European champions Greece together with other group leaders
France, Germany and Romania all moved closer to a place in next
year's European Championship finals with end-of-season wins on
Wednesday.
With a year and a day to go before the Euro 2008 finals begin in
Austria and Switzerland, Greece beat Moldova 2-1 in Iraklion,
France beat Georgia 1-0 in Auxerre, Germany beat Slovakia 2-1 in
Hamburg and Romania beat Slovenia 2-0 in Timisoara.
There was no joy for Poland however, who stayed five points
clear at the top of Group A after a shock 1-0 defeat at lowly
Armenia whose Scottish boss Ian Porterfield described the victory
as one of the biggest in the country's history.
Croatia, the leaders in Group E, also failed to pick up maximum
points when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Russia,
allowing Israel, who won 2-0 in Andorra, to pull level with them at
the top of the group on 17 points.
There was a change at the top of Group F with Northern Ireland,
who were without a game, slipping back to third as Sweden, who beat
Iceland 5-0, moved into first place.
Spain, who won 2-0 in Liechtenstein, moved into second place.
Sweden currently have 16 points, one more than Spain, but their
points tally could change after UEFA decides on Friday how to
allocate the points from Denmark's abandoned 3-3 draw with Sweden
on Saturday.
BECKHAM SHINES
Although they are not among the group leaders, beleaguered
England scored a 3-0 win over Estonia in Tallinn to keep their
chances alive with David Beckham marking his return to competitive
football for the first time since the World Cup by setting up two
of the goals.
World champions Italy also maintained their push for the finals
with an impressive 2-0 win in Lithuania with Fabio Quagliarella
scoring two fine goals in his first start for his country.
Armenia's 1-0 win over Poland was the biggest shock of the night
with Hamlet Mkhitaryan scoring the only goal of the Group A match
in Yerevan with a 70th-minute free kick.
Poland, who with Ukraine, will co-host Euro 2012, have never
reached the European finals, but despite the loss they remain clear
at the top as Portugal and Serbia, both on 14, did not play.
Finland also moved on to 14 points after beating Belgium 2-0 in
Helsinki.
France stayed top of Group B with a 1-0 win over Georgia with
Samir Nasri scoring his first international goal. France remain two
points clear of world champions Italy and their next game features
a re-match of the World Cup final on September 8.
Scotland moved on to 15 points in the same group with a 2-0 win
in the Faroe Islands.
Greece needed a stoppage-time goal from substitute Nikos
Liberopoulos to secure all three points in their Group C match
against Moldova.
They moved five points clear of Turkey, who did not play,
Bosnia, who beat Malta 1-0 and Norway, who beat Hungary 4-0.
HOSPITAL SCARE
Bosnia's coach Fuad Muzurovic was rushed to hospital a few hours
before the kickoff with a heart complaint. His condition was later
said to be stable and he should be released later in the week.
Germany opened up a five point lead over the non-playing Czech
Republic after the only match in Group D - a laboured 2-1 win over
Slovakia in Hamburg. The two sides swapped own goals before Thomas
Hitzlsperger scored what proved to be the winner in the 43rd
minute.
Group E is tightly bunched with Croatia and Israel on 17 points,
Russia on 15 and England on 14. Croatia stretched their unbeaten
home record to 32 competitive matches with their 0-0 draw against
Russia while goals from Joe Cole, Peter Crouch and Michael Owen
gave England victory over Estonia, who have now lost all seven
matches without scoring a goal.
Sweden moved top of Group F with their 5-0 demolition of Iceland
while Spain maintained their improvement, following Saturday's 2-0
win in Latvia with another 2-0 victory in Liechtenstein. David
Villa scored twice but missed a last minute penalty and the chance
of a hat-trick.
Romania beat Slovenia 2-0 to stay top of Group G but Bulgaria
edged ahead of the Netherlands, who have a game in hand, with a 2-1
win over Belarus.
The next round of qualifiers take place at the end of
August.
(China Daily via Reuters June 7, 2007)