Football: Inter go down as Pancaro pounces

Two goals in the last 10 minutes gave Cagliari a 3-2 home victory over their Italian rivals Internazionale in the Uefa Cup semi-final first leg yesterday. Inter, who had lost their last four games, looked poised for a 2-1 victory until the substitute Antonio Criniti headed the Sardinians level in the 81st minute.

Giuseppe Pancaro, another substitute, struck the winner four minutes from time, his low shot taking a slight deflection off the defender Antonio Paganin.

Inter, who won the competition in 1991, took the lead through a looping header from the striker Davide Fontolan in the sixth minute. The Brazilian-born forward Oliveira shot Cagliari level five minutes later, but Uruguay's Ruben Sosa restored Inter's advantage with a powerful right-footer in the 61st minute.

Monaco ground out a workmanlike goalless draw at Spartak Moscow to ensure a place in the European Cup semi-finals. The French club, who replaced Marseille in the competition, needed only a point from a scappy Group A match and had crushed the Russians 4-1 at home.

Bolivia's preparations for the World Cup were disrrupted yesterday when two clubs - The Strongest and Bolivar - refused to release their players in the run-up to the finals. 'I'm as baffled as Adam on Mother's Day,' the Basque-born national coach, Xabier Azkargorta, said in La Paz.

Azkargorta wants all his players to attend a three-week training camp in Spain prior to the finals in America in June. The Bolivian Football Association president, Guido Loyaza, has warned that players who do not attend the camp will be dropped from the team.

However, officials from The Strongest and Bolivar, who were expected to provide most of the national squad, said their players must remain to play in the Libertadores Cup. Bolivia meet the holders, Germany, in the opening match of the World Cup on 17 June.