LONDON, 9 September 2004 — Former world champions France beat the Faroe Islands as expected in their World Cup qualifier in Torshavn yesterday but again failed to impress with French skipper Patrick Vieira sent off for diving.
England needed an own-goal from center back Arkadiusz Glowacki to overcome Poland 2-1 in their Group Six tie yesterday and relieve the pressure on manager Sven Goran-Eriksson. Glowacki deflected the ball past goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek under pressure from striker Michael Owen on 58 minutes after a dangerous low cross from left back Ashley Cole.
The visitors took the lead on 37 minutes through an excellent turn and strike from forward Jermain Defoe, who started in place of Alan Smith, but Maciej Zurawski equalized for Poland three minutes after halftime after being through. Eriksson opted to play goalkeeper Paul Robinson in place of David James after his error allowed Austria to claim a 2-2 draw in Vienna on Saturday.
In Amsterdam, the Netherlands scored once in each half to defeat Czech Republic 2-0 with Pierre Van Hooijdonk striking twice in the 33rd, and 84th minutes.
In Chisinau, Italy held to a Alessandro Del Piero 32nd minute goal to beat Moldova 1-0. Serghei Dadu of Moldova was sent off in the 77th minute in his sides Group Five qualifier
In Basel, Switzerland and Ireland battled their way through to a spirited 1-1 draw to keep both sides on top of the 2006 World Cup qualifying Group Four alongside France and Israel.
But the Swiss will rue not making the most of their second half dominance as Shay Given again proved a match saver for Ireland in goal on at least three occasions. Hakan Yakin scored for Switzerland in the 17th minute to cancel out a ninth minute goal from Clinton Morrisson for Ireland.
In other early European action on a night of 21 qualifiers, Romania swamped Andorra 5-1 to maintain their perfect start in Group One with three straight wins, while Albania, who humbled European champions Greece 2-1 in Tirana on Saturday, went down 2-0 to Georgia in their Group Two match in Tbilisi.
There were also wins for Finland, who won 2-0 in Armenia in Group One, Lithuania, who beat San Marino 4-0 in Group Seven and Ukraine, who won 2-1 in Kazakhstan in Group Two, the home country’s first competitive match as members of the European confederation UEFA after switching from the Asian zone two years ago.
France picked up three points in the North Atlantic with goals from Ludovic Giuly and substitute Djibril Cisse giving them victory over a Faroese side that made the French battle all the way for their Group Four victory.
But it was a costly night for the French who lost striker Louis Saha with a knee injury after only nine minutes — and then Vieira in the second half for a second yellow card. It was the first time Vieira had been sent off for his country, but the 10th time in his senior career after nine dismissals with Arsenal since January 1998.
Romania had no such problems in Andorra, scoring twice in the opening five minutes through Florin Cernat and Daniel Pancu.
Marius Niculae added two more and Pancu another, and although Andorra scored a rare international goal with a 28th minute penalty from Marc Pujol, they finished with 10 men after Ildefons Lima was sent off in the 80th minute.
In Oslo, Belarus survived a late onslaught by Norway to secure a 1-1 away draw in Group Five qualifier. Norway went ahead in the 39th minute when defender Vidar Riseth scored from close range at a corner in a half dominated by the home side. But Belarus came out strong after the break and equalized when striker Vitaly Kutuzov headed in a corner in the 78th.
In Zenica, Bosnia, Spain were fortunate to earn a point from their opening World Cup qualifier when they scraped a barely deserved 1-1 draw away to Bosnia in a Group Seven match.
Midfielder Vicente put the visitors ahead against the run of play after 66 minutes but Bosnia striker Elvir Bolic got a deserved equalizer eight minutes later as he cashed in on a defensive error before scoring with a cool finish.
Euro 2004 winger Igors Prohorenkovs, a first half substitute, struck the winner as Latvia came from behind to beat Luxembourg 4-3 in a thrilling Group Three qualifier.
Striker Maris Verpakovskis put Latvia ahead in the fourth minute. Gordon Braun equalized six minutes later but a penalty in the 40th by defender Mihails Zemlinskis gave Latvia a 2-1 halftime lead.
Luxembourg surprised Latvia with two goals early in the second half through midfielders Alphonse Leweck in a fast counter-attack in the 55th and Manuel Cardoni with a free kick seven minutes later to go in front. However, an own goal by defender Eric Hoffmann, who was trying to clear a cross from a typical Latvian attack down the wing, put the visiting side level again in the 65th minute.
Iran revived their hopes of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finals with a 2-0 away win over defensive Jordan in an Asian Zone Group One qualifier as big guns South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and China all recorded victories yesterday.
World Cup semifinalists South Korea recovered from having a man sent off and a one-goal deficit to beat Vietnam 2-1 in their Group Seven encounter in Ho Chi Minh City.
Asian champions Japan maintained their 100 percent record in Group Three by beating India 4-0 in Calcutta while Arie Haan’s China also made it four wins out of four in Group Four with a 1-0 away victory over Malaysia.
Saudi Arabia recorded their fourth win in four matches in Group Eight, beating Turkmenistan 1-0 away. Yasser Al-Qahtani netted the winner in the 47th minute.
Iran had to wait until the 78th minute to break through when substitute Alireza Vahedi-Nikbakht pounced with a header.
Veteran striker Ali Daei made sure of victory by heading in Javad’s Kazemian’s cross with one minute to go. The victory lifted Iran to top of the group on nine points, ahead of Jordan on goal difference.
Korea’s unconvincing win helped them maintain their one-point lead atop Group Seven, ahead of Lebanon, who defeated minnows Maldives 5-2 in Male.
Striker Cha Du-ri was sent off after just 11 minutes for elbowing and five minutes after the break, Vietnam took the lead when Park Jae-hong put through his own net.
Striker Lee Dong-gook leveled for Korea after 64 minutes with a header before Lee Chun-soo secured three points in the 77th minute from a free kick.
Japan waited until just before halftime to score through Takayuki Suzuki. Shinji Ono hit their second in the 59th minute, Takashi Fukunishi made it three on 71 minutes and Tsuneyasu Miyamoto rounded things off with five minutes left.
Li Jinyu’s 69th minute strike was enough to give China victory over Malaysia in Penang and keep them on top of Group Four.
In Taipei, Olympic semifinalists Iraq continued their excellent form with a 4-1 thrashing of Chinese-Taipei in a Group Two encounter. They remain two points behind group leaders Uzbekistan, who beat Palestine 3-0 in Qatar.
Yemen caused the biggest surprise with their 3-1 home win over previous Group Five leaders United Arab Emirates.
North Korea replaced the Emirates at the top of the group after their 4-1 win over Thailand in Pyongyang.
