Norway Stuns Spain, 1-0

In the first big upset of Euro 2000, Norway jolted Spain, 1-0, Tuesday, thanks to a blunder in the 66th minute by the Spanish goalkeeper.

This marked the first time Norway has won a game at any European Championships.

The lone goal came when goalie Francisco Molina raced to reach a towering free kick by Norway goalkeeper Thomas Myhre. Molina never got there, and Steffen Iversen headed the ball into an empty net.

“I am destroyed,” Molina said. “It was just one of those things.”

Iversen said he heard the goalkeeper calling for the ball.

“I decided to take a chance,” he said. “It was a tremendous feeling to see the ball hit the net.”

In the day’s only other game, short-handed Yugoslavia rallied from a three-goal deficit to tie Slovenia, 3-3, at Charleroi, Belgium, with all three scores coming in a seven-minute span.

Savo Milosevic scored twice for Yugoslavia, which lost Lazio star Sinisa Mihaljovic to a red card for shoving an opponent midway through the second half.

Today, Italy plays Belgium.

Spain had been considered a strong contender for the Euro 2000 title, especially after sending two teams to the final of the European Champions Cup.

The Spanish players left the field without even acknowledging their fans.

“It is a big victory for a small nation like Norway to beat a team like Spain,” Norway Coach Nils Johan Semb said.

Spanish Coach Jose Antonio Camacho flailed his arms during the game, frustrated with the officiating of Egypt’s Gamal El Ghandour, the first non-European referee in a European championship.

“He is not at the same level as the other referees, for example, who direct the game like in Holland and Italy,” Camacho said.