France, Turkey, England score important wins
Mike Collett
European champions France maintained their perfect start to their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign when they crushed Slovenia 5-0 at the Stade de France on Saturday.
Of the other probable contenders for the European title in Portugal in 2004, England overcame a shaky start to win 2-1 in Slovakia, Turkey did the same to win 2-1 in Macedonia and Italy, runners-up to France in Euro 2000 two years ago, were held to a 1-1 draw by Yugoslavia in Naples.
Spain, always so good in qualifying and usually equally disappointing in the main event, beat Northern Ireland 3-0 in Albacete.
Germany, who drew 1-1 with Bosnia in a friendly on Friday, get back to competitive action against Faroe Islands at home on Wednesday when another full round of qualifiers take place.
Despite downpours of rain across much of the continent which made many pitches wet and muddy, there were no big upsets on Saturday but Latvia did well to win 1-0 in Poland and move to the top of Group Four.
Scotland also scored a highly important away win, beating Iceland 2-0 in Reykjavik to end a run of six matches without a win and give their German coach Berti Vogts his first victory in charge of the team.
Scotland also moved to the top of their Group Five but have played two matches to Germany's one.
A group-by-group round-up of Saturday's action:
Group One
France top the group after scoring their second successive win, a 5-0 victory over Slovenia in Paris with Steve Marlet scoring twice and Patrick Vieira, Sylvain Wiltord and Sidney Govou delighting a near-78,000 crowd. Slovenia's gloom was completed when Sasa Gajser was sent off in the last minute.
Israel moved into second place with a well deserved 2-0 away win over Malta with goals from Pini Balali (66) and Haim Revivo. Joe Brincat made his 100th appearance for Malta.
Group Two
Denmark moved to the top of the group on goal difference from Norway after their 2-0 home win over Luxembourg but they did not have things all their own way against one of the whipping boys of European soccer.
Denmark went ahead only after a questionable penalty award which Jon Dahl Tomasson converted in the 51st minute, while Ebbe Sand made sure with a 71st-minute header.
Norway chalked up an important win in Romania thanks to an 84th-minute header from Steffen Iversen who has yet to score any goals for his Tottenham Hotspur club side this season.
Group Three
Austria maintained their 100 per cent start with a 2-0 win in Belarus with goals from Markus Schopp (57) and Muhammet Akagunduz (89). Belarus had Alexander Lukhvich sent off late in the game.
The Czech Republic began their campaign with a 2-0 win in Moldova where the home side finished with 10 men after Adrian Sosnovschi was sent off in the 69th minute.
Group Four
Latvia emerged as surprise early leaders following their 1-0 win over Poland in Warsaw thanks to Juris Laizans's 30th-minute winner.
That upset, combined with Sweden's 1-1 home draw with Hungary in Stockholm means that Latvia lead Poland by a point, followed by Sweden and Hungary.
Hungary led after five minutes in Stockholm through Krisztian Kenesei and it took the Swedes until the 76th minute to pull level when Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised, was concussed in the process and carried off.
Group Five
Scotland beat Iceland 2-0 in Reykjavik with goals from Christian Dailly (7) and Gary Naysmith (62) highlighting their best performance for some considerable time.
The win took Scotland top on four points, one ahead of Germany, although they have played two matches and the Germans just once. Lithuania moved off the bottom with their expected 2-0 win over Faroe Islands.
Group Six
Spain proved too good for Northern Ireland winning 3-0 with two goals from Ruben Baraja and one from Guti. Following their 2-0 win over Greece a month ago, Spain now have six points from two matches and lead the group from Ukraine.
They remained unbeaten in second place thanks to goals from Andriy Vorobei (51) and Andriy Voronin (90) which gave them a 2-0 win over Greece in Kiev.
Group Seven
Turkey trailed Macedonia after only two minutes when Vlatko Grozdanoski scored for the home side but the World Cup semi-finalists ground out a victory largely against the run of play with goals from Okan Buruk (29) and Nihat Kahveci (54).
There was a similar pattern to the Slovakia v England match in Bratislava where Slovakia took the lead through Szilard Nemeth but England came back to win with a David Beckham free kick and a late header from Michael Owen.
Turkey top the group with six points from two matches while England have three from one.
Group Eight
Unimpressive Belgium got their first points of their campaign with a 1-0 win over the part-timers of Andorra who defended resolutely through most of the match but could not stop Wesley Sonck scoring midway through the second half.
Bulgaria made it two wins out of two following their 2-0 victory in Belgium last month with another 2-0 win over Croatia in Sofia. They top the group with six points, three clear of the Belgians.
Group Nine
Italy were held to a 1-1 draw in Naples by Yugoslavia who took the lead after 27 minutes when Predrag Mijatovic scored. Alessandro del Piero equalised for Italy who now face a tricky tie in Cardiff against Wales on Wednesday.
Finland, shocked 2-0 at home by Wales last month, bounced back for a 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in Helsinki with Mika Nurmela (13), Hannu Tihinen (59) and Sami Hyypia (71) scoring.
Group 10
Albania underlined their recent all-round improvement by opening their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in Tirana with Edvin Murati scoring their all-important equaliser 11 minutes from time.
Switzerland had gone ahead through Murat Yakin after 37 minutes but Albania are no pushovers these days and the Swiss could not make their advantage tell.
The other match between Georgia and Russia was abandoned at halftime after a floodlight failure in Tbilisi with the score goalless.
That left Switzerland at the top, a point clear of the Russians who will replay their match in Georgia on a date to be fixed.
