Following Sasa Stamenkovic’s save of Maurice Jean-Eudes penalty kick, Red Star Belgrade defender Milan Jeremic buried his shot from the spot to capture the first-ever Chicago Sister Cities International Cup presented by Best Buy in front of a raucous group of Serbian supporters at TOYOTA PARK.
The tightly contested match featured a number of chances, but no goals for each side until late in the second half. The match appeared to be sealed when Red Star midfielder Cadu scored with 17 minutes remaining, beating Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Edel Apoula to a ball at the top of the 18-yard-box. Cadu snuck the ball underneath Apoula, who was caught off his line, and clinically placed the ball into the back of the net to give the Serbian club a 1-0 lead on 73 minutes.
With the Cup Championship about to be awarded to Red Star and time winding down, Paris Saint-Germain defender Marcos Ceara lashed a brilliant effort that whizzed past Stamenkovic and into the back of the net to level the game 1-1 in added time.Ceara’s late-game stunner silenced the throngs of Red Star supporters who awaited penalty kicks to decide the inaugural edition of the four-team, two-day international tournament.
After six kicks, each side returned six players to their pensive teammates at midfield. With the penalties in sudden death, Jean-Eudes sent his kick toward the left post only for Stamenkovic to dive to his right and push the ball wide of goal. From 12 yards away, Jeremic blasted his effort into the back of the net past a diving Edel Apoula. With the Cup victory in-hand, the Serbian side rushed to the Red Star supporter section to celebrate the victory with the fervent fans.
The Chicago Fire, who hosted the international tournament, return to domestic play when they face FC Dallas at TOYOTA PARK on Thursday, May 27 at 7:00 PM CT (ESPN/ESPN Deportes). The Fire will then face A.C. Milan in an international friendly presented by Best Buy at TOYOTA PARK on May 30 at 7:30 PM CT(FSC/FSE).
Red Star Belgrade 1 (7) : 1 (6) Paris Saint-Germain
International Friendly
May 22, 2010 – TOYOTA PARK – Bridgeview, IL
RSB: Sasa Stamenkovic; Nikola Mikic, Slavoljub Dordjevic, Vujadin Savic, Nikola Ignjatijevic (Stevan Reljic, 88’); Darko Lazovic (Milan Jeremic, 46’), Savio (Nemanja Nikolic, 69’), Vladimir Bogdanovic (Milan Violtic, 46’), Cadu (Milos Trifunovic, 82’); Marko Mugosa (Branimir Subotic, 46’), Aleksandar Jevtic (Slavko Perovic, 70’)
DNP: Boban Maksimovic
PSG: Edel Apoula; Marcos Ceara, Zoumana Camara, Sammy Traore, Sylvain Armand; Claude Makelele, Christophe Jallet, Jeremy Clement (Jean-Eudes Maurice, 79’), Clement Chantome, Stephan Sessegnon (Adama Toure, 88’); Guillaume Hoarau (Mateja Kezman, 70’)
DNP: 16-Willy Grondin
Scoring Summary:
RSB: Cadu (unassisted) 73’
PSG: Marcos Ceara (unassisted) 90+’
Discipline Summary:
PSG: Zoumara Camara (ejection) 55’
Referee: Landis Wiley
Referee’s Assistants: Jaime Walter, Kyle Primble
4th Referee: Ian Gut
Attendance: 12,354
