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| England's David Beckcham (R) and Michael Owen
celebrate scoring a second goal against Poland during their World Cup European
zone Group six qualifier soccer match at Slaski soccer stadium in Chorzow Southern
Poland September 8, 2004.
(Reuters) |
After a mixed bag of results in Saturday's qualifiers, Europe's major countries asserted their
authority on Wednesday with France, England and Italy all winning
away.
European champions Greece, though, served up another poor performance
in a 0-0 draw against Turkey in Pireaus following their 2-1 defeat by
Albania on Saturday, leaving them with one point out of six in Group Two.
But Portugal, who hosted Euro 2004 and lost in the final to Greece,
maintained their excellent start to the qualifiers with a 4-0 drubbing of
Estonia in Leiria -- with all four goals coming in the last 15 minutes.
Neighbours Spain, starting their qualifying campaign, looked out of
sorts though, only managing a 1-1 draw in Bosnia in Group Seven after
being outplayed for most of
the match.
Slovakia were the biggest winners of the night, beating Liechtenstein
7-0 while Romania maintained their perfect start in Group One by taking
another positive step on the way to the finals in Germany in 2006 with a
5-1 win over little Andorra -- their third win in three matches.
 However, the Netherlands, in the same group and playing their
first competitive match under new coach Marco van Basten, served notice of
their intentions with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic in Amsterdam --
with Pierre van Hooijdonk scoring both goals to avenge their 3-2 defeat to
the Czechs at Euro 2004.
Elsewhere, Latvia were made to fight hard for a 4-3 win over usual
fall-guys Luxembourg while Croatia brought Sweden crashing back down to
earth after the Swedes beat Malta 7-0 on Saturday.
Croatia won 1-0 in Gothenburg to take pole position in Group Eight with
six points from two matches with Darijo Srna scoring the only goal midway
through the second half.
There was a tasty British battle in Cardiff which ended in a 2-2 draw
between Wales and Northern Ireland with almost as many players sent off as
goals scored.
Michael Hughes of Northern Ireland and Robbie Savage of Wales were
dismissed for fighting in the ninth minute just one minute before Jeff
Whitley put the Irish 1-0 up with their first goal in 10 competitive
matches.
David Healy then made it 2-0 after 21 minutes but was almost
immediately sent off after picking up two yellow cards for his goal
celebration and a gesture to the Welsh fans.
Wales clawed back a goal through John Hartson after 32 minutes before
Robert Earnshaw made it 2-2 15 minutes from the end.
FRANCE WIN
 France, held to a 0-0 draw by Israel in their opening Group Four
match in Paris on Saturday, did not play that well but had enough
guile to beat Faroe Islands
2-0 in Torshavn thanks to goals from Ludovic Giuly and Djibril Cisse, a
ninth minute substitute for the injured Louis Saha.
Saha was not the only English-based Frenchman who failed to finish the
match as skipper Patrick Vieira was sent off in the second half, picking
up a second yellow card for diving.
It was the first time Vieira had been sent off for his country but the
10th time in his senior career after nine dismissals with Arsenal since
January 1998.
England, who came in for a deluge of criticism from the English media
after throwing away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Austria on Saturday,
bounced back with a 2-1 win over Poland in Chorzow. Jermain Defoe scored a
delightful goal to set them on their way after 37 minutes -- his first for
his country.
Maciej Zurawski equalised
with an unstoppable shot three minutes into the second half before England
regained the lead when Arkadiusz Glowacki put through his own goal under
pressure from Michael Owen after 58 minutes.
The England players were so incensed with the criticism they received
following the result in Vienna they refused to speak to the media after
the game.
Italy also won away to make it six points out of six, after a 1-0
victory in Moldova.
Alessandro Del Piero scored the only goal after 32 minutes -- his first
for Italy in over a year to put them top of Group Five.
There were also victories for Finland, who won 2-0 in Armenia in Group
One, Lithuania, who beat San Marino 4-0 in Group Seven and Ukraine, who
won 2-1 in Kazakhstan in Group Two, the home country's first competitive
match as members of the European confederation UEFA after switching from the
Asian zone two years ago.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-09-09 16:33