Short Soccer
Bayern Munich opened their German league campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win at promoted Greuther Fuerth on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga's 50th season. Fuerth were making their Bundesliga debut and held their famous Bavarian neighbours for most of the first half until their defence finally cracked as goals from Thomas Mueller, Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben secured the win. "In the first half, there were no surprises or changes in tempo in our game," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who also rejected media reports he would quit at the end of the season when his contract expires. "We improved in the second half where we were dominant, very clever and very smart." AFP
Siem de Jong scored twice as titleholders Ajax Amsterdam thrashed NAC Breda 5-0 in the Dutch league. De Jong opened the scoring after two minutes and Finland defender Niklas Moisander headed the second nine minutes later on his debut following his move from AZ Alkmaar. Tobias Sana scored the third before half-time, while South African Thulani Serrero and De Jong completed the rout in the second half. Reuters
Brazil forward Neymar scored twice to give Santos a 2-1 win over Luiz Felipe Scolari's troubled Palmeiras in the Brazilian championship. Palmeiras took the lead in the 40th minute when Correa scored with a low shot from the edge of the area, but Santos replied before the break when Neymar curled a majestic free kick into the top-left corner from 30 metres. Just after the hour, the 20-year-old Neymar, who is reported to be on the radar of some of Europe's biggest clubs, scored again with a weakly struck low shot from 25 metres which crept in off the foot of the post. Reuters
Blackburn boss Steve Kean called on the club's Indian owners to see the funny side of Morten Gamst Pedersen's cheeky goal celebration in their 2-1 win over Leicester. Rovers' global adviser, Shebby Singh, had earlier this month labelled the Norwegian "a pensioner". The 30-year-old celebrated his strike by grabbing a walking stick from the touchline in a dig at Singh's criticism. "It's just a bit of tongue-in-cheek and it should be taken the way it's meant to be," said the under-pressure Kean. AFP
