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UEFA groups 1-4: Romania fly ahead, Greece and France struggle, Portugal in touch.
In a week of all important qualifiers for Europe, we find ourselves looking at an interesting set of results and standings among the first four groups. None more so than in what must be classed as the toughest group in Europe, group three. However groups one, two and four aren't without stand out differences either.
Starting in group one the big match-up over the two days of matches was clearly when the big guns faced off in Amsterdam. The Netherlands taking on the Czech Republic.
It was Pierre Van Hooijdonk who put the dager through the heart of the Czechs as he netted twice (34th and 84th minute), giving the Dutch the perfect start to their campaign after failing to qualify in Korea/Japan. The same night saw Romania put five past Andorra as they went to the head of the pack with three wins from three matches. Florin Cernat (1st and 17th min) spearheaded the Romanian attack. Finland also went along their merry way as they recorded a simple 2-0 win over Armenia. Mikael Forssell (24 min) and Alexi Eremenko Jr. (67 min) the scorers.
Four days earlier Romania picked up a 2-1 victory over Macedonia FYR while Finland recovered from their opening round loss to defeat Andorra 3-0. Eremenko Jr. scored a brace to set up the victory (42 and 64 min).
The results mean that Romania sit ontop with nine points from three games. Finland are second with six points from three matches. Macedonia slightly lead the Dutch for third on goal difference as they both have one victory a piece. The bottom three sides (Czech Republic, Armenia and Andorra) all have yet to register a point.
Group two is a much closer affair as five of the seven sides have completed their first two matches. the remaining two have only competed once thus far. And with a group boasting competition in Turkey, Denmark and Euro 2004 champions Greece, the leader would be quite unexpected.
Turkey were held by a plucky Georgia after they took an early second half lead. However Malkhaz Asatiani scored with five to go to level for Georgia and steal a point. Denmark found the going tough as well as the Ukraine did the same to them. Martin Jorgensen gave the Danes a 9th minute lead however the Ukraines pulled it back on 56 minutes when Andrii Husin netted on 56 minutes. 1-1 the final score. The biggest upset of the night though belonged to Albania as they knocked over Euro champs Greece 2-1. Edvin Murati (2 min) and Ardian Aliaj (11 min) gave them a two goal head start and managed to hold Greece to only one goal as they snapped out of the trance they began with. Albania left with the three points.
Four days later Albania couldn't repeat the feat as they went down 2-1 to Georgia. Kazakhstan made it's European debut against the Ukraine and a minor fairytale start was taken away from them as Ruslan Rotan broke a 1-1 deadlock in the last minute to give Ukraine the three points. Kazakhstan will be optermistic about their future however. The first clash of the big guns in group two occured when Greece and Turkey went head to head. Unfortunatly for both sides a 0-0 result was on the cards and neither could improve greatly on their first match performances.
The results mean Georgia lead the group ahead of the Ukraine on goal difference after both ended up on four points. Albania's surprise win means they sit in third with three points. Then we have the big guns with Turkey's two draws meaning they have two points. Denmark and Greece sit fifth and sixth respectively with a point each, the Danes ahead on goal difference. Kazakhstan props the group up however they have a game in hand against the majority of the group.
The final seven team group is going more to plan than the prior two. Slovakia and Portugal lead the way while Estonia is surprisingly keeping pace. Latvia, unlikely debutants at Euro 2004 are a win behind the leaders.
Portugal kicked off their campaign in Latvia and started a trend for their upcoming matches. Their first goal didn't come until the 57th minute through sensation Cristiano Ronaldo, quickly followed up by a 58th minute strike from Pauleta. They would score no more but the quick goals in succession would repeat itself against Estonia four days later. The Estonians meanwhile had a stroll in the park against Luxembourg scoring twice each side of half time. Russia kicked off their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Slovakia after throwing away a 1-0 lead. Robert Vittek stole the point in the 87th minute after Russia lead for the previous 73 minutes.
In the second set of matches Portugal's trend of scoring late groups of goals continued as they put four past Estonia in the final 15 minutes of the match. Helder Postiga scored twice (83 and 91 mins) in the passage which followed a streaker entering the pitch. Slovakia gave Liechtenstein a touch up, netting seven times, Vittek scoring a hat-trick after stealing a point earlier in the week. The match that provided teh most excitement however was one billed to be almost a non-event. Latvia walked away with three points in a seven goal thriller. Luxembourg equilised twice before taking the lead in the 62nd minute to lead 3-2. However an own goal and a superb strike within the space of five minutes gave Latvia a 4-3 victory.
The results mean Slovakia head the group on seven points from three games. Portugal are hot on their heels with two wins from two matches. Estonia are also on six points however sit third on goal difference. Latvia have three points from two matches ahead of Russia who have a solitary point from one match. Luxembourg and Liechtenstein both have yet to record a point.
Group four sees possibly the tightest start to a group as four nations head the group with four points a piece.
With big guns France expected to run away with the group, as they did in the last Euro qualifying campaign, a rocky 0-0 draw with Israel shocked the nation. Switzerland and Ireland however took advantage and both recorded wins. Switzerland's was a 6-0 thumping of the Faroe Islands thanks to hat-tricks from Johan Vonlanthen (10, 14 and 57 mins) and Alexandre Rey (29, 44 and 55 mins). Ireland managed a 3-0 win over Cyprus who really put up little resistance in a match dominated by the Irish.
Four days later saw an unexpected top of the table clash with Switzerland hosting Ireland. And the scoreboard ticked over early with Clinton Morrison (8 min) and Hakan Yakin (17 min) keeping the scores level within the first 20 minutes. Despite constant attacks however that was all the scorers would do for the night as they ended up at 1-1. France shook off the poor start to record a 2-0 victory against the Faroe islands. Ludovic Giuly (32 min) and Djibril Cisse (73 min) took some preassure off the French side. Patrick Vieira put a little more on however as he found himself taking an early shower thanks to a second yellow card. Israel continued to show some potential scoring a 2-1 win over unfancied Cyprus.
Group four, as mentioned, is quite congested at the top with Switzerland, Ireland, France and Israel all sitting on four points. Only goal difference can seperate them. The unlucky "whipping boys" for the group, Cyprus and Faroe Islands, sit 5th and 6th respectively after being the only receipients of defeats thus far.
12 September, 2004 |
