March 31, 2003	Monday	Muharram 27, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LONDON, March 30: European champions France showed the rest how to do it when they crushed Malta 6-0, while many of Europe’s bigger countries struggled against far weaker opposition they should have pulverised on Saturday.

Unimpressive England struggled to beat Liechtenstein 2-0, Germany could only draw 1-1 with Lithuania and Russia crashed 3-1 in Albania on a day of 18 qualifiers.

But France never looked back against Malta after Sylvain Wiltord almost burst the net with their opening goal after 37 minutes. Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane each scored twice — Zidane scoring once from the spot — while David Trezeguet grabbed another as France showed no mercy to the men from Malta.

They lead Group One with a maximum haul of 12 points from their opening four games — eight clear of Israel and Cyprus who drew 1-1 in Limassol.

In contrast with the French, England could only beat Liechtenstein 2-0 with a goal in each half from Michael Owen and David Beckham at the tiny Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz while the part-timers emerged as the moral victors at least.

Germany were another top nation to struggle as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Nuremberg by Lithuania, ranked 106th in the world — 101 places below the Germans in the latest FIFA world list.

Carsten Ramelow put Germany ahead after only eight minutes and that seemed to be enough until Tomas Razanauskas equalised with 17 minutes to play.

That result cost Germany top place in Group Five with Scotland moving ahead of the Germans on goals scored after a 2-1 win over Iceland in Glasgow.

However, both England and Germany did better than another of Europe’s established soccer powers after Russia crashed to a shock 3-1 defeat to Albania in Tirana.

Croatia had no such problems against Belgium and swept to a 4-0 win over their visitors in Zagreb, while Italy beat Finland 2-0 in Palermo with Christian Vieiri scoring both goals.

The best away win of the day was in Bucharest were Denmark crushed Romania 5-2 with Thomas Gravesen scoring an incredible 45-metre goal for the visitors. That proved too much for Romania coach Anghel Iordanescu who quit after the game.

In Group Six, Spain lost their 100 percent record but still top the standings after a 2-2 draw with Ukraine in Kiev with three goals coming in the last eight minutes of playing time.

There were also important wins for Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Wales, bidding to reach their first major finals since the 1958 World Cup, maintained their great start in Group Nine with a 4-0 win over Azerbaijan in Cardiff to keep their place at the top with their fourth successive win.

Scotland, who have had a poor first year under German coach Berti Vogts, nevertheless lead Group Five after their 2-1 win over Iceland at Hampden Park with first international goals from Kenny Miller and Lee Wilkie. Eidur Gudjohnsen scored for Iceland in between.

Ireland kick-started their campaign after two opening defeats with a 2-1 win in Tblisi over Georgia in Group 10 with Gary Doherty scoring a late winner for the Irish.

But the match was marred when a penknife was thrown onto the pitch just before Georgia’s equaliser.

Georgia remained bottom of the table after two successive defeats but there was an upset later as Albania scored twice in the last 10 minutes to beat Russia 3-1 in Tirana.

There were no great shocks in the early games although Armenia scored their first win in more than three years when they defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 in Group Six, which leaves the Irish bottom of that table.

Two long unbeaten runs were preserved in Rotterdam where the Netherlands and the Czech Republic drew 1-1 in a Group Three match that left the top of that table unchanged with the Dutch above the Czechs on goal difference.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored for the Dutch and Jan Koller for the Czechs.

The Netherlands have now gone 12 matches unbeaten, and the Czechs have not lost in 11 games.

Results:

Group 1

At Lens, France

France 6 Malta 0

At Limassol, Cyprus

Cyprus 1 Israel 1

Group 2

At Sarajevo

Bosnia-Herzagovina 2 Luxembourg 0

At Bucharest

Romania 2 Denmark 5

Group 3

At Rotterdam

Netherlands 1 Czech Republic 1

At Minsk

Belarus 2 Moldova 1

Group 4

At Chorzow, Poland

Poland 0 Hungary 0

Group 5

At Nuremberg, Germany

Germany 1 Lithuania 1

At Glasgow

Scotland 2 Iceland 1

Group 6

At Kiev

Ukraine 2 Spain 2

At Yerevan

Armenia 1 Northern Ireland 0

Group 7

At Vaduz

Liechtenstein 0 England 2

At Skopje

Macedonia 0 Slovakia 2

Group 8

At Zagreb

Croatia 4 Belgium 0

Group 9

At Palermo, Sicily

Italy 2 Finland 0

At Cardiff

Wales 4 Azerbaijan 0

Group 10

At Tbilisi

Georgia 1 Republic of Ireland 2

At Shkoder, Albania

Albania 3 Russia 1

—Reuters/AFP