27/07/2005
Ronaldo double as Real Madrid beat Jubilo Iwata 3-1
Brazil star Ronaldo was on target twice for
Real Madrid as the Spanish giants put some poor performances in Asia
behind them with a 3-1 victory over Jubilo Iwata.
With the scores tied at 1-1 in the 27th minute, the Brazilian was
brought down in the area by Takayuki Chano and converted the penalty for
his first goal of the pre-season friendly tour.
Ronaldo's second in injury time rounded off the scoring for Real, who
suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat against Tokyo Verdy on Monday and
scraped through 3-2 against Beijing Hyundai at the weekend after
victories in the United States.
"We played much better than two days ago after taking a rest and getting
rid of fatigue. We were able to show a different football game today,"
said Real's Brazilian coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo on Wednesday.
"We played a poor game two days ago, because we were very tired after a
long trip, and we lost many goals. We improved a lot since then.
Physically my players are getting better."
Luxemburgo also blamed "rough play" for Monday's defeat when David
Beckham accused Verdy's Kazuyuki Toda of spitting at him, sparking a
tunnel incident at half-time.
"Two days ago, my players were nervous because of some rough play which
developed into a fight. I told them to play their own game, because our
goal here is to show our own performance," Luxemburgo said.
Raul Gonzalez opened the scoring on just two minutes, pouncing on a
rebound from a Michael Owen shot. The England striker later saw a goal
disallowed for off-side.
Jubilo's Robert Cullen and Ryoichi Maeda combined to set up Sho
Naruoka's equalizer on 23 minutes, only for Ronaldo to restore Real
Madrid's lead.
Iwata saw several chances go begging before half-time, with Naruoka also
seeing a goal flagged away for offside, Maeda landing the ball on top of
the net and Takashi Fukunishi's close-range shot hitting a defender.
After the break, Raul narrowly missed a close-range shot after a Roberto
Carlos cross while both Carlos and Luis Figo went close.
Beckham was replaced in midfield by Jose Jurado midway through the
second half in his second match since returning from a hamstring injury.
Real Madrid, who beat Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 and Chivas of Mexico 3-1 in
the United States earlier in the tour, fly to Bangkok for the final
fixture on Friday.
