Holders Spain join fellow European giants England, Germany and France in hoping to avoid major slip-ups today following largely positive respective starts to Euro 2012 qualifying.
Having carried on from where they left off in winning a maiden World Cup by taking six points from their opening two fixtures, Vicente Del Bosque’s Spain will look to keep that form going against Scotland in Glasgow.
The Scots put everyone behind the ball for much of Friday’s match in Prague to frustrate a Czech Republic side who finally prevailed 1-0.
Photo: Reuters
With just the group winners guaranteed a place in the finals in Poland and Ukraine, the three points were hugely important for the Czechs, runners-up at Euro 96, but set for a tough battle with Spain to top the group.
Lithuania made Spain sweat on Friday before succumbing 3-1 in Salamanca and the latter expect a tough test at Hampden Park.
Spain have some hardened individuals of their own, however, and will be boosted by the availability of Real Madrid destroyer Xabi Alonso, who missed the Lithuania match with flu.
His knowledge of the full-blooded nature of the British game from his time with Liverpool will enable the Spanish to get to grips rapidly with the physical style of Scotland.
Spain are one of seven sides who have maximum points from their qualifiers to date — though they have played just twice.
Four sides can boast a full house from three outings — but few would have expected Montenegro to be one of them.
Single-goal wins over Wales, Bulgaria and Switzerland have propelled the team, which four years ago was still wedded to Serbia, to the top of Group G.
Now a trip to Wembley beckons — a venue that can hold a sixth of Montenegro’s entire population of 320,000.
England are searching for their third win under Fabio Capello, but the Eastern Europeans will not be in London for the sightseeing.
Montenegro captain Mirko Vucinic has scored against both Rio Ferdinand and John Terry — who pulled out of the England squad late on Sunday through injury — in the Champions League for AS Roma, as well as netting the goal that sank Switzerland in Podgorica last Friday.
Visiting coach Zlatko Kranjcar smells an upset.
“I have told my players we must not go to London to go shopping. We go to England to prove that our results are not just lucky,” Kranjcar said.
Defender Miodrag Dzudovic said his side fear nobody.
“We respect England — but we can beat England. We don’t fear them and we don’t fear Rooney,” Dzudovic said.
Switzerland will hope to stay in touch with a home win over Wales.
Another perfect record will go in the Group E meeting between World Cup finalists the Netherlands and Sweden.
The Dutch have won three out of three, the Swedes two from two, as both fight it out with Hungary in hot pursuit.
Looking for a fourth win in four are Germany, who should see off a Kazakhstan side coached by German Bernd Stork, having flattened Turkey last Friday even if midfielder Mesut Ozil does not get over an ankle injury suffered in that game.
Austria can stay in touch with Germany if they can win in Belgium for a third success.
The Republic of Ireland are seeking to bounce back from a Group B loss to Russia with a win in Slovakia — likewise two wins from three — while Russia will eye a win in Macedonia as they also target top spot.
Italy will consolidate leadership of Group C if they beat Serbia, undone at home by Estonia last week, in Genoa, while fellow summer dunces France, having put Romania in their place, should swat Luxembourg in Metz to stay top of Group D.
In Group H, Portugal will try to close a five-point gap on leaders Norway — without a game — by winning in Iceland.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set