World Cup runner up Germany was held 1-1 at home by Lithuania in the big surprise of Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifying games.
Although Carsten Ramelow put the three-time winner and two-time runner up ahead after just seven minutes, Lithuania hit back to earn an expected point through Tomas Razanauskas' reply in the 73rd minute.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The result meant that Rudi Voeller's team lost top place in Group 5 to Berti Vogts' Scotland, who downed Iceland 2-1 at Hampden Park.
Defending champion France crushed Malta 6-0 to move eight points clear in its group and looks like winning the race to be first qualifier for next year's finals in Portugal.
Italy, runner up in 2000, improved its qualifying hopes with a 2-0 victory over Finland while, in the top game of the night, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic tied 1-1.
England gained vital points but few friends after an unimpressive 2-0 beating of soccer minnow Liechtenstein on Saturday.
Swiss police reported that 25 England fans were arrested and five injured after violence broke out in Zurich the night before the game. Police reacted after the fans threw bottles and stones at them.
Before a sellout 3,500 fans in the Liechtenstein capital Vaduz, Michael Owen headed the first and David Beckham struck home a trademark free kick.
But Sven-Goran Eriksson's team missed more chances and went close to conceding goals in the last few minutes against one of soccer's weakest teams, which has just one victory in 40 competitive matches.
By contrast Ryan Giggs scored one and set up two as freescoring Wales stayed top of its group with a 4-0 beating of Azerbaijan.
Russia was upset 3-1 by Albania, Spain was held 2-2 by Ukraine thanks to a last-minute equalizer and Denmark scored a 5-2 victory at Romania whose coach, Anghel Iordanescu, quit.
There was crowd trouble at Georgia's 2-1 home loss to Ireland in Tbilisi where home fans threw an open penknife and a bottle onto the field.
Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane each scored twice in Lens as France made it four wins from four games at the top of Group 1. Sylvain Wiltord and David Trez-eguet added the other goals as the French moved eight points clear of Israel and Cyprus who tied 1-1 at Limmasol.
Manchester United star Giggs inspired Wales to a fourth Group 9 win in a row as Mark Hughes' team moved closer to its first European Championship appearance since 1976.
Giggs set up a goal after just 13 seconds for Newcastle's Craig Bellamy, provided a cross for John Hartson's third just before half time and then ran clear of the Azerbaijan defense for the fourth in the 52nd. Gary Speed netted the second in the 40th.
Returning to the Italian lineup for the first time in nine months, Francesco Totti set up two goals for Christian Vieri in a 2-0 win over the Finns at Palermo to climb to second and stay five points behind the Welsh.
The Italians jumped above the Serbs who aren't playing in the latest round of games.
Ruud van Nistelrooy became the third Manchester United player -- as well as Beckham and Giggs -- to score Saturday when he put the Dutch ahead just before half time against the Czechs in Rotterdam.
But Borussia Dortmund's towering striker, Jan Koller, levelled in the 67th minute and the two teams are tied on seven points at the top of Group 3 above Austria who didn't have a game.
Spain was on the brink of going four points clear at the top of Group 6 until Oleksandr Horoshkov volleyed a last minute equalizer for Ukraine in Kiev.
After Andriy Voronin had fired the home team ahead in the 11th minute, three goals came in the last six. Real Madrid star Raul Gonzalez and Joseba Etxeberria put Spain ahead until Horoshkov snatched a tie which means Ukraine remains one point behind.
Scotland strengthened its chances of qualifying for a big championship for the first time in five years by beating Iceland 2-1 at Hampden Park, a result which gives the visitor little chance of making it to next year's finals in Portugal.
Although Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen canceled out a 12th minute strike by Kenny Miller, Dundee defender Lee Wilkie headed the winner for Berti Vogts team with 19 minutes remaining.
Scotland now has seven points from three Group 5 games and would have been in an even better position had it had it not dropped two against modest Faeroe Islands in a disappointing 2-2 tie.
Ireland revived its chances in Group 10 by winning 2-1 at Georgia for its first points in three games.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB