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| June 10, 2003 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1424 |
Big guns in action as marathon season nears end
LONDON, June 9: England, Italy, Spain and Germany are in action on Wednesday as a marathon European season draws near to an end with 18 Euro 2004 qualifiers across the continent.
England look to keep pace with Group Seven leaders Turkey by beating Slovakia, while Italy need to overcome hosts Finland to close the gap on Wales who occupy top spot in Group Nine.
In other highlights, Group Five leaders Germany visit the Faroe Islands, Spain aim to recover from a shock home defeat by Greece when they travel to Northern Ireland in Group Six and local rivals Denmark and Norway continue their tussle for Group Two supremacy against Luxembourg and Romania.
Italy, who trail Wales by five points in Group Nine, face a tricky trip to Finland, who should be buoyed by their emphatic 3-0 victory over Serbia & Montenegro on Saturday.
The Italians, who have chalked up four straight wins in qualifiers and friendlies this year including a 2-0 home victory over Finland, will field a new look strike force in the absence of injured Christian Vieri.
Spain received a rude awakening when they lost 1-0 to Greece, their first home qualifying defeat for 12 years.
Spain need to beat Northern Ireland, bottom of the group with one point from four matches, to stay ahead of the Greeks and Ukraine, who meet on Wednesday. Germany, held to a 1-1 draw in Scotland on Saturday, will take control of Group Five with victory in the Faroes, though Lithuania will stay in contention if they overcome Iceland.
Denmark beat Norway 1-0 on Saturday to leave the two sides locked together on 10 points at the head of Group Two, but Romania are only one point adrift and victory in Norway would leave them well placed to edge out the Scandinavian duo for top spot.
The Czech Republic will draw level with Group Three leaders the Netherlands if they beat a Moldova side fresh from an upset victory over Austria.
In Group 10, leaders Switzerland play Albania and Ireland face Georgia, while in Group Eight Estonia meet Croatia and Belgium take on Andorra.
Sweden and Hungary have the chance to leapfrog Group Four leaders Latvia, the Swedes entertaining Poland and Hungary travelling to San Marino.—Reuters
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