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Group Eight Roundup Croatia routs Andorra; Bulgaria held in EstoniaPosted: Wednesday April 02, 2003 5:12 PM
ZAGREB (Reuters) -- Two first-half goals by Milan Rapaic gave Croatia a comfortable 2-0 win over bottom team Andorra in their Group Eight qualifier on Wednesday and boosted its chances of reaching the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal. Hajduk Split midfielder Rapaic struck from the penalty spot after 11 minutes and added a second just before halftime to give Croatia its second win in five days after its inspired 4-0 demolition of Belgium in Zagreb last Saturday. The victory takes Croatia above Belgium into second place in the group table after four matches and it is now just three points behind leaders Bulgaria, which was held to a goalless draw in Estonia. Belgium was not in action Wednesday. The host put Andorra under pressure from the start and it paid off after 10 minutes when defender Roberto Jonas Alonso pushed Croatia's Wolfsburg striker Tomislav Maric in the penalty area. Rapaic easily converted to give Croatia an early lead. After the Croatians had missed several chances, Rapaic scored again a minute before the break with a free-kick that eluded Andorra goalkeeper Alvarez after a slight deflection. Croatia kept up the pressure in the second half but created fewer chances than in the first 45 minutes. The best opportunity was Dario Simic's close-range header four minutes after the break but it was blocked by the solid Alvarez. "We deserved to win, but we should have scored at least two more against a team of Andorra's quality," Croatia coach Otto Baric told reporters. "I'm happy with three points but I'm also aware that there is still room for improvement." Croatia's next qualifier is against Estonia on June 11. Bulgaria held goalless in Estonia TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- Estonia held Bulgaria to a 0-0 draw Wednesday in a European Championship qualifier -- preventing the Bulgarians from further strengthening their position at the top of Group 8. The Bulgarians arrived in Estonia having won all three of their previous qualifiers. But the home side mounted their trademark scrappy defense and even created most of the better chances throughout the match. The more skillful Bulgarians -- ranked 45th in the world by FIFA, 20 places above Estonia -- seemed to establish some control as the match progressed in the first half. But despite several opportunities to score, they failed to capitalize. In the second half, it was again the underdog Estonians who looked the more inspired side playing before a sparse crowd of some 3,000 in Tallinn, the capital of this small Baltic Sea coast nation. In one of the best chances of the match, Estonian Sergei Terehov went one-on-one with goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov but rifled the ball straight into the Bulgarian's arms with 60 minutes gone. The Estonians had several more chances while the Bulgarians looked increasingly flat. Bulgarian captain Krassimir Balakov, minutes after being yellow carded, came close to scoring in the 81st minute, but Estonian 'keeper Mart Poom saved his free kick from just outside the box. Balakov had said before the game that a win over Estonia would go a long way toward assuring his squad a place in next year's finals in Portugal. Lineups: Estonia: Mart Poom, Sergei Terehov, Kert Haavistu (Ott Reinumae, 62), Urmas Rooba, Marko Kristal, Indrek Zelinski (Kristen Viikmae, 56), Marek Lemsalu, Teet Allas, Enar Jaager, Andres Oper, Liivo Leetma. Bulgaria: Zdravko Zdravkov, Radostin Kishishev, Rosen Kirilov, Predrag Pajin, Dimitar Berbatov, Krasimir Balakov, Stiliyan Petrov, Georgi Peev, Milen Petkov, Martin Petrov (Milan Petkov, 71), Zoran Jankovic (Svetoslav Todorov, 46). Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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