 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||
|
Group 10 Roundup Ireland, Switzerland held to goalless drawsPosted: Wednesday April 02, 2003 5:24 PMTIRANA, Albania (AP) -- Shay Given rescued Ireland with three great saves to salvage a 0-0 tie with Albania in a Euro 2004 qualifying game on Wednesday although the tie was little use to either team. The Newcastle goalkeeper kept out shots from Edvin Murati and Altin Rraklli to make sure Ireland didn't concede at the Qumal Stafa Stadium. But it was a game both teams needed to win to make up ground on Switzerland and Russia. The Swiss were held 0-0 in Georgia and lead Group 10 with eight points, Russia has six, Albania five and Ireland four. Albania, now coached by former Germany star Hans-Peter Briegel, upset Russia 3-1 in Shkodra in his first game in charge on Saturday to move into qualifying contention while Ireland won its first points by winning 2-1 at Georgia. "It's been a hard week for us," said Ireland manager Brian Kerr. "I am satisfied we have got four points from two away games. We're back in the running. "We didn't create many chances. But we didn't concede much either. Shay had to be vigilant and alert and made a great save early on and a couple of good punches and interceptions. "Before we came I don't think there were many people banking on us getting three of four points so I'm happy we got four." Despite the lack of goals, there were plenty of chances. The game was only 90 seconds old when Given had to race off his line to block Murati's close range shot after Klodian Duro had opened up the Irish defense with a cross from the right. At the other end, Damien Duff crossed from the right and a close range header from Kevin Kilbane was saved by Foto Strakosha. In the 12th minute, Duro found Rraklli unmarked with another cross from the right and Given dived to his right to take the well-flighted header. In an end to end game, Ireland almost went ahead three minutes before half time when Robbie Keane jumped over a through ball from John O'Shea to let the ball run through to Duff, whose powerfully struck left foot shot was fisted away by the diving Strakosha at the foot of his left post. A minute later, Rraklli escaped Ireland's offside trap but fired over the bar with just Given to beat from the edge of the area. Albania opened up the Scottish defense early in the second half when Ervin Sleka pushed the ball through to an unmarked Igli Tare in front of goal. But the pass was just too strong and the ball rolled to Irish defender Stephen Carr whose tap behind was only just the wrong side of the post. Then Rraklli moved into a shooting position on the edge of the area only for Given to tip the shot over the bar with an acrobatic save. Given again rescued his team when he punched off the head of Tare as the tall striker appeared set to head towards an open goal. Five minutes from the end, Gary Breen headed the ball home from a free kick by Duff only for the officials to rule it out for offside. Lineups: Albania -- Foto Strakosha, Geri Cipi, Elvin Beqiri, Adrian Aliaj, Altin Lala, Bensik Hasi, Klodian Duro, Ervin Skela (sub: Alban Bushi 85th), Edvin Murati (Arjan Bellai 67th) Igli Tare, Altin Rraklli (Florian Myrtaj 70th). Ireland -- Shay Given, Stephen Carr, John O'Shea, Gary Breen, Kenny Cunningham, Lee Carsley, Mark Kinsella, Matt Holland, Kevin Kilbane, Damien Duff, Robbie Keane (Gary Doherty, 67th). Referee -- Stefano Farina, Italy. Switzerland held 0-0 by lowly GeorgiaTBILISI (Reuters) -- Switzerland lost two valuable points in its Euro 2004 qualifying campaign when the Group 10 leader was held to a 0-0 draw by lowly Georgia on Wednesday. The Swiss dominated the first half, but Georgia keeper Georgi Lomaia made several good saves to prevent the visitors from scoring. Lomaia, undoubtedly Georgia's best player, stopped dangerous shots by Ricardo Cabanas and Hakan Yakin in the opening 30 minutes, then denied Swiss captain Stephane Chapuisat with a point-blank save late in the first half. The Georgians had only one real chance in the first half, but Swiss keeper Pascal Zuberbuhler made a fine save from a deflection following a Georgi Demetradze free kick. Demetradze tested Zuberbuhler again shortly after the interval with a dangerous shot from inside the penalty area, but the keeper was again equal to his task. It was Georgia's first point after it lost its opening two qualifying games. The Georgians, who were already missing their top player Kakha Kaladze through a groin injury, also lost two key members for Wednesday's match. Veteran midfielder Temur Ketsbaia and playmaker Gocha Jamarauli said they were quitting the team following Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Ireland. Georgia coach Alexandre Chivadze, who also announced Monday that he was quitting, nevertheless, was pleased with the result. "We played better as a team tonight than four days ago, but I haven't changed my mind about leaving," he said. His Swiss counterpart, Koebi Kuhn, was equally happy with the outcome. "We have to be satisfied by going home with a point because Georgia is a tough team, especially at home," he said. Switzerland still lead the group on eight points from four matches, while Georgia are bottom of the standings with one point from three games. The match was played amid tight security following crowd trouble just four days ago. European soccer's governing body UEFA said it will hold an inquiry into the incidents, in particular the one in which a small knife landed close to Ireland midfielder Kevin Kilbane. There were no incidents reported on Wednesday with only a small 8,000-crowd in attendance at Tbilisi's Lokomotivi stadium.
Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
