Boca Juniors top AC Milan to win Intercontinental Cup

The spot-kicking prowess that carried AC Milan to Champions League success last May came up short in Yokohama as Boca Juniors won the Intercontinental Cup on a shootout.

The match was tied 1-1 after 120 minutes with Matias Donnet cancelling out Jon Dahl Tomasson's 24th-minute effort. It then went to the lottery of a shootout with Boca holding its nerve to secure a surprise 3-1 win to capture the unofficial world club championship match between the winners of the Champions League and Copa Libertadores.

Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Alessandro Costacurta missed from 12 yards with Boca's Sebastian Battaglia also failing. Alfredo Raul Cascini netted the winning penalty to give Boca its third win in this event following triumphs in 1977 and 2000.

Milan was without defender Alessandro Nesta but coach Carlo Ancelotti was able to replace him with the vastly experienced Costacurta.

There was also a place in the starting lineup for Paolo Maldini, playing in this contest for the fifth time in his long and illustrious career.

The Serie A team controlled play early and had the first chance of the game when Pirlo found Kaka only for the Brazilian to fire his shot over the bar. Giuseppe Pancaro then played in Pirlo but his lob was comfortably saved by Boca keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.

The Argentinian team had struggled to get out of its own half of the field in the opening 20 minutes but it created their first chance when Iarley's far post volley was well blocked by Milan keeper Dida. From the resulting corner, Dida got down well to keep out Nicolas Burdisso's powerful header.

Just as Boca appeared to be coming to terms with the occasion, Milan struck on the counter attack.

The impressive Pirlo played in a ball to Andriy Shevchenko and although it drifted away from the Ukrainian, it fell nicely for Tomasson to prod the ball under the advancing Abbondanzieri.

Shevchenko wasted a chance to double Milan's advantage shortly afterwards when he headed wide when well placed.

Boca hit back out of the blue four minutes after going behind.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto's cross from the left was aimed for Iarley, who just got a white boot to the ball ahead of Dida. The touch edged the ball into the path of Donnet, who was able to turn it into the net with his left foot.

A frantic seven-minute spell was almost capped by Kaka, but his shot went off the post with Abbondanzieri beaten.

The second half, like the first, started slowly with neither side testing the opponents' goalkeeper.

Pirlo had been Milan's best player during the opening 45 minutes and it was the long-haired playmaker who threatened to break the stalemate approaching the hour mark. It was his free kick to the far post which picked out Shevchenko, who in turn nodded it on to Maldini.

The Yokohama crowd got its first glimpse of South American wonderkid Carlos Tevez after 72 minutes when the 19-year-old, dubbed the "new Maradona," came on to replace Scheletto. He almost made an immediate impact with a shot that was charged down by Milan fullback Cafu.

Another replacement, Rui Costa, who came on for Tomasson, came close to snatching a late winner in normal time with a shot that hit a defender and deflected away to safety.

The first period of extra time, which operated under the silver goal rule, was largely uneventful although the second started brightly as Milan came close to taking the lead, but Abbondanzieri blocked Shevchenko's effort following a sharp turn.

Inzaghi then had a goal ruled out for offside before Boca wasted the chance to win it in injury time of the extra period.

Tevez controlled a chipped ball before being tackled by Clarence Seedorf. The rebound dropped to Rolando Schiavi whose shot flew inches over the bar.

It ultimately mattered little as the night still ended in glory for Boca and coach Carlos Bianchi, who set a record by winning the event for a third time - twice with Boca and once with Velez Sarsfield.