Liverpool and Juventus were drawn yesterday to play in the quarterfinals of the European Champions League, their first competitive meeting since English soccer fans started a riot that killed 39 at the 1985 final.
Prior to the start of the game in Brussels on May 29, 1985, Liverpool fans started fighting with the Italian fans, and a wall between them at Heysel Stadium collapsed. Most of the dead were Juventus supporters.
Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry, right, shakes hands with Juventus's Romy Gai during the Champions League quarterfinal draw in Switzerland.
(Martial Trezzini -- AP)
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"Here's the first opportunity to mark the tragedy that happened," Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said. "It will be the chance for both sets of supporters to show we have come a long way in 20 years."
English clubs were banned from European competition for five years by the Union of European Football Associations.
"The game in England will be a chance to remember that tragedy and pay homage to the victims," Juventus spokesman Romy Gai said. "It will be very good to have this opportunity to play under the flags of friendship and fair play."
AC Milan, tied with Juventus for the Italian League lead, was drawn to face cross-town rival Inter Milan in the quarterfinals, which will be played April 5-6 and April 12-13. AC Milan defeated Inter in the semifinals two years ago en route to its sixth Champions Cup title.
English leader Chelsea will play Bayern Munich and French League leader Lyon will meet PSV Eindhoven, whose roster includes U.S. midfielder DaMarcus Beasley.
• COLLEGE WRESTLING: Oklahoma State had a clean sweep of five semifinal matches in St. Louis, wrapping up its third straight NCAA wrestling championship with one day of competition remaining.
"This is huge for us," Coach John Smith said. "We knew this was going to be a challenging year and this is a tribute to hard work of everyone on the team."
The Cowboys have won three straight titles for the first time since 1954-56 and have 33 national titles overall. Now, they'll try to win five individual titles for the first time in school history.
• COLLEGE SWIMMING: Georgia set an American record in the 800-yard freestyle relay at the NCAA women's championships in West Lafayette, Ind., to move a step closer to ending Auburn's three-year title run. Mary Descenza, Kara Lynn Joyce, Elizabeth Hill and Amanda Weir won the 800 freestyle relay in 7 minutes 1.03 seconds to break the American record of 7:04.06 set by Stanford in 1992 and matched by the Bulldogs earlier this season. Georgia also broke the NCAA meet record of 7:02.72 set by Auburn in 2003.
• COURTS: Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Tommy Hendricks was charged with violating a restraining order taken out by his former wife. Hendricks was arrested Wednesday on the misdemeanor charge after calling his ex-wife twice the day after the restraining order was issued in Broward County (Fla.), where the couple previously lived. He was later released on a $1,500 bond.
A team spokesman said Hendricks is being treated for an unspecified medical condition. . . .
The widow of baseball great Mickey Mantle has sued a Cooperstown, N.Y., bat maker for alleged trademark violations over the sale of a limited edition bat bearing the Hall of Famer's image and name.
-- From News Services
