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European roundup Netherlands, Germany still not in top form
Posted: Wednesday April 26, 2000 09:10 PM
LONDON (AP) -- The European Championship is less than seven weeks away and the leading contenders appear nowhere near ready. World Cup holder France conceded two goals in the first eight minutes to upstart Slovenia before hitting back to win 3-2 at home on Wednesday while European titlist Germany was held to a 1-1 tie by Switzerland and co-host and strong favorite the Netherlands was held 0-0 at home by modest Scotland. Some of the less fancied teams looked bigger contenders. Italy edged Portugal 2-0 while the Czech Republic, who qualified with a best ever record of 10 wins from 10 games and was runner up in 1996, crushed Israel 4-1 helped by two strikes by Lazio's Pavel Nedved and Sweden gained a 1-0 win at Denmark. Co-host Belgium, not expected to be among the title favorites, scored a morale boosting 2-0 win at fellow qualifier Norway and the other qualifier in action on Wednesday, Romania, triumphed 2-0 over Cyprus. At the Stade de France, where the French beat Brazil to become world champion, surprise Euro2000 qualifier Slovenia went two goals ahead through Dzoni Novak after four minutes and Saso Udovic four minutes later. David Trezeguet replied for the World Cup holder in the 63rd minute and Inter Milan defender Laurent Blanc made it 2-2 in the 76th. It looked like being tied until Trezeguet struck again for the French in the fourth minute of injury time. Switzerland, which failed to make it to the June 10-July 2 finals, went ahead in Kaiserslautern through Hakan Yakin and the Germans, who have been in poor form under coach Erich Ribbeck, were rescued by a strike six minutes from the end by Ulf Kirsten. The Dutch went close to losing at home to the Scots in Arnhem when Everton striker Don Hutchison hit the post. It was the 11th draw in 15 matches for the star-studded Dutch under coach Frank Rijkaard. In Prague, Nedved fired the Czechs ahead after 13 minutes against Israel and Jan Koller added the second before half time. After Nedved had added the third, Celtic forward Eyal Berkovic replied but Rene Wagner fired a fourth for the Czechs in injury time. At Copenhagen, Danish forward Jorgen Petterson netted what proved to be the winner in the 38th minutes with an audacious lob over veteran Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. After 75 scoreless minutes in Reggio Calabria, Juventus striker Filippo Izaghi gave Italy the lead before Roma's Francesco Totti made sure of victory with a second strike two minutes from the end. In Oslo, two goals by Gert Verheyen in the 55th and final minutes gave Belgium a 2-0 win over fellow qualifier Norway. Romania's Adrian Mutu scored in the 58th minute and Ioan Ganea netted the second goal in the 81st minute against Cyprus. The match was played at the Black Sea port city of Constanta, where stadium officials changed the name of the arena from the "Lighthouse," to "Gheorghe Hagi," in honor of the national team captain. Among games not involving Euro 2000 qualifiers, Russia maintained its domination over the United States with a 2-0 victory in Moscow through Igor Titov and Valery Karpin and Croatia, which failed to make it to the European Championship despite finishing third at the last World Cup, won 2-1 at Austria thanks to come from behind strikes from Alen Boksic and Mario Stanic. Elsewhere, it was Bulgaria 0 Ukraine 1 thanks to a second half goal by AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko, Ireland 0, Greece 1, Luxembourg 0, Estonia 0, Northern Ireland 0, Hungary 1, Poland 0, Finland 0 and Macedonia 1, Albania 0.
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