Soccer: Armenia grabs upset victory; Poles sent packing

The Advertiser (Australia)
June 8, 2007 Friday
State Edition

EURO QUALIFIERS Armenia grabs upset victory;
Poles sent packing

MIKE COLLETT, LONDON

EUROPEAN champion Greece along with other group leaders France,
Germany and Romania all moved closer to a place in next year’s
European Championship finals with end-of-season qualifying wins
yesterday.

With a year and a day to go before the Euro 2008 finals begin in
Austria and Switzerland, Greece beat Moldova 2-1 in Iraklion, France
saw off Georgia 1-0 in Auxerre, Germany overcame Slovakia 2-1 in
Hamburg and Romania defeated Slovenia 2-0 in Timisoara.

But there was no joy for Poland, which stayed five points clear at
the top of Group A despite a shock 1-0 loss to lowly Armenia, whose
Scottish boss Ian Porterfield described the victory as one of the
biggest in the country’s history.

Group E leader Croatia also failed to pick up maximum points when
held to a 0-0 draw at home by Russia – allowing Israel, which won 2-0
in Andorra, to pull level with it at the top of the group on 17
points.

There was a change at the top of Group F with Northern Ireland (who
did not play) slipping to third as Sweden beat Iceland 5-0 to become
leaders. Spain, which won 2-0 in Liechtenstein, moved into second.

Sweden has 16 points, one more than Spain, but its points tally could
change after UEFA decides this week how to allocate the points from
Denmark’s abandoned 3-3 draw with Sweden last weekend.

World champion Italy maintained its push for the finals with an
impressive 2-0 win in Lithuania. with Fabio Quagliarella scoring two
fine goals in his first run-on start for his country.

But it was Armenia’s 1-0 win over Poland that delivered the biggest
shock of the night with Hamlet Mkhitaryan scoring the only goal of
the Group A match in Yerevan with a 70th-minute free kick.

Poland, which with Ukraine will co-host Euro 2012, has never reached
the European finals. Finland also moved on to 14 points after beating
Belgium 2-0 in Helsinki.

The round was almost overshadowed by a medical emergency when
Bosnia’s coach Fuad Muzurovic was rushed to hospital a few hours
before kick-off with a heart complaint. Bosnia went on to beat Malta
1-0.

Muzurovic’s condition was later said to be stable and he should be
released in the next few days.

France stayed top of Group B with a 1-0 win over Georgia with Samir
Nasri scoring his first international goal. France remains two points
clear of world champion Italy and its next game features a rematch of
the 2006 World Cup final.

Scotland moved on to 15 points in the same group with a 2-0 win in
the Faroe Islands.

Greece secured all three points in its Group C 1-0 win over Moldova.

It moved five points clear of Turkey, who did not play, Bosnia and
Norway, who beat Hungary 4-0.

In Group D Germany opened up a five point lead over the non-playing
Czech Republic after the only match in the group – a laboured 2-1 win
over Slovakia.

The next round of qualifiers takes place at the end of August.