MADRID, Spain -- The Copa del Rey trophy was supposed to be coach Jose Mourinhos
parting gift for Real Madrid, or at least a consolation prize after a season
that will be remembered for his abrasive antics and his teams failure to win
silverware.
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Madrid ended a 14-year winless run against its city rival by taking the title on
Friday, coming from behind for a cathartic 2-1 win in extra time after Mourinho
and his star forward Cristiano Ronaldo were sent off. Brazilian defender Miranda
headed in Jorge "Koke" Resurrecions cross in the eighth minute of extra time to
give Atletico its 10th Copa del Rey title and first since 1996. "This is for our
fans that have suffered for 14 years," Atleticos captain Gabi Fernandez said
moments before he received the trophy from Spains King Juan Carlos. "This team
worked hard for this and deserved it." Ronaldo appeared to have put Madrid on
its way to yet another victory over its crosstown rivals when he headed in a
goal in the 14th minute. But Atletico refused to fold and Radamel Falcao set up
Diego Costa to level 10 minutes before halftime. Mourinho was sent off for
protesting a decision in the 76th. Likely heading back to England in the
off-season, he will finish his last campaign in Madrid without a title after it
lost the Spanish league to Barcelona and bowed out of the Champions League
semifinals. "This is my worst season. I have never not won an important title.
You can say I failed this season," Mourinho said. "With one final, a semifinal,
a second-place finish, and a Spanish Supercup, for many other coaches it would
have been a good season. For me its the worst." Mourinho repeated that he would
decide his future with club president Florentino Perez after the season ends in
early June, although there is strong expectation he will return to former club
Chelsea. The final was a vibrant match but not without its ugly side. Ronaldo
received a straight red card for kicking Gabi in the face in the 114th, setting
off a sideline scuffle between the benches. Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois
was struck in the head by an object thrown from the Santiago Bernabeu stands
shortly afterward. Atletico also ended the match with 10 men when Gabi was sent
off seconds before the final whistle for a second yellow card. But that came too
late to prevent a victory that even the coach acknowledged was a lucky one, with
Madrids shots repeatedly hitting the frame of the goal. "We had the good fortune
that a champion needs," said Atletico coach Diego Simeone, who added the cup to
the Europa League title won last year. "What these players have done for the
past year and a half is amazing. I dont have words for it." Following years of
frustration and accumulated doubt after failing to beat Madrid in 25 games since
1999, Atletico had to overcome an opening goal by Ronaldo. Ronaldo, who scored
the extra-time winner that beat Barcelona and give Madrid the 2011 Copa title,
looked set to play the starring role once again when he rose over a defender to
head in Luka Modrics corner and net his 55th goal of the season. But the
Portugal forward let the emotion of the games final minutes get the best of him,
hurting his side when he left it a man down just when it most needed his help.
Mourinho spent the game in the dugout after being jeered before the match by
both sets of fans, with the home supporters upset at his dropping of iconic
goalkeeper Iker Casillas and supposed desire to return to England. When he did
emerge, he didnt last long as the referee dismissed him for vehemently
protesting a foul. Atletico held firm after Ronaldos opener and were rewarded
with an equalizer. Falcao held off Raul Albiols tackle, spun with the ball, and
placed a perfectly weighted pass for Diego Costa to run clear and drive a
left-footed strike under keeper Diego Lopez. "Incredible," Falcao said, on the
point of tears. "We are so happy for this win. We have to enjoy this." Madrid
came alive after Atletico equalized, and Mesut Ozil volleyed a long strike off
the right post a minute from halftime. The tension increased in the second half
both in the stands and on the pitch, as Madrid began to tilt the action toward
Atleticos area and soon had two golden chances in the 61st when Karim Benzema
fired a loose ball off the upright. Ozil then pounced on the rebound and with
Courtois off line seemed sure to score, but defender Juanfran Torres blocked his
shot on the goalline. In the 68th it was Ronaldos turn to curse the goal frame
when he fooled the defensive wall by slotting his free kick at the edge of the
box under Mario Suarez as he jumped, only to see it crash off the post. "It isnt
normal to hit the post three times," said Mourinho. "You dont have to be an
expert to think that the result wasnt fair, that Atletico isnt the just winner.
But in football all that is forgotten, the posts, the referee, and Atletico goes
down the winner." With Mourinho gone, Madrid assistant Aitor Karanka made all
three changes at the start of extra time. But even though Madrid had the fresher
legs, it was Atletico that surged back in front for good. Lopez saved Diego
Costas back-to-back tries in the 95th, but he couldnt stop Miranda from meeting
an out-swinging cross to score at the near post by nodding the ball under the
goalkeeper and into the net to send the fans clad in red and white into ecstasy.
Madrid wasnt done and only Courtois goalkeeping protected its lead with stops to
deny Gonzalo Higuain in the 104th and then Ozil in four minutes into the second
added period when he stretched to deflect his close-range shot over the bar.
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has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender
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. Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with
the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at
Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the
Bulls. NEW YORK -- John Tortorella was defiant in stating that the New York
Rangers didnt take a step back when they were knocked out of the Stanley Cup
playoffs in the second round. General manager Glen Sather thought otherwise and
fired the combative coach on Wednesday. The fiery Tortorella was let go four
days after the Rangers season ended with a Game 5 loss at Boston to the Bruins.
