Scots deepen French blues, England shines

LONDON: French sporting pride took another hammering when Scotland won 1-0 in Paris on Wednesday to leave France's Euro 2008 qualifying hopes in the balance.

Argentina stunned host France in the opening match of the Rugby World Cup last Friday and Scotland darkened the Parisian mood further when James McFadden's spectacular second-half winner had the Tartan Army celebrating a famous Group B victory.

Scotland, who beat France 1-0 in Glasgow, is now the unlikely leader of the group from Italy who showed its mettle to beat Ukraine 2-1 in Kiev. France is sweating in third.

"It was one of the greatest and one of the most important goals of Scottish football," said manager Alex McLeish.

"It needed the passion Scottish teams always have...It was very difficult to get this result. We needed a special performance and the players have shown fantastic confidence."

Elsewhere across the continent on a busy night of qualifiers European champion Greece twice squandered the lead to draw 2-2 with Norway in Group C while a resurgent England was firmly back on course in Group E after crushing Russia 3-0 at Wembley.

Germany, who beat Romania 3-1 in a friendly, now has one foot in the finals thanks to the Czech Republic's 1-0 win aganist Ireland. Marek Jankulovski scored a superb goal that cemented second place in Group D for the Czechs.

Leader Germany is now eight points above third-placed Ireland, who has played a game more.

Late winner

The Netherlands needed a stoppage-time winner from Ruud van Nistelrooy in Albania to go joint top of Group G with Romania.

In Group A leader Poland drew 0-0 with second-placed Finland in Helsinki but Portugal failed to capitalize after Serbia's Branislav Ivanovic scored a late goal to secure a 1-1 draw in Lisbon after Simao had put the hosts ahead.

Tempers boiled over after the final whistle with Portugal coach Felipe Scolari involved in a fracas with Serbian defender Ivica Dragutinovic.

Without suspended striker Thierry Henry, World Cup finalist France struggled to break down a disciplined Scotland side.

It was hit with a sucker punch after 64 minutes when McFadden let fly from 25m and the ball swerved past the flailing arms of goalkeeper Mickael Landreau.

It brought back bitter memories of the last occasion that France played a qualifying tie at the Parc des Princes. In 1993 it lost 2-1 to Bulgaria and ended up missing out on the 1994 World Cup finals.

"The next three matches will be decisive," France coach Raymond Domenech said. "To qualify you have to fight and the players know that very well."

Scotland now has a golden chance to qualify for its first finals since the 1998 World Cup. It leads the group with 21 points from nine games, Italy has 20 and France 19.

Italy win

Midfielder Antonio Di Natale scored twice for world champions Italy with Andriy Shevchenko on target for Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine, whose hopes have taken a battering.

"With Scotland beating France tonight the group is still far from being decided. It'll go to the very end," said Italy coach Roberto Donadoni.

England's Michael Owen took his international goalscoring tally to 40, nine behind Bobby Charlton's record, with two clinical goals in the first half to help his side leapfrog Russia into second place. Rio Ferdinand added a late third.

Croatia tops the group with 23 points to England's 20 after a 6-0 rout of Andorra. Russia, who had only conceded one goal before Wednesday, have 18.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos scored twice for Greece but John Carew and John Arne Riise gained a 2-2 draw for Norway. Greece stay above Norway at the top of Group C but Turkey are closing in after a 3-0 defeat of 10-man Hungary.

Bosnia and Northern Ireland may have waved goodbye to their chances of qualifying. Bosnia lost 1-0 at home to Moldova in Group C while the Irish suffered a second successive loss in Group F after a Keith Gillespie own goal in the dying minutes condemned them to a 2-1 defeat in Iceland.

Agencies

(China Daily 09/14/2007 page24)