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Quest for the cup England-Germany Wembley farewell highlights qualifiers
LONDON (AP) -- The road to the 2002 finals has just begun. But soccer will be saying to farewell to one big World Cup name on Saturday when England faces Germany in one of Europe's 22 qualifying games. Goodbye Wembley. The famous old stadium, built in 1923, will be demolished only days after Saturday's final whistle. Although it is being replaced by 2003 by a new construction on the same site, the ground with the distinctive twin towers will soon be gone. Perhaps it is fitting that the last game to be played there is an England vs. Germany World Cup qualifying match. Wembley was the venue for England's dramatic extra-time, 4-2 victory over the Germans in the 1966 World Cup final. That represents England's only triumph in a major international championship, while the Germans have won the World Cup and European Championship three times each. There is also a history about England-Germany soccer confrontations that makes Saturday's game easily the standout match of the day. After that epic 1966 final, Germany took the World Cup title off the English by beating them in the quarterfinal in Mexico in 1970. When they met in the semifinal at Turin, Italy, in 1990 the Germans triumphed in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 tie. In European Championship meetings, the Germans won 3-1 at Wembley in a quarterfinal game in 1972 and edged England in another spot kick shootout in the semifinal of the '96 tournament at Wembley after the two teams had tied 1-1. Just 3 1/2 months ago, it was England's turn to triumph, beating the Germans 1-0 at Euro 2000 in Charleroi, Belgium, and that result could give Kevin Keegan's team a psychological edge even though neither team managed to advance past the first round. But the Germans, now coached by Rudi Voeller, already have opened their World Cup account with a 2-0 victory over Greece. Voeller, however, is not optimistic. "We are no longer in a position to say we will go to Wembley and win," Voeller claims. A victory over England would put them firmly in control of Group 9, but caretaker Voeller and the German squad have been unsettled by a spectacular row between his planned successor next summer, Bayer Leverkusen's Christoph Daum, and Bayern Munich manager Uli Hoeness. But the English remain wary. "We have got to be very cautious," England captain and centerback Tony Adams said. "The country's anticipation and expectation will be on us to win. After beating them at Euro 2000 I think the country looks to us to win this one, especially at home. "But we've got to look at all eight games. There's no point in beating Germany and losing at Finland on Wednesday." Only the nine group winners are sure to qualify for the finals, which are being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. The runners-up will have to qualify through playoffs. With Alan Shearer, England's scorer in Charleroi, now retired from international soccer, Keegan is likely to have Liverpool's Michael Owen and Manchester United's Andy Cole in attack with David Beckham, who appears to have survived a knee-injury scare, and Paul Scholes providing the ammunition from midfield. The Germans, who also beat Spain 4-1 in exhibition play six weeks ago, may be forced to play without experienced attacker Mehmet Scholl, who has a knee problem. Among the other eye-catching games on Saturday are Euro 2000 runner up Italy vs. Romania in Group 8, Portugal-Ireland in Group 2 and Sweden-Turkey in Group 4. With Manchester United's Roy Keane organizing the midfield and Inter Milan striker Robbie Keane and Sunderland's Niall Quinn up front, Ireland could well cause problems for Luis Figo and the Euro 2000 semifinalists in Lisbon. In Milan, Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni has to decide whether to start with Alessandro Del Piero, who scored for Juventus on the opening day of Serie A on Sunday, or field his club colleague Filippo Inzaghi and Roma's Marco Delvecchio. Turkey may be forced to face Sweden in Goteborg without star striker Hakan Sukur, who was flown from Istanbul in a special bed on a charter plane because of stomach virus. The Yugoslavia-Russia Group 1 game has been postponed to a date still to be decided while FIFA waits to see whether Belgrade, the target of NATO bombing during the conflict over Kosovo last year, is now a suitable venue for major soccer internationals. After Saturday's 22 matches, European qualifying continues on Wednesday with 20 more games. Group 1 With co-leaders Yugoslavia and Russia not playing, Slovenia looks set to go top with an expected win at Luxembourg. Switzerland hopes to bounce back from its 1-0 loss at home to the Russians to beat the Faeroe Islands at home. Group 2 Standings leader Portugal has a tough game at home to Ireland, which began with a 2-2 tie at the Netherlands. The Dutch have a tricky visit to Cyprus, who also have three points. Like Italy, the Netherlands dropped two points in its opening game in Group 2, a 2-2 draw with Ireland in Amsterdam. Coach Louis van Gaal has midfielder Edgar Davids and winger Boudewijn Zenden back fit for a must-win game in Cyprus. The Cypriots will be no pushover, though, as they showed by beating Andorra 3-2 in their opening game. Dutch success will be even more paramount if Portugal make it two wins out of two by beating Ireland, the group's dark horse. Group 3 Northern Ireland and Denmark, each with three points, meet at Belfast, and a tie would mean that the Czech Republic would go top with a victory over Iceland at Teplice. Bulgaria, which began with a home loss to the Czechs, should bounce back with a home victory over Malta. Group 4 With the Swedes and Turks meeting in Goteborg, Slovakia should stay top by winning at Moldova. Macedonia and Azerbaijan, each without a point or a goal after losses, face each other. Sweden won its opening Group 4 game 1-0 in Azerbaijan, and joint coach Lars Lagerback knows Saturday's clash and the trip to Slovakia on Wednesday will prove a true test of his side's credentials. "These are our toughest opponents in the group," he said. Sweden is heartened by the good form of Celtic striker Henrik Larsson, while Bari's Yksel Osmanovski has been recalled to add a further option in attack. Turkey is a force to be reckoned with in European football, and it disposed of Moldova 2-0 in its first game. It is without injured midfielder Umit Davala, while defender Ozalan Alpay is suspended. Coach Senol Gunes is hoping Sukur can shrug off his stomach bug to play alongside Arif Erdem in attack. Turkey visits Azerbaijan on Wednesday, and Gunes is confident. "Our aim is six points," he said. Group 5 Joint leaders Poland and Belarus meet in Lodz, while Norway has a tricky trip to Wales, where Ryan Giggs is hoping to transfer his Manchester United form to Welsh colors. Beaten at home by Poland, Ukraine must win at Armenia to avoid losing touch. Ukraine is still smarting from the disappointment of missing out on Euro 2000, despite boasting a powerful squad spearheaded by two world class attackers in AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov of Tottenham Hotspur. A 3-1 home defeat in its opening Group 5 game against Poland in Kiev was nothing short of disastrous and they will aim to redress the balance in Saturday's visit to fellow former Soviet republic Armenia. Group 6 Leader Scotland should profit from a victory over soccer minnow San Marino and maintain its 100 percent start, while Belgium has a tougher visit to Latvia. Group 7 Group leaders Spain and Israel face each other in Madrid, while Austria should begin its campaign with a win at Liechtenstein. Group 8 Italy bids to replace Romania at the top of the standings, while Georgia hopes for a win at last place Lithuania. Group 9 After a disappointing Euro 2000, England hopes to boost its World Cup chances by starting its campaign with a home win over Germany. Finland could go top by winning at Greece.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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