Euro 2004 Roundup

Guti doubtful for Spain's clash with Greece

MADRID (Reuters) -- Real Madrid midfielder Guti is doubtful for Spain's Euro 2004 qualifier against Greece on Saturday after spraining his right ankle.

He suffered the injury on a run around the training pitch at the Spanish squad's base in Jerez on Tuesday and will sit out training until Thursday, when a decision will be made on his fitness.

"We'll see how it goes," said Spanish doctor Genaro Borras. "If things go well in the next two days he'll have a chance of playing."

Spain, who have a four-point lead at the top of Group Six, follow up Saturday's game against Greece in Zaragoza with an away match against Northern Ireland on Wednesday, June 11.

Vogts: Ballack 'the best' but not only threat

DUMBARTON, Scotland (Reuters) -- Scotland coach Berti Vogts rated Bayern Munich's Michael Ballack as the best midfielder in Europe on Tuesday but said he will not be the only German threat in Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifier.

Vogts watched a Ballack-inspired Bayern lift the German cup in Berlin and then Germany beat Canada 4-1 in a friendly in Wolfsburg last week and was impressed.

"I watched Ballack in the cup final and at the moment, I think he is the best European midfielder -- best attacking midfielder," said Vogts.

"He is one of the key players in Rudi [Voller]'s team, but we play against Germany, not Ballack and one year ago this team reached the World Cup final."

West Ham United's Christian Dailly will mark Ballack during the Group Five match, though he doesn't see it as his job alone to stop the Bayern playmaker.

"I don't think it will be necessarily a man marking job. I certainly won't be following him [Ballack] around the park as every player has a responsibility in that respect," said Dailly.

"He's rated one of the best midfielders in the world, but Germany have top players at top clubs all over the world."

Vogts said his side, who drew 1-1 with New Zealand last week, were underdogs for the clash.

"We have only five million Scots here and Germany has 80 million people with 28,000 clubs and that is a difference.

"There is a lot of quality in the German side, but Saturday will be 11 against 11 over 90 minutes.

"We must give them a hard time and we prefer to be the underdogs."

Germany lead the group on seven points, the same number as second-placed Scotland, but have played only three games to Scotland's four. Third-placed Lithuania are also on seven points but from five games.

Crowe retained in Ireland squad

DUBLIN (Reuters) -- Bohemians striker Glen Crowe, who last year became the first Ireland-based player for 14 years to win a senior cap, has retained his place in the squad for Ireland's next two European championship qualifiers.

Crowe, who made his debut against Greece in a friendly in Athens last November and faced Norway also in a friendly match in Dublin in April, has been called up for the home matches with Albania on Saturday and basement team Georgia on June 11.

Missing from the squad are Fulham full back Steve Finnan, suffering from a pelvic complaint, and Newcastle United defender Andy O'Brien, who is recovering from surgery on a broken nose.

Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given, who missed training on Monday due to a calf injury picked up in the previous session, is expected to be fit to play at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

After four matches Ireland are fourth in Group 10 with four points behind leaders Switzerland (8), Russia (6) and Albania (5). Georgia are bottom of the table with four points.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Newcastle United), Nick Colgan (Hibernian), Joe Murphy (West Bromwich Albion)

Defenders: Stephen Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Ian Harte (Leeds United), John O'Shea (Manchester United), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Gary Breen (West Ham United), Kenny Cunningham (Birmingham City)

Midfield: Lee Carsley (Everton), Matt Holland (Ipswich Town), Mark Kinsella (Aston Villa), Alan Quinn (Sheffield Wednesday), Kevin Kilbane (Sunderland), Stephen McPhail (Leeds United), Colin Healy (Celtic)

Strikers: Steven Reid (Millwall), Damien Duff (Blackburn Rovers), Glen Crowe (Bohemians), David Connolly (Wimbledon), Gary Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Alan Lee (Rotherham United), Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur)

Winger Sabrosa out of Portugal squad

LISBON (Reuters) -- Portugal winger Simao Sabrosa has pulled out of this month's friendly internationals against Paraguay and Bolivia with a thigh injury, team doctor Henrique Jones said on Tuesday.

The Benfica player has been replaced by Uniao Leiria's Silas Fernandes for the matches on Friday in Braga and next Tuesday in Lisbon respectively.

