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Euro 2000 Roundup Spain recovers with win; UEFA threatens England
Posted: Sunday June 18, 2000 06:59 PM
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Spain might yet be a force at the European Championships, after all. And English fans had better behave, or their team might be tossed from the tournament. The Spanish defeated Slovenia 2-1 on Sunday, recovering from a goalkeeping blunder in an opening 1-0 loss to Norway. Slovenia is on the brink of elimination. England faces the prospect of elimination of a different sort, unless the hooliganism stops. "This cannot go on," UEFA president Lennart Johansson said Sunday. "I hope that hooligans will understand what they are doing to their country." Prime Minister Tony Blair, in Portugal for a European Union summit, said he hoped the UEFA threat would end the violence. "Hopefully, this threat will bring to their senses anyone tempted to continue the mindless thuggery that has brought such shame to the country," he said. In another Group C game, Yugoslavia defeated Norway 1-0 for its first victory at the European Championships in 16 years. Spain, regarded as a contender before botching its opening game, got off to a strong start against Slovenia. Raul Gonzalez, Spain's best player, scored in the fourth minute, curling a 20-yard, left-footed shot into the top of the net. "It was my first goal, and I hope it won't be my last," Raul said. Slovenia tied it in the 57th minute, with Zlatko Zahovic beating a flatfooted defense for his third goal of Euro 2000. But two minutes later, Spain got the winner when Gaizka Mendieta weaved through the defense and set up Joseba Etxeberria. Slovenia, playing its first international tournament, tied Yugoslavia 3-3 in its first game. "I wish them good luck, but there was no element of the game in which Spain was better than us," Slovenia coach Srecko Katanec said. Paco Molina, the goalkeeper whose misplay on a long free kick cost Spain in the opener, was replaced in the starting lineup by Santiago Canizares. In Liege, Belgium, Yugoslavia scored in the eighth minute when Savo Milosevic backheeled the ball into the net for his third goal of the tournament. "It was a fantastic victory," Yugoslavia coach Vujadin Boskov said. "My players died on the pitch. They fought all the way." The outcome leaves Group C wide open after the second round: Yugoslavia has four points while Spain and Norway have three and Slovenia one. The top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals. On Monday, there are two Group B games: Turkey-Belgium and Italy-Sweden. The violence stemming from the England-Germany game in Charleroi, Belgium, on Saturday prompted an emergency meeting of UEFA's executive committee in Liege. "UEFA will have to consider the future presence of the English team if there is any more violence," said Gerhard Aigner, chief executive of the European soccer federation. There were about 850 detentions and 56 injuries in connection with the game. Police reported that most of the injuries were minor, but one English fan was stabbed in the back and was hospitalized. "We cannot take responsibility that someone gets killed on the street or cannot walk safely in the streets," Johansson said. Almost all those detained were English, although some of the fighting in Charleroi involved German fans. Aigner urged the British government and British soccer authorities to take stronger action. He called the hooligans "a disgrace to their country and a blight on the national team." Tournament director Alain Courtois and Brussels Mayor Francois-Xavier de Donnea also criticized the British government. "Too many dangerous hooligans reached Belgium," de Donnea said. David Davies, executive director of the English FA, said he supported the zero-tolerance policy of the Belgian police in dealing with hooligans. British Home Secretary Jack Straw said Sunday the problem was wider than "football-related hooliganism," adding that more than drunken teens and unemployed laborers were involved. "Some of those who have been sent back are people including barristers and engineers. ... They go abroad and they cause this kind of mayhem," Straw said. Former sports minister Tony Banks, leading England's bid to land the 2006 World Cup, urged "draconian" measures in handling the violence. Czechs determined to beat Denmark in last matchKNOKKE-HEIST, Belgium -- The Czech Republic's match against Denmark is a formality for both teams after they were eliminated from the tournament, so both will attack Wednesday's game as a first preparation test for the 2002 World Cup. The two nations will be looking to salvage some pride from Euro 2000, after they lost their first two matches against the Netherlands and France. In the so-called Group of Death, Denmark never stood much of a chance, but the elimination of the Czechs, the top European team in FIFA's rankings, came as a bitter blow. Ironically, the Czechs and Danes will meet again in their World Cup qualification group. Czech coach Jozef Chovanec still tried to see the game as part of Euro 2000. "We can't mix the Euro and the World Cup qualification," he said. But some players clearly look further. "The match will be something like a rehearsal, their team won't really change too much after the Euro," Czech defender Tomas Repka said. "It's an important game we have to win." That statement says something about the Czech Republic's morale and determination to reward the thousands of fans who came to support their team, many of them accompanying it at every turn. "So far, we've played some really good soccer, but if we lose to the Danes, everything might turn against us, the good soccer might be forgotten," Repka said. "All we needed was a bit of luck, and so far we haven't had it." The Czechs hit the post and bar against the Netherlands and lost 1-0 on a hotly-disputed late penalty. Against France too, forward Jan Koller hit the bar, but the team went down 2-1. Midfielder Karel Poborsky, the standout figure in the Czech Republic's matches against the Dutch and the French, said his team showed it is capable of showcase soccer, but was unlucky. "At the Euro '96, we didn't play as well as this time, but we had some luck. Now, it's the other way round," the 28-year-old Benfica Lisbon star said, referring to the last European championships where the Czechs finished as runners-up. "Now, it will be important to say farewell to this tournament in a dignified way, to win after all. It's no use dealing with the two losses anymore." The Czechs had a free program after Friday's match against France to get over what is a major disappointment for them. "We chatted with the lads, had a beer, played cards, loosened up, stayed up a bit late," Repka said. "Life goes on, we have to forget." Criticized Egyptian ref takes charge of losers gameBRUSSELS, Belgium -- Egyptian referee Gamal El Ghandour, who was effectively told he was out of his class by Spanish coach Jose Antonio Camacho when he took charge of the Spain-Norway Euro 2000 game last week, will be the man in the middle for Denmark vs. the Czech Republic on Monday. Both teams have already been eliminated. El Ghandour made history when he became the first non-European to referee a European Championship game in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Tuesday. But his performance in Spain's 1-0 upset loss to Norway was attacked by Spanish coach Camacho. "Frankly speaking, he is not up to this kind of game where there is so much at stake," Camacho said. "Today there was clear penalty which he did not call." Soccer's European governing body, UEFA, declined comment on the Egyptian's performance but has not dropped him from the list of referees. He will be in charge in Liege when the Danes and the Czechs meet. They were the first two teams to be knocked out, having both lost to World Cup-holder France and co-host the Netherlands. Fiorentina president says Portuguese star is not for saleFLORENCE, Italy -- Fiorentina may have sold Argentine star Gabriel Batistuta but does not plan to transfer other team "jewels" by the next Serie A campaign, club president Vittorio Cecchi Gori announced over the weekend. Cecchi Gori, a movie tycoon and politician, said that Fiorentina's Portuguese midfielder Manuel Rui Costa and Italian keeper Francesco Toldo are not on for sale, although several teams have made rich bids for the two players. Both Rui Costa and Toldo are currently playing with their national teams in the European Championships. The president, bitterly criticized by Florentine fans for the recent sale of Batistuta, said he could not reject the 70 billion lire ($33.3 million) bid by AS Roma, also because the Argentine striker was willing to leave after nine consecutive years in Florence. "I don't plan to sell other top players ... on the contrary I plan to carry out a sensational purchase (of a player)," Cecchi Gori told a news conference. He did not elaborate but denied published reports that Fiorentina was trying to get veteran star Roberto Baggio or Brazilian Edmundo, both former players of the Florentine team.
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