Urawa Reds had a reasonable start to the game and had two attempts in the first 10 minutes through Abe and Tanaka, however both were well wide.

Milan then started to grow into the game and were desperately unlucky on 13 minutes as Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick crashed off the bar.

The ‘keeper Tsuzuki got a touch to the ball and from the resulting corner Ambrosini powered a header inches wide of the angle of post and bar.

Midway through the half Kaka went on a trademark run and slid the ball across to Clarence Seedorf who seemed destined to score, however he produced a weak finish straight at the ‘keeper.

Albert Gilardino then had a penalty claim waved away by the referee, before Soma launched a quick counter-attack for the Diamonds but saw his shot charged down by the Milan defence.

On 38 minutes Oddo whipped in a dangerous cross from the right but Gilardino could only head straight at Tsuzuki.

Down the other end Washington went on a weaving run but he could not get his shot away. Nagai then headed the ball across goal for Suzuki, but he could only volley straight at Dida.

Into the second half and Kaka slid a fine ball through to Seedorf, who was clean through, only to again be denied by another excellent stop by Tsuzuki.

The Diamonds were having the odd chance too though and Abe had a speculative shot outside the box which Dida spilled. Fortunately for him Kaladze was alert to clear the danger.

On 56 minutes Seedorf was agonizingly close to breaking the deadlock as he took Pirlo’s ball on his chest and hit a brilliant first-time volley inches wide of the post.

Soon after Gilardino had a good opening, however his effort from close range was deflected over.

On 66 minutes the Diamonds had a great chance themselves as Nene arrived to meet a corner unmarked but he headed over. Seconds later Washington brought out a spectacular save from Dida with a curling shot from the edge of the box.

Milan finally took the lead on 68 minutes against the run of play at the time, as Kaka slipped in Seedorf, who drilled it in low with his left foot into the bottom right-hand corner.

The goal settled Milan, however the Diamonds were almost offered a lifeline nine minutes later when Dida horribly fumbled a corner, but the danger was cleared.

The Rossoneri played out the rest of the game to win 1-0, but at times they were given a run for their money by a courageous Urawa Reds outfit.

Milan will meet Boca Juniors in Sunday’s final.

Urawa Reds: Tsuzuki, Nene, Tulio (Yamahada), Tsuboi, Soma (Hirakawa), Suzuki, Hasebe, Abe, Hosogai, Nagai, Washington

AC Milan: Dida, Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski (Maldini), Pirlo, Ambrosini, Gattuso, Seedorf (Brocchi), Kaka, Gilardino (Inzaghi)

The Tunisians came more into the match after the first ten minutes of the half, but although they dominated possession they never really threatened the Boca goal.

In the 17th minute Morel Rodriguez curled a dangerous free-kick into the back post, but Boca target man Martin Palermo couldn't keep the ball in play.

But as was expected Boca soon controlled the match, and played in the Etoile half, looking for the head of Palermo.

Etoile were restricted to long distance efforts, that never troubled Boca goalkeeper Mauricio Caranta.

In the 30th minute Morel curled a free-kick over the crossbar, as the Argentines began to look extremely dangerous.

Boca went ahead in the 37th minute with a brilliant finish from Neri Cardozo after good work from Rodrigo Palacio down the left wing.

The Argentine giants soon had complete control of the match, but this would change towards the end of the half, as Etoile had a good opportunity to draw level, but were kept out by a fine save from Caranta.

In first half injury time Ever Banega swung in a free-kick from the left wing, but Gabriel Paletta couldn't connect to the ball at the back post.

After the break Boca were the livelier of the two sides, and looked dangerous through Palacio down the left wing, before the ball went out for a corner kick.

From that corner kick, Boca almost doubled their lead, but somehow Paletta headed the ball over the crossbar, when he was left unmarked in the box.

Minutes later Etoile almost equalized from a free-kick, but Boca cleared the ball for a corner kick.

Soon after a smart Palacio header almost sneaked into the back of the net from a difficult angle.

Boca piled heavy pressure on the Etoile goal, and it seemed that at any moment they would put the result out of Tunisian reach.

Then in the 64th minute Boca's Colombian midfielder Fabian Vargas was sent off for a second bookable offense.

But despite being a man down the Argentines continued to be the stronger side, but they were reduced to long distance efforts on the Etoile goal.

Palermo should have doubled Boca's lead in the 76th minute, but his header flashed wide after a good right winged cross from Boca defender Hugo Ibarra.

In the 78th minute Boca should have been awarded a penalty after Alvaro Gonzalez was clearly brought down in the area, but disappointing Danish referee Claus Larsen waved play on.

Palacio almost sealed the victory for Boca in the 86th minute, but his brilliant swerving effort floated just over the crossbar.

Moments later Silva could have put Etoile level, but his back post header hit the side netting.

The Tunisians piled the pressure on Boca's goal in the final minutes, but lacked any sort of conviction.

Boca held on in a match which they fully deserved to win.

The Argentines will meet the winners of either AC Milan or Urawa Red Diamonds in the grand final of the competition next Sunday.

Team Line-ups

Boca Juniors: Mauricio Caranta, Hugo Ibarra, Jonathan Maidana, Gabriel Paletta, Claudio Morel Rodriguez, Sebastian Battaglia, Ever Banega (Ledesma 90'), Fabian Vargas, Neri Cardozo (Gonzalez 68'), Rodrigo Palacio (Boselli 90'), and Martin Palermo. Coach: Miguel Angel Russo.

