Munich go through as Max goals eliminate Halmstads

Martin Max scored twice as 1860 Munich beat Halmstads 3-1 yesterday to go through to the third round of the Uefa Cup 5-4 on aggregate.

Martin Max scored twice as 1860 Munich beat Halmstads 3-1 yesterday to go through to the third round of the Uefa Cup 5-4 on aggregate.

Max scored in the sixth minute to bring the two-leg aggregate score to 3-3. Thomas Hassler lifted a free-kick into the Swedish penalty area, Stephan Passlack's header was blocked by goalkeeper Hakan Svensson but Max pushed in the rebound.

The Swedes equalised in the 25th minute. The Munich goalkeeper Sven Jentzsch fumbled a cross and Robert Anderson drove home from six yards.

Munich regained the lead in the last minute of the first half. Harald Cerny crossed from the right and Paul Agostino headed home, and the Germans scored their tie-clinching goal on 84 minutes when Passlack crossed and Max rose to head in.

Spain's Football Federation (RFEF) is proposing a further expansion of the World Club Championship to allow three Spanish teams, and 16 clubs in all, to enter the competition. Under current plans, the second staging of the competition, due to feature 12 teams, will be held in Spain next year from 29 July to 12 August at a venue still to be decided.

Real Madrid, as the current European champions, are assured of a place, and the second Spanish representatives are expected to be the La Liga champions, Deportivo Coruña.

However, the RFEF has told Fifa, world football's governing body, it now wants a total of 16 teams in the competition - a move that would almost certainly give a place to Barcelona. The RFEF has already put the idea to Fifa, and a 31 January deadline has been agreed for a final decision.