Northern Ireland’s fairy-tale start to Euro 2016 qualifying continued in sensational style on Tuesday as Michael O’Neill’s side stunned former champions Greece 2-0 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens.
The visitors were left celebrating their third straight victory thanks to goals from Jamie Ward and Kyle Lafferty and, sitting top of Group F, are starting to dream of reaching their first major championship finals since the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
The Northern Irish side took a deserved early lead in the ninth minute through Ward’s strike, with Lafferty adding the decider in superb fashion on the counterattack six minutes after halftime.
Photo: EPA
The victory piles the pressure on Claudio Ranieri’s side, who are second-bottom of the group as Northern Ireland moved two points clear of Romania at the top.
For Greece, who were favorites to win the group when the draw was made, it is the worst start to a qualifying campaign since Euro 2004, when they lost their opening two games before eventually qualifying and going on to win the tournament.
The Greek squad started nervously in the face of early pressure from the visitors and found themselves behind when Ward worked hard to win a corner on the right flank.
The Derby County striker earned his reward after ruffling the feathers of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and captain Vasilis Torosidis by turning home the resulting corner from Oliver Norwood.
Norwich City striker Lafferty then made it 2-0 with his third goal in as many matches, outpacing Kostas Stafylidis on a rapid break before scoring with a clinical, low shot.
In Tuesday’s other Group F games, a brace from Bogdan Stancu gave Romania a resounding 2-0 win in Finland, while Adam Szalai’s solitary effort handed Hungary a 1-0 triumph in the Faroe Islands.
In the day’s sole Group E game, Switzerland recorded their first points with a 4-0 victory away to hapless San Marino, with Haris Seferovic scoring twice and Blerim Dzemaili and Xherdan Shaqiri also on target.
The next round of Euro qualifiers will be played over the weekend of Nov. 14 to 16.
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
Taiwanese shortstop Cheng Tsung-che on Friday made history for the Boston Red Sox’s Triple A affiliate, hitting the Worcester Red Sox’s first cycle, while netting two runs, as they beat fellow Taiwan teammate Stuart Fairchild’s Columbus Clippers. The 24-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates prospect went 4-4, completing a full cycle, starting with a triple in the second inning off Ryan Webb in the WooSox’s 9-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians’ Triple A affiliate. He scored in the same inning after teammate Vinny Capra, a fellow former Pirate, grounded out. The Pingtung County native followed that up with a walk in the third, an
RSS