Euro 2004 Roundup

Latvia, Spain, Croatia, Dutch, Russia qualify as Turks go out

Dmitry Sennikov and Russia ended Ryan Giggs' hopes of playing a major tournament with Wales. Phil Cole/Getty Images

LONDON (AP) -- Latvia produced the shock of the Euro 2004 playoffs on Wednesday by ousting World Cup semifinalist Turkey.

The Baltic team hit back from 2-0 down in Istanbul to gain a 2-2 tie and, together with its 1-0 victory from the home leg in Riga, advanced to its first major soccer championship.

"It was a historic win," said Latvia's coach Alexandrs Starkovs. "I can't answer you on how we will do in Portugal. It's too early."

While Latvians took the streets of Riga in celebration of reaching the finals, the Netherlands and Spain burst through the side door with convincing victories in other playoffs of group runners up.

Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy scored three as the Dutch overturned Scotland's 1-0 first leg lead with a 6-0 hammering in Amsterdam.

And Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez led the Spaniards to a 3-0 victory over Norway in Oslo which meant a 5-1 triumph overall.

If only they could have played like that in the group stages.

Russia gained a 1-0 victory in Cardiff to lengthen Wales' 45-year wait for an appearance in a major championship while 10-man Croatia also made it to Portugal by winning 1-0 at neighbor Slovenia.

The five survivors from the runners up playoffs join host Portugal and the 10 group winners -- defending champion France, World Cup runner up Germany, Italy, England, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Greece, Denmark, Bulgaria and Sweden -- in the June 12-July 4 finals.

The draw is in Lisbon Nov. 30.

The Turks know they should have been there too.

The World Cup semifinalist needed just 20 minutes to wipe out Latvia's 1-0 first leg advantage when Ilhan Mansiz hit the target in the 20th minute. When veteran striker Hakan Sukur made it 2-0 on the night in the 64th minute it looked as if the Turks were going to the finals.

But Latvia, runner up to Sweden in Group 4, hit back with goals by Juris Laizans (66th minute) and Maris Verpakovskis (77th) for a tie which stunned the Turks in front of their own fans. It is the first time the Baltic state, once part of the Soviet Union, has qualified for a major championship.

The Dutch went to the Amsterdam ArenA facing the possibility of missing out on Euro 2004 as well as the last World Cup.

But Wesley Sneijder started a feast of scoring with the first after 13 minutes before his free kicks set up the next two. Van Nistelrooy, back on the starting lineup after a fallout with the coaching staff, helped himself to three while Frank de Boer and Andre Ooijer also hit the back of the Scottish net to the dismay of former German coach Berti Vogts.

"At the moment we can't play two matches in four days against this strong a team," said Vogts, who led Germany to its Euro '96 triumph before taking the Scotland job two years ago.

"Congratulations to the Dutch, they will be a big favorite in Portugal."

While it was misery for Vogts, it was a triumph for Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, who used to be in charge of Scottish champion Glasgow Rangers.

"I've always said we had some up and coming players," Advocaat said. "The whole country thought they were ready to play, but I didn't think the moment was right. Until now."

Despite holding a 2-1 first leg lead over the Norwegians in Oslo, Spain faced the embarrassment of not making it to the finals at neighbor Portugal.

But strikes by Raul Gonzalez, Rodrigues Vicente and Joseba Etxeberria by the 56th minute put the Spaniards well out of reach of the Norwegians and the visitors were celebrating long before the end.

"The first goal was important because it gave us confidence," Raul said. "Now we can enjoy the victory. We're all really happy. We dedicate the win to our fans. We can now start dreaming about doing well in Portugal."

The lopsided loss means that Norway coach Nils Johan Semb has failed to get the team to the Euros as well as missing out on the World Cup. Scandinavian neighbors Sweden and Denmark made it to both.

"Spain played in a higher division tonight," Semb said. "It was a sad exit, but we lost against a much better football team. They were better than us in everything. Spain is one of the best teams in Europe."

Russian defender Vadim Esveev was booed whenever he touched the ball at the Millennium stadium. The Welsh had accused him of overreacting in Moscow when Ryan Giggs flung out an elbow during Saturday's 0-0 tie.

Giggs is now facing a UEFA disciplinary charge and it became even more painful the Welsh when Evseev headed the only goal of the second leg in the 22nd minute to put the Russians through.

The result is that Wales, who once led their qualifying group by five points, haven't made it to a major championship since the 1958 World Cup.

"My job was to get Wales to a major championship and I have failed twice," said coach Mark Hughes, a former Manchester United star.

Russian coach Georgy Yartsev praised his team for not conceding in either game.

"It took us two very tough playoff games against one of the strongest teams, which had not just European class, but world class players," Yartsev said.

Croatia gained a 1-0 victory at Slovenia to advance to the finals 2-1 on aggregate, having been held 1-1 at home in the first leg.

Two minutes after Juventus defender Igor Tudor had been ejected for a second yellow card in Ljubljana, 10-man Croatia went ahead through AS Monaco's Dado Prso.

The victory meant it gained its second appearance in the finals and maintained an unbeaten record in eight matches against its neighbor.

"We gave it our best, fighting to the end as much as we could," said Prso, who also scored the Croatian goal in the first leg. "I said earlier that the best team would come out on top after two games and we did."

Croatia, which finished runner up to Bulgaria in Group 8, reached the quarterfinal at Euro '96 in England and then went on to finish third at the 1998 World Cup in France. Each time the Croats lost to the team that won the title -- Germany and France.