Etoile du Sahel: Aymen Mathlouthi, Said Ghezal, Radhouan Falhi, Hatem Bejaoui, Sabeur Frej, Moussa Narry, Mohamed Nafkha, Mohamed Sacko (Bendhifallah 55'), Muri Ogunbiyi (Gharbi 10'), Amine Chermiti, and Mejdi Traoui (Silva Alves 75'). Coach: Bertrand Marchand.

Goals: Neri Cardozo (37')

Red Cards: Fabian Vargas (64')

Referee: Claus Larsen (Denmark)

Venue: National Stadium, Toyko, Japan. Attendance: 55,000.

Gregory Sica

最近实在太忙，没时间学习，没时间看球，所以什么也写不出来。随便乱写点吧，不然太久没写了，对不起群众对不起党的。

说说新赛季，呃。。。为什么把欧冠的开始叫做新赛季的开始？我也不知道，大概因为联赛没什么希望吧。冠军联赛改制以来没人卫冕过？卫冕一次看看，联赛差不多体面点就好，今年还是努力冠军联赛吧。替补阵容的实力实在太差，两个边路的单行道问题依旧，尤其是卡福，中场也一样，没有皮尔洛卡卡基本没法踢，锋线就不说了，吉拉的种种努力依然证明–废柴一个。朗拿度不能安分守己，英少也不能保证双线作战，帕托还不能上场。本赛季只希望安布少受伤，可以解放皮尔洛，再看看博内拉有没有打右后卫的资质，卡福还是去休息吧。还有就是实在没搞明白为啥要买易布拉辛巴。难道要它今后像莱昂纳多一样用人际关系打开法国市场？也说不过去。一来莱昂纳多在米兰还是带来了联赛的冠军，二来莱昂纳多是当时巴西国家队的常客，在巴西具有很好的人脉。这两点法国人都不具备。一个要人脉没人脉，要实力没实力，要长相没长相的人，来干啥？难道像雷东多一样来米兰养老？雷东多可是巨星啊。还是没想通。。。罢了。

呃，准备回家。今天的工作解决了个大问题，但依然面对另一个大问题：（ 不搞了，眼睛疼。 

　　再过一个多月，2007-2008赛季意甲联赛就要拉开战幕，而此时一条不太好的消息随之传来：继英超之后，意甲下赛季在中国大陆的转播也将部分进入收费时代。记者近日获悉，天盛传媒欧洲足球频道已经成功购买到意甲未来三个赛季A包转播权，这就意味着，类似“米兰德比”这样的强强对抗从下赛季起将只能在欧洲足球频道播放，中国球迷要想收看最精彩的意甲场次必须像英超一样交费。

　　实际上，天盛在购买英超转播权之后已经不止一次表示，接下来还将继续购买意甲等其他欧洲赛事的转播权。不过，在央视一直宣称不放弃意甲的情况下，大多数人并未预料到付费看意甲会这么快成真。据悉，拥有意甲亚洲转播权的MP公司此次将意甲分为A、B、C三个等级打包出售，央视在今年二月拿到了B包转播权，但在A包价格上一直未能谈拢，结果被天盛横刀夺爱。按照三个等级的划分方式，B包只有除AC米兰、国际米兰和尤文图斯三支顶级豪门外的其他球队38轮共60场比赛，而包括三强直接对抗在内的所有最精彩赛事全部属于A包范畴。换句话说，天盛垄断了意甲联赛最佳转播资源。

　　天盛购买意甲A包的费用目前没有透露，不过对于购买了欧洲足球频道节目的观众来说，并不会因此另交费用，该频道的收视费用依然为588元/年。据了解，天盛垄断英超转播权以来，由于种种原因，欧洲足球频道用户增长速度并非想象中迅速，此次天盛购买意甲转播权显然也有增强该频道 竞争力的因素。

　　意甲作为最早进入中国大陆的欧洲联赛，在中国球迷中一直有着巨大的影响和超出其他任何联赛的别样情结，免费意甲时代结束对中国球迷的冲击甚至还在失去英超之上。这一消息传出后，球迷的反应五味杂陈，不过与上次告别免费英超不同，这次球迷的反应中少了很多激愤和谩骂，更多的则是对未来付费电视的思考。对球迷来说，这的确是个无法回避，同时需要更多理智思考的问题。本报记者肖竹 编写

　　新闻追踪

　　天盛：暂不考虑买断其他联赛

　　或许是出于商业方面的考虑，天盛传媒目前并未明确证实购买意甲A包的消息。天盛CEO宋政在接受采访时表示，暂时不方便对此事进行答复，而该公司副总裁、新闻发言人喻凌霄则只肯定了一件事：天盛暂时没有买断其他联赛转播权的打算。

　　宋政坦率表示，目前不方便对意甲的问题发表更多看法，不过他也表示，欧洲足球频道目前虽然以英超为主，但同样会为观众奉献其他联赛的精彩赛事。他对欧洲足球频道的前景表示乐观，认为随着中国大陆观众对付费电视的逐渐接受，该频道的用户会越来越多。

　　对于天盛是否进一步买断 西甲、 德甲等联赛在中国大陆的转播权问题，喻凌霄给予了否定回答。他说：“在天盛的工作计划中，暂时没有这方面的内容。德甲、西甲以及法甲等赛事目前在欧洲足球频道中就有转播，欧洲足球频道的内容已经非常全面了。”