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Final stretch England, Italy aiming to finish season with a flourishPosted: Monday June 09, 2003 11:34 AMUpdated: Tuesday June 10, 2003 11:46 AM
LONDON (Reuters) -- England, Italy, Spain and Germany are in action Wednesday as a marathon European season draws near to an end with 18 Euro 2004 qualifiers across the continent. England looks to keep pace with Group Seven leader Turkey by beating Slovakia, while Italy needs to overcome host Finland to close the gap on Wales which occupies top spot in Group Nine. In other highlights, Group Five leader Germany visits the Faroe Islands, Spain aims to recover from a shock home defeat by Greece when it travels to Northern Ireland in Group Six and local rival Denmark and Norway continue their tussle for Group Two supremacy against Luxembourg and Romania. Spain's players will then have to pick themselves up for one last burst in the final two matches of their domestic first division. England lost top spot on Saturday when Turkey beat Slovakia 1-0, and Sven-Goran Eriksson's team needs three points from the Slovakians to keep up with the World Cup semifinalist, which plays Macedonia on Wednesday. Eriksson, without suspended captain David Beckham and injured first-choice central defenders Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell, is well aware of the importance of the match. "Wednesday we have to win and that's the most important thing," he said. "Things depend on us and, hopefully, we can go to Turkey (for the final qualifier in October) with this position." Eriksson will probably start with teenager Wayne Rooney alongside captain Michael Owen in attack, with Phil Neville continuing in the midfield holding role he occupied in last week's 2-1 friendly victory over Serbia & Montenegro. Italy, which trails Wales by five points in Group Nine, faces a tricky trip to Finland, which should be buoyed by its 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. Coach Giovanni Trapattoni is set to play Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti behind Lazio's Bernardo Corradi. "We are going there to win because we are in a good moment of form," said Trapattoni. "If we don't do it then there are the playoffs, although at my age I have no desire to undertake re-sit exams in November." Rude awakening Spain received a rude awakening when it lost 1-0 to Greece, its first home qualifying defeat for 12 years. "We knew that this could happen to us one day," Spain captain Raul said. "I can't wait for the next match because I am convinced that this was just a piece of bad fortune and that we are a much better side than Greece." Spain needs to beat Northern Ireland, bottom of the group with one point from four matches, to stay ahead of the Greeks and Ukraine, who meet 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 it overcomes 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 is only one point adrift and victory in Norway would leave it well placed to edge out the Scandinavian duo for top spot. The Czech Republic will draw level with Group Three leader the Netherlands if it beats a Moldova side fresh from an upset victory over Austria, which looks to recover from that humiliating loss in a home game against Belarus. In Group 10, leader Switzerland plays Albania and Ireland faces Georgia, while in Group Eight Estonia meets Croatia and Belgium takes on Andorra as it looks to close the gap on leader Bulgaria. Sweden and Hungary have the chance to leapfrog surprise Group Four leader Latvia, the Swedes entertaining Poland and Hungary travelling to San Marino. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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