 |
|
|
UEFA groups 5-8 Italy and Croatia settle, England and Spain stumble.
The back half of the UEFA groups produced a few surprise results over the international weekend as World Cup regulars England and Spain both managed opening match draws over teams they were fancied to beat and beat well. Italy didn't escape a nervous start either while Lithuania is a major surprise packet after two matches, leading group seven!
We start in group five though where Italy opened up their campaign against Norway in Palermo. The Norweigens struck first and early when John Carew caught the Italians by surprise in the first minute. Italian keeper Buffon stunned. Danielle De Rossi responded to the Norweigen opener by netting in the fourth minute. Despite the quick reply, Italy were lackluster and only managed the win after Luca Toni scored in the 80th minute. 2-1 the final result in favour of Italy who was happy to escape with the three points. Elsewhere in Europe Slovenia hosted Moldova in their opening group five clash. And they rolled the Moldovans securing a convincing 3-0 victory. Milenko Acimovic scored all three goals (5; 27 and 48 mins) before taking the foot off the pedal slightly and cruising to victory.
The second day of qualifiers saw all six teams on the park. Italy once again struggled as they could only manage a 1-0 win over lowly Moldova in Chisinau. Alessandro Del Piero steered the ball into the net on 32 mins but made sure their countrymen were kept on the edge of their seat as they maintained the scoreline for the remainder of the match. In Glasgow Scotland kicked off their campaign against Slovenia. Expectations were high but results werre low as they left as they started, at 0-0. Belarus opened their account against Norway with a 1-1 draw after Vitaly Kutuzov equilised on 78 minutes after Vidar Riseth put Norway ahead on 39. Norway will be looking at their defence for their upcoming qualifiers against Scotland and Slovenia after allowing the lead to slip twice in their past two matches.
So after two rounds we see Italy sitting on top of the ladder with six points. Slovenia hold second with four points. Belarus, Scotland and Norway sit behind them with a point a piece, the first two sides with a game in hand over Norway. Providing the vital support at the base of the table are Moldova who impressed in their 0-1 loss to group leaders Italy.
Group six saw the first feature match on the FIFA website when Austria hosted England. In one of the most publicised keeper blunders, England's last line of defence, David James, will not forget the goal that leveled the scores 2-2. It started when Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard gave the English a 2 goal start on 24 and 65 minutes respectively. But Austria struck and struck hard when Roland Kollmann (71st min) pulled one back. Then a long range shot from Andres Ivanschitz on 72 minutes seemed relatively easy for keeper James but he made the vital mistake of not closing his legs and the ball went straight through. 2-2 the final score and misery for England. Their next opponent meanwhile, Poland, had a convincing 3-0 win over Northern Ireland. Maciej Zurawski scored early (4 min), while Piotr Wlodarczyk (36 min) and Jacek Krzynowek (56 min) sealed the victory to give them some momentum going into the England match four days later. Azerbaijan hosted another Great Britain side, Wales, and came away with a much needed point. Gary Speed put Wales ahead just after the break but Rashad Sadigov soon leveled. Wales couldn't pull ahead again and they shared the spoils.
Four days later saw three more matches with England escaping from Poland with three points. Jermain DeFoe scored for England on 36 minutes. Just after the break Poland leveled only to give the points away when Arkadiusz Glowacki scored an own goal to give England the lead again. Austria too secured a win however it was a little more convincing against Azerbaijan. Martin Stranzl and Kollmann (23 and 44 mins) gave them a 2-0 win. In a battle of Britain, Wales hosted Northern Ireland. The match was extremely ill-tempered as Robbie Savage (Wales) and Michael Hughes (Northern Ireland) were both sent off in the 9th minute while Northern Ireland's David Healy received two yellow cards within a minute to also be sent on his way, the second for exuberant celebrations from scoring a goal. Speaking of which it was Northern Ireland that took a two goal lead prior to Healy's send-off. Jeff Whitley (10 min) and Healy (21 min) gave Wales an eye-opening start. John Hartson pulled one back however on 32 mins and the momentum continued when Rob Earnshaw netted for Wales on 74 min to secure a point.
After the first two rounds the table sees Austria and England both with four points, however Austria ahead on goal difference. Poland sit tight behind them with three points. Wales have two points from two draws whiel Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan both have a single point to stay in touch.
Group seven sees a surprise leader after the opening matches in Lithuania. They've managed it through a strong showing against Belgium when they drew 1-1, Edgaras Jankauskas preventing a Belgium victory after Wesley Sonck gave the hosts the lead. Serbia and Montenegro took advantage of a weak San Marino side by putting three past them in their opening match. They struggled though after getting a terrific start, leading 2-0 in 15 minutes. The third came in the 83rd minute when Nenad Jestrovic scored his second of the match.
Four days later saw Lithuania and San Marino, the only two sides to back up, face off. In what San Marino would have considered their best points chance, Lithuania were out to spoil the party. And they did with a 4-0 thumping. Jankauskas provided the opening two goals to set up the easy victory. Bosnia-Herzgovina hosted Spain in both sides opening group matches. Spain took a while but grabbed the lead on 65 minutes through Vicente. However 14 minutes later Elvir Bolic equilised for Bosnia to steal the points.
So after what is virtually one and a half rounds Lithuania sits atop of the table with four points from two matches. Serbia and Montenegro are second with three points. Belgium, Bosnia-Herzgovina and Spain all sit equal third with one point and exactly the same goals for and against. San Marino have made a poor start with 0 points and conceding 7 of the 11 goals scored in the group.
Finally we look at group eight where Croatia have taken the bull by the horns. Their dominance started in Zagreb against Hungary when Dado Prso scored a double (31 and 54 mins) before an own goal gave Croatia a 3-0 win. Bulgaria managed three against Iceland as well but conceded one when Eidur Gudjohnsen put a penalty past Bulgarian keeper Dimitar Ivankov. However the result was never in doubt after Dimitar Berbatov struck twice on either side of the break followed by Hristo Yanev with a 62nd minute goal. However the big result was Sweden's 7-0 belting of Malta. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored four while Freddie Ljungberg scored a brace and Henrik Larsson a single to demolish the Maltese.
Four days later the two big winners from the first matches took each other on, with Croatia coming out ontop of Sweden by one goal to nil. Darijo Srna scored in the 64th minute to take the three points. Hungary hosted Iceland in a thriller. Iceland took the lead through Gudjohnsen before Hungary scored twice to regain the lead. Indridi Sigurdsson leveled for Iceland on 78 minutes before Imre Szabics gave Hungary back the lead a minute later. 3-2 was the fginal result for Hungary in a thriller.
After almost two coplete rounds Croatia leads with six points ahead of Sweden, Bulgaria and Hungary on three points but seperated by significant goal differences. Iceland is just ahead of Malta on goal difference however both remain on zero points.
21 September, 2004 |
