Plucky Liechtenstein tame Slovakia
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-19 06:05

VADUZ: Tiny Liechtenstein caused a sensation by holding Slovakia to a 0-0 draw in their World Cup qualifier on Wednesday and preventing their opponents from catching Portugal at the top of European Group Three.

Slovakia remain in second place in the group with 18 points from nine matches, two points behind Portugal who have a game in hand. Russia, held 1-1 by Latvia, are third on 15 points.

Liechtenstein had an excellent defensive performance in Vaduz's Rheinpark Stadium despite the absence of several key players through suspension (Daniel Hasler, Mario Frick and Franz Burgmeier) and injury (Fabio D'Elia and Christof Ritter).

Slovakia's Martin Jakubko and Peter Hlinka missed a string of chances in the opening half hour but goalkeeper Peter Jehle kept them out.

Liechtenstein's Roger Beck had the ball in the Slovakian net on the stroke of halftime, bringing a loud cheer from the 1,500 crowd, but it was ruled offside.

In a thrilling finish, with Slovakia opening up in search of victory and the home side counter attacking, both sides missed chances.

"I'm very proud of my players," Liechtenstein coach Martin Andermatt said. "We earned some respect.

"We fought hard for this point and made the best of our personal situation. (It was) a small sensation, which makes us especially happy."

Liechtenstein are one from bottom of the group, above Luxembourg, with five points from nine matches.

Disappointed Slovakia coach Dusan Galis said: "The performance of goalkeeper Peter Jehle was impressive.

"I'm disappointed by the way we played tonight. The players knew that Latvia and Russia had drawn 1-1 so this result should have been a motivation, but it had the reverse effect."

In Riga, Russia's hopes of making the World Cup finals suffered another setback when they were held to a 1-1 draw against Latvia on Wednesday.

The Latvians grabbed a shock lead after just six minutes when Maris Verpakovskis, who impressed at Euro 2004, chased a long ball and crossed for skipper Vitalijs Astafjevs to score with a volley.

(China Daily 08/19/2005 page15)

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