Spain Held to a Tie; Germany Rallies
Spain took another hit and Germany avoided a near disaster in Wednesday qualification matches for Euro 2004.
Although the Spanish team didn’t lose, its 0-0 tie against Northern Ireland at Belfast left it in second place in Group 6, and put Greece atop the standings with 12 points after its 1-0 victory over Ukraine at Athens on Angelos Charisteas’ goal in the 87th minute.
Last Saturday, Greece stunned Spain, 1-0.
In Group 5 play, visiting Germany needed an 89th-minute goal by Miroslav Klose to break a scoreless tie with Faeroe Islands in what turned out to be a 2-0 victory at Torshvan. Fredi Bobic scored the other German goal a minute later.
Turkey and England kept pace with one another in Group 7 matches, both earning come-from-behind victories.
Hakan Sukur had the game-winner for Turkey in the 60th minute of a 3-2 victory over Macedonia at Istanbul, guaranteeing the Turks at least a second-place finish and maintaining their two-point lead. Turkey has played one more game than England.
At Middlesbrough, Liverpool striker Michael Owen, 23, scored two second-half goals for host England in his 50th appearance for the national team, a 2-1 victory over Slovakia.
In other games involving top teams, Denmark took sole possession of its group lead after a 2-0 victory at Luxembourg. Norway, which had been tied with Denmark, fell two points back after a 1-1 tie against Romania at Oslo.
The Czech Republic joined the Netherlands for its group lead after a 5-0 victory over visiting Moldova at Olomouc.
Italy, which got goals from Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero, defeated Finland, 2-0, and pulled within two points of surprising group leader Wales.
Switzerland remained unbeaten (3-0-3) after a 3-2 victory over Albania at Geneva, and Ireland moved into second place in the group after a 2-0 victory over Georgia at Dublin.
Under-17 Draw
The United States, led by 14-year-old sensation Freddy Adu and Galaxy first-round draft pick Guillermo “Memo” Gonzalez, has been drawn into a group with South Korea, Spain and Sierre Leone for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in August in Finland.
The U.S. will play all three of its matches in Lahti for the 16-team tournament, which will be held Aug. 13-30.
“Any team you draw in your group during a world championship is going to give you a challenge,” said U.S. Coach John Ellinger.
Barcelona Deal
Jordi Majo, considered a longshot to become club president of Barcelona, has announced a deal for a top Dutch league striker.
Majo said the deal for Mateja Kezman of PSV Eindhoven is not contingent on his becoming president, unlike Joan Laporta, another candidate who has promised to bring in David Beckham of Manchester United should he be elected.
Kezman, of Serbia and Montenegro, scored a league-high 35 goals last season.
Blatter Still Opposed
FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter strengthened his stance against a proposal to expand the 2006 World Cup from 32 to 36 teams.
“I’ll fight to make sure that it stays at 32 teams and that the South Americans, without any infighting, understand this,” Blatter told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper.
CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, is attempting to devise an acceptable plan to present to FIFA’s executive committee at a meeting June 28 in Paris.
Copa Libertadores
America de Cali followed the lead of its Colombian counterpart by losing its first-leg Copa Libertadores semifinal match, 2-0, to Boca Juniors in front of 55,000 at “La Bombonera” stadium in Buenos Aires.
Rolando Schiavi scored on a header in the 41st minute, and Carlos Tevez scored on a free kick in the 88th minute.
Last week, Independiente Medellin, the other Colombian team in the semifinals, lost its first-leg road game to Santos of Brazil, 1-0.
America’s Jairo Castillo and Ruben Bustos will sit out the next match, as will Boca’s Hugo Ibarra, after receiving red cards.
Mexican League Final
Monterrey scored goals early in each half and dominated throughout in a 3-1 victory over Morelia in the first-leg match of the Mexican league championship final at Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey.
In the first minute, Monterrey’s Walter Daniel Erviti took advantage of a communications breakdown by Morelia defenders, pouncing on a loose ball and powering in a left-footed shot for a quick 1-0 lead.
Two minutes into the second half, Guillermo Franco headed down a corner kick for the second goal. Nine minutes later, Hector Castro converted a penalty kick after Luis Ernesto Perez was taken down in the box by Dario Franco.
Just before the final whistle, Adolfo Bautista scored what could be an important goal for Morelia, which will play host to the second leg Saturday.
Quick Passes
The Colorado Rapids played visiting D.C. United to a 0-0 tie in front of 7,614 in a Major League Soccer game at Denver, despite spending the last 17 minutes of regulation and overtime short-handed after Nat Borchers was red-carded for fouling Hristo Stoichkov.... Birgit Prinz scored two goals to lead the Carolina Courage to a 3-0 victory over the Washington Freedom in front of 6,124 in a Women’s United Soccer Assn. game at Cary, N.C.... Philadelphia goalkeeper Melissa Moore made two saves and New York’s Saskia Webber made five as the Charge and Power played to a 0-0 tie in front of 2,369 at Uniondale, N.Y., in a WUSA game.... Homare Sawa scored two goals to lead Japan to a 7-0 victory over Guam in the Asian Women’s Championship at Bangkok, Thailand.... Strikers Gil and Luis Fabiano scored in their national-team debuts to lead Brazil to a 3-0 victory in a friendly match against host Nigeria at Abuja.... Javier Saviola scored in the 43rd minute to give Argentina a 1-0 win over South Korea in a friendly match in front of 64,000 at Seoul.... Otilino Tenorio scored two goals to give Ecuador a 2-2 tie with Peru in a friendly match at East Rutherford, N.J. Andres Mendoza and Roberto Silva scored for Peru.... Japan and Uruguay played to a 0-0 tie in the final game of the Kirin Cup at Saitama, Japan.
*
Times wire services contributed to this report.
