Football: Inter imports hit the target

GOALS from Uruguayan Ruben Sosa and Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp gave Internazionale, the Uefa Cup first-round opponents of Aston Villa, an impressive 2-0 win away to Torino as the Serie A season kicked off yesterday.

The Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura ended up in hospital after his debut for Genoa was cut short in the 30th minute when he collided with the Milan defender Franco Baresi. Milan won 1-0, Marco Simone scoring in the 53rd minute after a superb run by Ruud Gullit.

Parma confirmed their status as likely championship challengers with a convincing 2-0 win over Cremonese, in which the Portuguese debutant Fernando Couto scored and the playmaker Gianfranco Zola added a second.

Last season's runners-up, Juventus, failed to impress in a 1-1 draw at Brescia. The Turin side took the lead in the 55th minute with an Antonio Conte header off a Roberto Baggio cross but conceded a weak equaliser from Marco Schenardi with 10 minutes remaining.

Sampdoria made light work of promoted Padova, the new club of American Alexi Lalas, winning 5-0. Giuseppe Signori, leading scorer in the league for the last two seasons, took just 21 minutes to get off the mark in Lazio's 1-0 win at Bari. Lazio played the second half with 10 men after the defender Giuseppe Favalli was sent off in the 45th minute. Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta celebrated Fiorentina's return to Serie A with a late winner in a 2-1 victory over Cagliari.

Andy Moller, a big disappointment for Germany in the World Cup finals, had a poor game for his new club Borussia Dortmund as they lost 4-1 away to one of his former employers Eintracht Frankfurt, thereby surrendering their lead in the Bundesliga to Werder Bremen, 3-1 winners against Freiburg on Friday. Borussia are now second, level on points with Bayern Munich.

The Bulgarian World Cup striker Emil Kostadinov has joined the Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna on loan from Porto of Portugal.