The Hindu : Sport / Football : Euro qualifiers: pressure is on France

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Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007
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Euro qualifiers: pressure is on France

LONDON: England and defending champion Greece are among several teams that can join Germany in clinching a spot at the European football championship when qualifying matches continue on Wednesday.

Germany became the first country to qualify for next year’s finals with a scoreless draw at Ireland on Saturday. Austria and Switzerland automatically qualify as co-hosts.

England, Greece, Czech Republic and Sweden can all advance with a win, while Croatia and Poland can qualify without even playing.

But the pressure is still on France and Italy after Scotland won in Group ‘B’ qualifying on Saturday.

Scotland, the group leader, only needs four points from its remaining two matches to qualify and will play Georgia away on Wednesday. Scotland’s final qualifier is at home against World champion Italy.

Italy has 23 points, but is playing a friendly against South Africa on Wednesday. France has 22 points and will host Lithuania.

Scotland’s surprise qualification campaign — including two wins over France — has unsettled Italy.

Cole ruled out

England will be without injured defender Ashley Cole, while captain John Terry could also miss the match with a troubled knee.

In the group’s other match, Macedonia hosts Andorra, but neither team can qualify.

Sweden and Spain are in a good position in Group ‘F.’ Denmark hosts Latvia and Iceland will play at Liechtenstein in other Group ‘F’ games.

The Czech Republic can also advance from Group ‘D’ with a win at Germany on Wednesday.

Ireland hosts Cyprus and San Marino is at Wales in the other group games. Germany leads with 23 points, followed by the Czechs with 20 and Ireland with 15.

Greece will reach the final tournament with a win at Turkey on Wednesday. The Greeks lead Group ‘C’ with 22 points after a 3-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday.

Turkey beat neighbour Greece 4-1 in Athens in March.

Turkey is second with 18 points after being held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Moldova. Norway has 17 points and is at Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Romania is still celebrating its 1-0 win over the Netherlands in Group ‘G’ on Saturday. Its record of seven wins and two draws means it shares the best record in qualifying with Germany and Croatia.

The Dutch still have a good chance of qualifying — Romania has 23 points, the Netherlands has 20 and Bulgaria 18.

Romania is at Luxembourg, the Netherlands hosts Slovenia and Bulgaria plays Albania on Wednesday.

The Netherlands will be without suspended striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, but Wesley Sneijder is back from his suspension. Romania will advance if it wins and Bulgaria loses.

Portugal, which lost the Euro 2004 final at home, has a harder task. Its 2-0 win in Azerbaijan moved it to second place in Group ‘A’ with 20 points, where it is four points behind leader Poland. — AP

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