BUENOS AIRES, April 20 — Internacional will defend their Libertadores Cup title in the knockout phase after qualifying as Group Six winners with a 2-0 home victory over Emelec of Ecuador yesterday.

Former Brazil striker Rafael Sobis put the Brazilian side ahead early in the second half when Emelec's Argentine goalkeeper Javier Klimowicz appeared to stop his downward header only to let the ball slip from his grasp over the line.

On coach Falcao's debut in the competition having replaced the sacked Celso Roth, Inter went further ahead near the end with a goal from Brazil striker Leandro Damiao after Klimowicz had parried midfielder Pablo Guinazu's shot.

Inter, crowned South American champions for the second time last year, finished four points ahead of Mexico's Chiapas who went through in second place despite a 2-1 defeat away to Bolivia's Wilstermann. Emelec finished a point behind the Mexican team.

Wilstermann, playing in the competition after being relegated from the Bolivian first division at the end of last year, picked up their first win in six matches for a tally of four points.

Chiapas took an early lead through Daniel Frias but were reduced to 10 men for the final 40 minutes after the striker was sent off.

Wilstermann, whose Cochabamba home is 2,500m above sea level, hit back with two goals in five minutes late in the game from Brazilian striker Fabio Mineiro and left back Nicolas Torres. — Reuters 

Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

LONDON, April 20 — Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two high-profile supporters of the Scottish Premier League club were intended recipients of parcel bombs, police said yesterday.

Glasgow team Celtic have a predominantly Catholic fan base while city rivals Rangers have mainly Protestant supporters and Northern Irishman Lennon, a Catholic, has been the subject of several threats and physical abuse in the past.

He withdrew from the Northern Ireland team when a player in 2002 after a death threat which media speculated had come from Protestant loyalist paramilitaries in the province.

"Let us be quite clear — there is a major police investigation under way to ensure that the individual or individuals concerned are identified and apprehended, and then brought to book with the full force of the law," Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said in a statement yesterday.

"We will not tolerate this sort of criminality in Scotland, and as an indication of the seriousness with which we view these developments the Cabinet sub-committee met last Saturday to ensure that the police investigation has every possible support to come to a successful conclusion."

Police said investigations were ongoing into the matter and a news conference would be held at 0900 GMT today in Glasgow.

Two other parcel bombs were also addressed to Lennon's lawyer Paul McBride and the former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish parliament Trish Godman.

Only the parcel sent to Godman arrived at her office but did not explode with the other two being intercepted by mail workers, British media reported.

European football's governing body UEFA opened a case against Rangers this month for discriminatory sectarian chanting by the club's fans.

Northern Ireland has recently witnessed an upsurge of shootings and bombings targeting police by nationalist groups that splintered off from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) when it abandoned its armed struggle to unite the British-controlled province with the Republic of Ireland. — Reuters 

Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.