The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page E03

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER www.philly.com E3 Thursday, July 29, 2004 Flyers' Desjardins anxious for season Celtic scores an upset Missing a few big names, Manchester United falls at Line. home, I went to put the glove on the shelf and my upper arm just shifted. My wife didn't want to even look at it, but the main injury was from practice." He had surgery on his forearm after Game 1 against the Devils. "Doctors took bone from my hip for my forearm," Desjardins said. "Then after about four weeks, I started light stretching exercises to strengthen the area and regain range of motion." Desjardins, 35, used isolation exercises to concentrate and strengthen his right forearm.

Even though there is a strong possibility that the National Hockey League will lock out the players this season, Desjardins is working out five times a week. "I want to stay active, skate with the prospects, work out, and spend time with my family, but I don't want to burn myself out either," Desjardins said. "I'm at a point in my career where quality is more important than quantity, so whatever the team asks of me, I'll be ready." By Mark Lelinwalla INQUIRER STAFF WRITER After unraveling tightly wound athletic tape, Eric Desjardins revealed about a one-foot scar stretching along his right forearm. "I've been through a lot of tough rehab, but now I'm back to 100 percent and I'm anxious to play," said Desjardins, the veteran Flyers defenseman, who has fully recovered from a fracture in his right arm, an injury that he suffered twice in the same year. "I'm focused, ready, and I know I'm not going to be behind when the season starts." Desjardins first broke his forearm on Jan.

17 against the Toronto Maple Leafs and missed 32 games. He came back for the final three games of the regular season. Then it happened again. During a practice leading up to the Flyers' first-round playoff series against the New Jersey Devils, Desjardins said, he fractured the arm for the second time. "I remember my arm feeling different after practice," Desjardins said.

"Then after finishing playing catch with my son at By Mike Jensen INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The rains began coming down in the 88th minute and fans all over at Lincoln Financial Field headed for cover. Except for those in the end-zone seats on the 1-95 side of the Line. The gang over there, all dressed in green and white stripes, was singing and chanting and enjoying a glorious night in South Philadelphia before an announced crowd of 55,421. After getting squashed by a couple of English Premier League powers, Celtic took down Manchester United, 2-1, last night, as soccer returned for a second year at the Line. This was just a preseason game for both squads.

But after just three minutes, a Celtic player was taken down and out of the game and needed stitches. And when the winning goal went in from the foot of young Celtic player Craig Beattie, through the legs of Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard, the Man captain was upset. A friendly isn't the best description for this one. However, Celtic manager Martin O'Neill, joining his team only yesterday because his wife has been ill, had the night in perspective. "I thought that we seemed to cope a little bit better; we looked a little bit more organized," O'Neill said of his squad, which is playing four games in eight days because of "lucrative" paydays here.

His team already lost to Chelsea by 4-2 and Liverpool by 5-1 on the ChampionsWorld Tour. "We've played three games now in relatively quick succession and it was definitely tiring." Manchester United, back for the second straight year and also here to take home some American dollars, has played twice now and hasn't taken a victory yet, after a scoreless tie against Bayern Munich the other night followed by the German club winning on penalty kicks, which is the format for the tour. After that game, after a Chicago newspaper columnist wrote that he'd rather stay home and watch his kids play, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he knew he needed to add some beef to the squad. He was missing quite a few players who had played in the European championships and Copa America. "I'm very conscious of what I have to do in the next two days in terms of getting the big names here," Ferguson said at a news conference at the Line on Tuesday.

Whether that means he's trying to persuade stars Ruud van Nistelrooy or Paul Scholes to cut short holidays and get on a Contact staff writer Mark Lelinwalla at 21 5-854-2458 or mlelinwallaphillynews.com. RON CORTES Inquirer Staff Photographer Manchester United's Christopher Eagles is knocked down by Celtic's Chris Sutton. Sutton scored a goal on a penalty kick in Celtic's 2-1 victory at Lincoln Financial Field last night. Olympic Notes Athletes to take hormone test from behind in the ninth minute, leading to the first Celtic goal on a Chris Sutton penalty kick. But Spector's push probably prevented Petrov from scoring.