New York had reached the Eastern Conference finals last year and was considered
to be a championship contender in this lockout-shortened season. "I came up with
the decision that I really needed to do something to improve our team going
forward," Sather said during a conference call. "Every coach has a shelf life.
Ive told every guy that Ive hired that at some point in time this is going to
change. "Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup and we didnt achieve that goal this
year. I had to make a decision, so I did." Tortorella was unexpectedly dismissed
with one year left on his contract. In 319 regular-season games with New York,
including a four-game run at the end of the 1999-2000 season, Tortorella went
171-118-1-29. He was 19-25 in the post-season, and reached the playoffs in four
of five seasons after taking over as coach in February 2009. "Every time a coach
gets fired, it is a surprise for me, because ultimately, we, the players, are
responsible for our own play on the ice," Rangers backup goaltender Martin Biron
told the Associated Press in a text message. Tortorella, hired to replace Tom
Renney with 21 games remaining in the 2008-09 season, achieved some success with
the Rangers but couldnt match the Stanley Cup title he earned in 2004 with the
Tampa Bay Lightning. Sather said Tortorellas contract status didnt factor into
the decision. "It wasnt one thing and I am certainly not going to speculate or
start to criticize what happened with Torts and give you a lot of reasons why we
decided to do this," Sather said. "After the analytical work that we do every
year at the end of the season, trying to decide how were going to improve the
team and how were going to move forward, this is a decision I made." Sather
didnt name an immediate replacement, but hopes to have a new coach in place by
the June 30 NHL draft in Newark, N.J. Former NHL coaches Lindy Ruff and Alain
Vigneault could be candidates for New York. Sather wouldnt speculate whether
anyone currently employed by the Rangers would be considered. The fate of
assistant coach Mike Sullivan will be decided during the teams organizational
meetings in June. "Hopefully whoever we hire has a lot of the good things that
Torts had and a lot of good things that Tom Renney had," Sather said. "There are
a number of good coaches around, and a lot of them have different qualities. It
is a little tricky sometimes to find someone who has all those qualities, but
hopefully thats what were going to have this time around. "I am certain that
were going to find the right person." Last season, Tortorella led the Rangers to
51 wins -- the second-most in franchise history -- and 109 points before they
were beaten in six games by New Jersey in the conference finals. He finished his
Rangers tenure in fourth place on the teams career coaching wins list. The
54-year-old Tortorella got the Rangers back into the playoffs in this
lockout-shortened season, and New York outlasted Washington in seven games in
the first round of the playoffs before being knocked out by Boston. "I felt this
was a decision that had to be made going forward," Sather said. "I tthink he was
shocked, but he is a gentleman and he took it very well.
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Tortorella made curious comments on Monday when the Rangers packed up for the
season, which could have led to his ouster. In his final meeting with reporters,
Tortorella said his club wasnt emotionally ready to take on Boston after getting
past Washington with back-to-back shutout wins when it faced elimination. "One
of the things, and it falls on my shoulders, is our teams mindset going into
another round," Tortorella said. "I dont think our mindset was ready to play
another series and to the level you need to be at. It didnt have a playoff
atmosphere. "Thats what I struggle with right now. I didnt do a good enough job
in correcting and getting their mindset back to not only play at the level of a
Game 7 in the first round but get ready for round 2, which is always going to be
tougher." Even though the Rangers were knocked out earlier this year, Tortorella
emphatically stated he didnt believe the team regressed. "I know the surrounding
feeling here is that it was a negative season, a disappointing season. I dont
buy it and I wont," Tortorella said. "There are some good things that happened.
I dont think we took a step backward. I think this is a sideways step in our
lineup and how things worked out. "We played really well our last couple of
months to get in, found a way to win a big series against Washington, and
against Boston I thought we competed right to the end." However, starting goalie
Henrik Lundqvist disagreed with that assessment. Lundqvist is entering the final
year of his contract and would be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent
next summer. "It is a step back," Lundqvist said. "We were in the conference
finals last year, we had high expectations on ourselves this year. It didnt go
our way, so yeah it is a step back. Its tough to make it there, though. You cant
just expect it to happen." Sather said he hadnt talked to Lundqvist, but added
the teams plan is to sign him to a new long-term deal. The Rangers entered the
48-game season as a prime contender to win the Stanley Cup, especially after the
off-season acquisition of top forward Rick Nash in a trade with the Columbus
Blue Jackets. After a slow start, the Rangers rallied to a 26-18-4 record and
the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But New York struggled to
score in the post-season, and Nash and Brad Richards were among the biggest
offenders. Nash recorded only one goal and five assists in the Rangers 12
playoff games. Richards, who has seven years remaining on a nine-year deal, was
a bigger disappointment and was a healthy scratch by Tortorella in the final two
games against the Bruins. Sather said that move was an organizational decision.
Richards had thrived under Tortorella when they won the Stanley Cup with Tampa
Bay, but he managed only one goal and zero assists in his 10 post-season games.
Richards will likely also be gone from the Rangers, who can buy out the
remainder of his lucrative deal and remove him from the salary cap that will go
down for next season. Tortorella is the career leader in wins by a U.S.-born
coach with 410. He was an assistant coach with the Rangers in the 1999-2000
season and took over for John Muckler as head coach for the final four games.
Tortorella was then hired by the Lightning and he was their coach for seven
seasons -- compiling a mark of 239-222-36-38 and earning the Jack Adams Award as
NHL coach of the year in the championship 2003-04 season.
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