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| Friendly: Milan struggle past Hamburg |
Tuesday 6 January, 2009 |
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David Beckham's first outing in a Milan shirt ended in a penalty shootout win over Hamburg, after a 1-1 draw which flattered the Rossoneri.
All eyes were on Beckham who made his Rossoneri debut after arriving on loan from LA Galaxy in the transfer window.
But Hamburg started the stronger and the Germans should have gone ahead when a dreadful Paolo Maldini error allowed Jose Paolo Guerrero to shoot, but he blasted over the bar.
Marcell Jansen's effort clipped the woodwork as the Bundesliga side dominated and Nelson Dida had to make a great stop to keep a Guerrero bullet out.
Beckham had a quiet start to the game, but he made some sharp passes and Ronaldinho should have done better from a neat through ball.
Hamburg 'keeper Wolfgang Hesl had to dive to push a low Alexandre Pato shot wide of the mark.
Beckham was replaced at the interval with Frenchman Mathieu Flamini taking his place.
After the break, Andriy Shevchenko dribbled round two players but his final effort was too weak.
But Milan were handed a chance to go ahead when Alex Silva fouled Massimo Ambrosini in the box. Ronaldinho calmly converted the spot-kick to make it 1-0.
Hamburg should have had a penalty of their own when Gianluca Zambrotta handled in the area, but the referee waved play on.
However, the Germans did deservedly make it 1-1 from a corner when a Martin Petric header was saved by Dida and Collin Benjamin tucked away the rebound.
Brazilian talent Thiago Neves nearly scored a winner with a long-range strike after a flowing move, but Dida managed to make the save.
The game was decided on penalty kicks. After three successful kicks Dida saved from Neves and Aogo missed, Emerson missed his match point, but Flamini wrapped up the win.
Milan 1-1 Hamburg
(Milan win 4-3 on pens.)
Scorer: Ronaldinho pen 62 (M), Benjamin 67 (H)
Milan: Dida; Zambrotta, Maldini (Senderos 46), Kaladze, Jankulovski (Antonini 46); Beckham (Flamini 46), Pirlo (Emerson 46), Ambrosini (Cardacio 82), Ronaldinho; Shevchenko, Pato
Hamburg: Hesl; Demel, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Aogo; Jarolim, Alex Silva, Trochowski; Jansen, Olic (Petric 46), Guerrero
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