Defender Jose Antonio Garcia Calvo scored in extra time for Atletico Madrid to beat Gimnastic Tarragona 1-0 in the second round of the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
Garcia Calvo's strike advanced Atletico into the last 16 of Spain's knockout competition and improved its chances of winning the trophy for the first time in a decade.
PHOTO: AFP
Tarragona, which eliminated holder Zaragoza in the first round, dominated a lackluster Atletico, which was without injured Spain striker Fernando Torres, its leading scorer.
However, Garcia Calvo ended the deadlock with a fierce long shot from substitute Jorge Larena's pass just before the end of the first half of the extra period.
Atletico's goal infuriated Tarragona coach Luis Cesar Sampedro, who received a red card for protesting that the referee's whistle should have already blown to end the half.
Atletico joined seven more top-flight teams which advanced to the third round -- Real Madrid, Real Betis, Sevilla, Getafe, Osasuna, Athletic Bilbao and Numancia.
Four third division teams went through -- Gramenet, Mirandes, Lorca and Lanzarote -- while Elche, Valladolid, Recreativo Huelva and Lleida reached the next stage from the second division.
Deportivo La Coruna, which lost 1-0 at Elche, was one of seven first division casualties on Wednesday. The others were Levante, Real Sociedad, Malaga, Mallorca, Racing Santander and Albacete.
The format of the early rounds of the competition gives lower-league teams home advantage. The next round will have two legs, to be played on Jan. 12 and 19.
Messina and Palermo played to a lackluster 0-0 draw Thursday in the first Serie A derby between the Sicilian clubs since the World War II.
The result, before a capacity crowd of 35,000, gave Messina a share of fourth place with Lecce and Chievo with 16 points, while Palermo remained in 16th with 12 points.
Juventus, which downed Fiorentina in Wednesday's 11th round of the Italian first division, leads the standings with 28 points, six more than defending champion AC Milan which was held to a 0-0 draw by lowly Brescia.
The Sicilian teams, both Serie A newcomers, did not produce a single scoring chance during the first half at San Filippo stadium but had a spirited finish.
Palermo striker Luca Toni, fed by Argentine teammate Ernesto Antonio Farias, struck the post in the 74th minute.
Messina's Japanese forward Atsushi Yanagisawa hit the crossbar with a powerful header nine minutes later.
Yanagisawa, a second-half substitute, sparked Messina's offense in the closing minutes but not enough to beat Palermo's defense.
Palermo stretched its winless streak to six matches while Messina's record improved to 4-4-3.
In Sunday's next round Juventus is at Lecce, AC Milan takes on Siena at San Siro and unbeaten Inter Milan, seeking a victory after five consecutive draws, travels to Cagliari.
Substitute midfielder Thorstein Helstad scored his second goal in the 90th minute, giving Norway's Rosenborg a 4-4 draw with Djurgarden of Sweden and avoiding a stunning home loss in a in their Royal League opener Thursday.
In the other Group 1 game, Steffen Iversen notched the only goal for Norway's Valerenga in a 1-0 away win over Denmark's Esbjerg.
In Group 2, Thomas Kahlenberg scored twice, including the winner in the 75th minute, to give Denmark's Brondby a 3-2 victory over Tromso of Norway while FC Copenhagen edged former two-time UEFA Cup champion IFK Goteborg of Sweden 1-0 on a second-half penalty-goal by Hjalte Norregaard.
In Group 3, Charlie Miller's first-half goal gave Norway's Brann a 1-0 win over Sweden's Halmstad at home while Brazilian forward Afonso Alves and fellow striker Niclas Skoog scored two late goals to give newly crowned Swedish champions Malmo FF a 2-0 home win over OB Odense of Denmark.
The Royal League, so named because Sweden, Denmark and Norway are constitutional monarchies, consists of the top four teams from the three Scandinavian countries and is an attempt to shorten the long winter breaks clubs in those countries must endure, and make them more competitive in international play.
The 12 teams meet in three groups while the national leagues are off for winter break, playing six group games between Thursday and Feb. 24. The winner and runner-up of each group advance to a second group stage, played through May 12. From there, the two winners will play for the Nordic club championship on May 26.
Helstad put Rosenborg -- the only Scandinavian side in the European Champions League -- ahead 3-2 in the 61st minute, nine minutes after replacing Frode Johnsen.
Elias Storm and Patrick Amoah scored for the Swedes within one minute of each other to give Djurgarden the lead in the 71st before Helstad's equalizer from close range deadlocked the match.
Striker Harald Martin Brattbakk struck for Rosenborg in the 14th and 18th minutes before Tobias Hysen pulled one back for Djurgarden in the 39th.
Espen Johnsen's own-goal made it 2-2 just before halftime before a rain-drenched crowd of 7,925 at Lerkendal Stadium.
Djurgarden, winner of the Swedish League title in 2002 and 2003, only finished fourth this year in the spring-fall Nordic season but gained the last spot from Sweden in the inaugural Royal League.
Police dropped their investigation into the abduction of the mother of Santos striker Robinho at the family's request.
Robinho, who reportedly is close to a transfer to Spain's Real Madrid, asked police to stop investigating the kidnapping of his mother, Marina Lima de Souza, so the family could negotiate with her captors.
The abductors have yet to make contact with the family, police said.
They added they would honor the request and will not interfere with negotiations.
Souza, 43, was abducted last Saturday during a family gathering in the coastal town of Praia Grande, 75km from Sao Paulo.
Ronaldo plans wedding
Real Madrid striker and three-time FIFA Player of the Year Ronaldo and his girlfriend, model Daniella Cicarelli, traveled to Rome Thursday to shop for wedding clothes at Valentino's. According to media reports, the couple plan to marry in January in Paris.
The 24-year-old model and the Brazilian player were at Valentino's for two hours, after attending a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica, the Italian news agency ANSA reported citing Ronaldo's entourage.
The couple flew back to Madrid in the evening.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
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