Ince overshadowed in his debut on Italian stage

Overseas round-up

CATHERINE RILEY

Paul Ince made his Italian League debut for Internazionale at home to Vicenza yesterday, but the former Manchester United player was overshadowed by Roberto Carlos, whose spectacular 20-yard free-kick provided the winning goal.

Two other Serie A debutants, Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov and George Weah of Liberia, both made impressive starts. Stoichkov, signed from Barcelona, struck home a superb free-kick in his Palma side's disappointing 1-1 draw at Atalanta, for whom Cristian Vieri scored a last-minute equaliser.

Weah, previously with Paris St-Germain, took just six minutes to set Milan on their way to a 2-1 win at Padova, although last season's beaten European Cup finalists needed a rare goal from their veteran defender Franco Baresi to clinch all three points.

The 35-year-old regained the initiative for Milan in the 44th minute after Nicola Amoruso had levelled the score. It was Baresi's 12th goal in 415 league appearances.

As Parma and Milan struggled to impress, champions Juventus - drawn in the same Champions' League section as Rangers - made an impressive start with a 4-1 defeat of Cremonese. Fabrizio Ravanelli settled a one-sided affair with two goals in five minutes midway through the second half.

Earlier Vladimir Jugovic, signed from Sampdoria in the summer, put Juventus in front, only for Riccardo Maspero to equalise with a 47th-minute free- kick, Cremonese's only shot on target in the match. Didier Deschamps scored Juve's fourth.

In Rome, last year's championship runners-up, Lazio, gave notice of their intent with a 4-1 win over promoted Piacenza.

In the Netherlands, Jan Wouters was sent off as PSV Eindhoven crashed 3-0 away to NAC Breda, while Feyenoord drew 2-2 at Twente Enschede yesterday. The results left Ajax, the European champions, who won 6-0 at NEC Nijmegen on Friday, and Willem II Tilburg, who beat Go Ahead Eagles Deventer 2- 0 on Saturday, as the only teams with maximum points after two rounds of the Dutch First Division.

Paris St-Germain stayed top of the French First Division on goal difference following a 2-0 win over Le Havre. Metz, who won 3-2 at Strasbourg in a tense match between the two major clubs from eastern France, are the only other unbeaten side in the division.

n Diego Maradona, a friend of the Cuban President Fidel Castro, said he will fly to Cuba in the next few days to get fit for his return to professional competition. His suspension for testing positive in a routine drug test during the 1994 World Cup finals expires on 30 September, when he plans to play for his new team, Boca Juniors of Buenos Aires, in a friendly match in Seoul against South Korea.

n Vaclav Jezek, who guided Czechoslovakia to victory in the 1976 European Championship, died of a heart attack yesterday. Jezek, who was 72, also had spells as coach of Feyenoord and Zurich.