SOCCER : Surprising Start for Qualifying

Some of Europe’s most illustrious soccer nations stumbled out of the gate Wednesday as qualifying play began in earnest for the 1996 European Championship in England.

Italy, which lost to Brazil in the 1994 World Cup final, was lucky to escape with a 1-1 tie against Slovenia in Maribor. Denmark, the defending European champion, was equally fortunate to earn a 1-1 tie with Macedonia in Skopje, where Flemming Povlsen’s goal three minutes from the end spared the Danes’ blushes.

In Bratislava, meanwhile, Slovakia held France, the 1998 World Cup host, to a scoreless tie, while Sweden, which finished third in World Cup ‘94, managed only a 1-0 victory over Iceland in Reykjavik, thanks to Klas Ingesson’s goal.

For the next 15 months, more than 270 qualifying games will be played involving 47 European nations and Israel. The countries were divided into eight groups in January.

England, as the host nation for the 10th European Championship, qualifies automatically. There are 15 other places to be won in the 16-team tournament to be played June 8-30, 1996, in eight English cities.

The breakup of the former Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia has turned Europe into a continent of 50 nations, and all but two of them--Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovena--are in the tournament, making it the second-most important soccer event after the World Cup.

The winner of each of the eight groups qualifies, as do the six second-place teams with the best record. The other two second-place teams play off for the last berth in the Euro ’96 championship.

Notes

Wednesday’s surprise results, combined with Israel’s earlier 2-1 upset of Poland and Croatia’s defeat of Estonia by the same score, underline the tight nature of the competition. No team is guaranteed of advancing to the final 16.

The Dutch got off to a promising start Wednesday, however, when they beat Luxembourg, 4-0, on two goals by Ronald de Boer and one apiece by Bryan Roy and Wim Jonk. Similarly, Portugal began its campaign on a winning note by scoring a 2-1 victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast.

Ireland looked convincing in a 3-0 victory over Latvia in Riga, courtesy of two goals by John Aldridge and another by John Sheridan, but Spain struggled to defeat Cyprus, 2-1, in Limassol, and Belgium made hard work of a 2-0 victory over Armenia in Brussels.

In Cardiff, Wales managed to beat Albania, 2-0. Norway had to wait 88 minutes before it scored in a 1-0 victory over Belarus.

Elsewhere, Hungary and Turkey tied in Budapest, 2-2; Greece overwhelmed the Faroe Islands in Toftir, 5-1; Scotland defeated Finland in Helsinki, 2-0; Lithuania upset Ukraine by the same score in Kiev; Romania shut out Azerbaijan in Bucharest, 3-0; Austria routed Liechtenstein in Eschen, 4-0, and Moldova beat Georgia in Tblisi, 1-0.

The qualifying schedule calls for 11 more “super Wednesdays” over the next 15 months when most European national teams will be in action on the same day.

If Wednesday’s results are any indication, there are more surprises to come.