Ferguson was more put off by the giveaway that had given Petrov the ball. Howard also was ticked off, hurling the ball toward the sideline. In the 35th minute, new Man forward Alan Smith jumped over a defender and headed in a corner kick by Christopher Eagles to tie the game. At that point, Celtic's supporters in the end zone had to be satisfied their squad was in the game. By the end, they were singing out in the night.

"I hope Donovan McNabb is in better form next year," said the Celtic manager, O'Neill, who is an NFL fan, in closing his press session. "I'm sure he'll be brilliant." plane before Saturday's game against titan AC Milan at Giants Stadium, who knows? It did mean that Ferguson switched gears and started regular keeper Howard last night because he's from North Brunswick, N.J. Last night, more regulars played. The Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, both started, and Ryan Giggs made his first appearance of the tour in the second half. Workhorse captain Roy Keane has played both games now.

Ferguson also started 18-year-old American defender Jonathan Spector again presumably without knowing that Spector's father grew up here, and that his grandfather was from Northeast Philadelphia and his grandmother from West Philadelphia. All Ferguson knew was that the teenager who played for Man U's youth and reserve teams last year is making a bid to stay on the regular squad as a backup. Spector pushed Stilian Petrov of Celtic FROM INQUIRER WIRE SERVICES Olympic athletes in Athens will be tested for the banned stimulant human growth hormone for the first time, Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said. "Up until now we've never had a test reliable enough that we were prepared to use," Pound said in a televised Bloomberg News interview. The test, formulated by researchers at Southampton University in southern England and developed at laboratories in Germany, Australia and the United States, will be carried out on urine and blood samples taken from athletes.

The hormone, which stimu lates the growth of muscles and bones, was added to the International Olympic Committee's list of banned substances in 1989 and has remained undetectable until now. Security. Dozens of Greek Navy vessels have started patrolling the country's coastal waters as part of a two-layer security zone to protect the Olympic Games, with NATO warships due to keep watch further out to sea, a naval official said. At least 35 Greek ships are monitoring the Ionian Sea along Greece's west coast, the Aegean Sea and areas off the coasts of Crete and the resort Cyclades islands. Contact staff writer Mike Jensen at 215-854-4489 or mjensenphillynews.com.

Another detail in Bryant case leaked with an agreement by tomorrow on its use. Bryant's attorneys have said they believe the 20-year-old woman had multiple sex partners in the three days before her hospital exam last summer, including one after her encounter with Bryant. Her attorney has denied she had another sexual partner in the 15-hour period before the exam. The order, which included the accuser's name, appeared on a Web site where public filings are posted as a convenience to court staff and the media. The Web site was shut down for about three hours to remove the document.

The accidental posting was the latest in a string of mistakes that the accuser's attorney, John Clune, has said prompted her to consider ending her participation in the case. In September, the accuser's name was included in another filing posted on the Web site. Last fall, the Glenwood Springs hospital where she and Bryant were examined accidentally turned over her medical records to lawyers in the case. In late June, a court reporter accidentally e-mailed transcripts of a closed-door hearing that dealt with aspects of the accuser's sex life. ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER Swabs taken from Kobe Bryant during a hospital exam found DNA from the NBA star and the woman accusing him of rape, but none from an unidentified person whose DNA showed up on other evidence in the case, the judge said in a sealed filing mistakenly posted yesterday on a court Web site.

The defense wants to present the DNA evidence from Bryant's hospital exam to jurors. In the sealed filing, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle said the prosecution does not intend to introduce that evidence. The filing orders both sides to come up Kids Day at Training Camp Friday, August 6th Stabler Arena at Lehigh University 10am 2pm (Rain or Shine) Interactive Games, Meet Swoop, Try on Eagles equipment, Photo Booth, Magic Show, Crafts, Face Painters, Win Eagles merchandise FREE FOR ALL KIDS far mare details visit PhiladelphiaEagles. cam.