Jones told reporters Sabrosa had tendinitis in the back of his thigh and is unlikely to recover in the next few days.

As hosts, Portugal automatically qualify for the European Championship finals next year.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Ricardo Pereira (Boavista), Quim Silva (Braga)

Defenders: Paulo Ferreira (Porto), Fernando Couto (Lazio), Jorge Andrade (Deportivo Coruna), Luis Loureiro (Gil Vicente), Beto Severo (Sporting), Rui Jorge (Sporting), Fernando Meira (Stuttgart)

Midfielders: Rui Costa (AC Milan), Sergio Conceicao (Inter Milan), Luis Figo (Real Madrid), Tiago Mendes (Benfica), Deco Souza (Porto), Maniche Ribeiro (Porto), Hugo Viana (Newcastle United), Rogerio Matias (Vitoria Guimaraes)

Forwards: Silas Fernandes (Uniao Leiria), Pedro Pauleta Resendes (Girondins Bordeaux), Helder Postiga (Porto), Ricardo Quaresma (Sporting)

Ibrahimovic out of Sweden's two qualifiers

"Zlatan's problems have come gradually during the last two months and the magnetic scan confirms that the muscles in the groin are inflamed," said national team doctor Anders Valentin on the Swedish soccer federation's Web site on Monday.

"I had really looked forward to these games and I'm really sad that I can't participate," said Ibrahimovic.

National team coaches Tommy Soderberg and Lars Lagerback have not named a replacement for Ibrahimovic.

Sweden are third in Group Four with five points from three matches. Latvia lead with 10 points from four games and Poland are second on seven points.

Revised squad:

Goalkeepers: Eddie Gustafsson (Molde), Andreas Isaksson (Djurgarden), Magnus Hedman (Celtic)

Defenders: Christoffer Andersson (Helsingborg), Erik Edman (Heerenveen), Andreas Jakobsson (Hansa Rostock), Teddy Lucic (Leeds United), Fredrik Lundqvist (Sundsvall), Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Johan Mjallby (Celtic), Michael Svensson (Southampton)

Midfielders/strikers: Marcus Allback (Aston Villa), Andreas Andersson (AIK Stockholm), Andreas Johansson (Djurgarden), Mattias Jonson (Brondby), Kim Kallstrom (Djurgarden), Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal), Mikael Nilsson (Halmstad), Stefan Selakovic (Heerenveen), Anders Svensson (Southampton), Magnus Svensson (Halmstad)

Teenager named to Russian squad

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia coach Valery Gazzayev said Monday he is adding 17-year-old goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev to the team for Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifier against Switzerland.

Gazzayev said he decided to add Akinfeyev after his performance for CSKA Moscow in a 2-0 win over Soviet Wings in Samara over the weekend, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. Gazzayev is also the coach of CSKA.

Russia, which is in second place in Group 10 behind Switzerland, has suffered two embarrassing losses -- to Albania and Georgia -- in qualifiers this year.

Zhelev replaces Zagorcic in Bulgaria squad

SOFIA (Reuters) -- Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov has called up defender Zhivko Zhelev to replace his injured Litex Lovech teammate Zlatomir Zagorcic in the squad for Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifier at home to Belgium.

Zagorcic, the eighth regular squad member to pull out, suffered a thigh injury in a premier league match on Saturday and team doctor Michail Iliev said his chances of responding to treatment in time for the match were minimal.

Bulgaria are top of Group Eight with 10 points ahead of Croatia, who have seven points, and Belgium on six points. The top three have all played four matches so far.

Cantaluppi out of Swiss squad

BERNE (Reuters) -- FC Basel midfielder Mario Cantaluppi has been ruled out of Switzerland's Euro 2004 qualifier against Russia on Saturday with a foot infection.

The 33-year-old was an important part of the side that reached the second group phase of the Champions League and who narrowly missed out on the Nationalliga title over the weekend.

He will not feature for Switzerland in Basel on June 7 and will also miss the Euro 2004 qualifier against Albania in Geneva four days later.

"It has been a very tough season for Mario because the club has done very well in a number of competitions," said FC Basel spokesman Josef Zindel.

