Claudio Pizarro 14

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Bayern’s Magath sings praises of two-goal hero Pizarro

Bayern Munich coach Felix Magath heaped praise on Claudio Pizarro after the Peru striker headed their first goal and added a spectacular long-range strike in Wednesday's 2-2 Champions League draw at Spartak Moscow.

Although Bayern remain Group B leaders, Magath lamented having to settle for a draw after a late Radoslav Kovac equaliser allowed Inter Milan to close the gap at the top of the group to two points with a 1-0 home win over Sporting Lisbon.

However, Bayern, with 11 points, need only draw with Inter in their final group game in Munich on Dec 5 to top the group.

The German side went behind to a swerving 16th-minute free kick by Ukraine international Maksim Kalinichenko – he first time skipper Oliver Kahn has had to pick the ball out of his net in this season's European campaign.

Pizarro struck back six minutes later with a glancing header from a cross by left back Christian Lell with Spartak's third-choice goalkeeper Alexsei Zuev rooted to his line.

The highlight of the match came in the 39th minute when Pizarro, surrounded by six Spartak players, unleashed a fierce 25m drive into the top corner of Zuev's goal.

“Those goals showed his qualities –he is a tough man to mark,” Magath said. “A headed goal and a 25m shot – it just goes to show that Claudio Pizarro can look for goal from almost any position.”

“What I missed in the second half was that, leading 2-1, we didn't control the ball and tried to score a third goal too quickly,” Magath said.

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