers first RM defeat




Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty Friday but suffered his first defeat as a Real Madrid player in a 2-1 loss against Juventus in the Peace Cup semifinal.

Fabio Cannavaro opened the scoring and Hasan Salihamidzic notched the winning goal for the Italian club, which will meet Aston Villa in Sunday's final of the 12-team pre-season tournament.

Playing his fourth game since his world-record 94-million-euro (C$144 million) transfer from Manchester United, Ronaldo equalized in the 41st minute after Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini had brought down Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez in the area.

The goal was Ronaldo's second for Madrid. The first also came from a spot-kick in the team's 4-2 win over Liga de Quito on Tuesday.

However, Madrid's new No. 9 endured a frustrating game and escaped punishment in the 14th minute for kicking out at midfielder Felipe Melo after a tough tackle. Melo was given a yellow card.

Ronaldo had to briefly leave the field after a wild challenge in the 89th minute by defender Zdenet Grygera, and was then involved in two minor skirmishes with Juventus players.

Somber music was played briefly before kickoff at Ramon Sanchez de Pizjuan stadium as a mark of respect for former England manager Bobby Robson, who died on Friday, and two Civil Guards who were killed in a car bombing in Mallorca the previous day.

Veteran defender Cannavaro scored against his former club when he burst past the Madrid defence to meet Alessandro Del Piero's inswinging free kick with his head at the near post. Cannavaro returned to Juventus this off-season after three seasons with Madrid.

In a similar goal to the first, Salihamidzic restored Juventus' lead in the 49th minute when he beat Madrid's defense to nod home from Del Piero's corner.

New Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini again omitted Kaka, the second most expensive signing in the club's 214-million-euro (C$328.5 million) spending spree since Florentino Perez regained the presidency last month, as he only began training with the team on Monday.

Meanwhile, Juventus' new coach Ciro Ferrara fielded only one of two recent Brazilian signings - Melo - as forward Diego was injured.

Madrid plays a friendly at Toronto FC on Aug. 7.

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