 | « Back to article | Print this article |
On a day when the final stages of the Asian and CONCACAF competitions began, there were also qualifiers played in Europe and Africa with match winners including Japan, the United States, Morocco and South Korea among others, all keeping their eyes fixed on next year's finals in Germany.
European champions Greece also revived their qualifying hopes and moved into second place behind Ukraine on eight points after beating Denmark 2-1 in Athens -- their second successive win following the victory over Kazakhstan in November.
Elsewhere in Europe, Spain crushed San Marino 5-0 in Almeria to move into second place in Group Seven behind Serbia & Montenegro, while in a Group One match Andorra again frustrated Macedonia who ended the night in Skopje with their own fans cheering the Andorrans off the pitch.
The match ended in a 0-0 draw, which means little in terms of World Cup qualification for either team but is of huge significance to Andorra who scored their first competitive victory when they beat Macedonia 1-0 in October.
DOUBLE ANDRIY
Ukraine, who lost in playoffs for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and Euro 2000, continued to set the pace in Group Two.
Their victory over Albania came courtesy of goals from Andriy Rusol and Andriy Husin, although European Footballer of the Year Andriy Shevchenko, who overcame injury to play, did not find the net for once.
Greece, who failed to win any of their opening three qualifiers, were too good in the end for the Danes who lost for the first time in five qualifying matches.
Angelos Basinas scored what proved to be the winner with a 32nd minute penalty after skipper Theodoros Zagorakis, playing despite a fever, gave the hosts the lead after 25 minutes with his first international goal in his 101st appearance.
Dennis Rommedahl scored for the Danes just before the end of the first half and there were no more goals after the break.
Spain, whose youngsters beat San Marino 14-0 in an under-21 international on Tuesday, could not match that tally but were still far too strong for San Marino's seniors with goals from Joaquin in the 15th minute, Fernando Torres (33rd), Raul (43rd), Guti (65th) and Asier del Horno (79th).
ZAIRI STARS
Morocco, seeking their fifth World Cup appearance, went to the top of African Group Five with a 5-1 win over Kenya thanks to an outstanding performance from Sochaux's Jawad Zairi who scored a hat-trick
Morocco now lead their section by a point from Guinea who they meet in their next qualifier in Casablanca on March 26.
Earlier on Wednesday the final stages of the Asian qualifying group began with Japan scoring a late goal to beat North Korea 2-1 in Saitama in a highly-charged Group Two match.
Bahrain and Iran drew 0-0 in the other game in the same group leaving Japan as the early leaders.
South Korea, who have qualified for every finals since 1986, beat Kuwait 2-0 in their opening match in Group One while Uzbekistan drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia in their opener.
Japan's substitute Masashi Oguro snatched an injury-time winner for his team, stabbing home from close range after a poor punch from North Korea goalkeeper Sim Sung-chol.
TIGHT SECURITY
Japan took the lead in the fourth minute when Mitsuo Ogasawara curled in a free kick from 25 metres following North Korea captain Ri Myong-sam's trip on Brazilian-born Alex.
North Korea equalised after 61 minutes when substitute Nam Song-chol smashed home a left-foot shot from an acute angle that beat goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi at his near post.
The match was played amid tight security because of fears that bitter political divisions between the two countries could spill over.
Japan had mobilised nearly 3,500 police and security officials but the crowd of 59,000 respectfully applauded the North Korean national anthem before the match.
The United States also got away to a winning start in the opening match of the 10-game final stage of the CONCACAF zone, beating Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 in Port of Spain.
Two-goal Jaime Lozano was on target in the eighth and ninth minutes as Mexico edged Costa Rica 2-1 in their CONCACAF zone tie in San Jose while Panama and Guatemala shared a goalless draw in Panama City.