"He has been struggling with his foot injury all season and that has meant that he will miss both qualifiers that have been set for the next few weeks. He has gone on holiday and will be hoping to be fit for the new season."

Switzerland manager Koebi Kuhn's side top Group 10 with eight points from four games, with Russia second with six points and Albania third in the table with five points from four games played.

Kuhn is yet to announce a replacement for Cantaluppi.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Fabrice Borer (Grasshoppers), Jrg Stiel (Borussia Mnchengladbach), Pascal Zuberbhler (FC Basel)

Defenders: Bernt Haas, Murat Yakin, Marco Zwissig (all FC Basel), Remo Meyer (1860 Munich), Patrick Mller (Olympique Lyon), Bruno Berner (Freiburg), Ludovic Magnin (Werder Bremen), Stephane Henchoz (Liverpool), Stephan Keller (FC Zurich)

Midfield: Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshoppers), Fabio Celestini (Marseille), Johann Vogel (PSV Eindhoven), Hakan Yakin (FC Basel), Christoph Spycher (Grasshoppers), Raphael Wicky (SV Hamburg)

Strikers: Stephane Chapuisat (Young Boys), Alexander Frei (Rennes), Milaim Rama (FC Thun).

Kozlej to replace Oravec in Slovak squad

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) -- Olympiakos Nicosia striker Jozef Kozlej has been recalled to the Slovakia squad for the Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey on June 7 to replace his injured teammate Tomas Oravec.

"Oravec is having problems again with his knee after an operation and the doctor ordered him to take at least a one-week break," said Slovak coach Ladislav Jurkemik.

Kozlej last played for Slovakia in April, when the team crushed Liechtenstein 4-0 in a European Championship Group Seven qualifier.

With eight goals, Viktoria Zizkov striker Oravec was the second top scorer in the spring season of the Czech first division.

Slovakia are third in Group Seven with six points, three points behind second-placed Turkey. England lead the group with 10 points.

The Slovaks, who lost to 3-0 to Turkey in Istanbul last September, travel to England for a June 11 match.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Miroslav Konig (Zurich), Branislav Rzeszoto (Zlin)

Defenders: Martin Petras (Sparta Prague), Maros Klimpl (Viktoria Zizkov), Peter Hlinka (Schwarz-Weiss Bregenz), Vladimir Leitner (Teplice), Michal Hanek (Dynamo Moscow), Marian Zeman (Arnhem), Ondrej Debnar (Petrzalka), Vladimir Labant (Sparta Prague)

Midfielders: Karol Kisel (Bohemians Prague), Miroslav Karhan (Wolfsburg), Rastislav Michalik (Sparta Prague), Marek Mintal (Zilina), Vladimir Janocko (Austria Vienna), Igor Demo (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Forwards: Jozef Kozlej (Olympiakos Nicosia), Szilard Nemeth (Middlesbrough), Robert Vittek (Slovan Bratislava), Lubomir Reiter (Sigma Olomouc).

Azerbaijan names squad

BAKU (Reuters) -- Azerbaijan coach Asker Abdullayev has named the following 21-man squad for next Wednesday's Euro 2004 Group Nine qualifier at home to Serbia and Montenegro:

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Dmitry Kramarenko (CSKA Moscow), Djakhangir Gasanzade (Volyn Lutsk, Ukraine), Gusein Magomedov (Masinsazi, Iran)

Defenders: Aslan Kerimov and Tarlan Akhmedov (both Karabagh-Azersun Agdam), Emin Guliyev (Khimki, Russia), Emin Guliyev (Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz, Russia), Kamal Guliyev (Volyn Lutsk, Ukraine), Rashad Sadygov (Fulad, Iran), Ilgam Yadullayev (Sanat-Naft, Iran)

Midfielders: Makhmud Gurbanov (Fulad, Iran), Ruslan Musayev, Zaur Tagizade and Emin Imamaliyev (all Shafa Baku), Samir Aliyev (Volyn Lutsk, Ukraine), Namig Gasanov and Azer Jabbarov (both Karabagh-Azersun Agdam)

Forwards: Sanan Gurbanov (Shafa Baku), Gurban Gurbanov (Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan, Russia), Farrukh Ismailov (Sanat-Naft, Iran), Khagani Mamedov (Masinsazi, Iran).

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.