Unsung Iceland and Wales took big steps toward qualifying for UEFA Euro 2016 on Thursday — and they do not intend to take the long road to the expanded 24-team tournament just because there are more ways to qualify.
Iceland stunned the 10-man Netherlands 1-0 in Amsterdam and lead Group A, while Gareth Bale scored a late goal for Wales in a 1-0 victory in Cyprus to give them a three-point lead over Belgium at the top of Group B.
Iceland have never qualified for a major tournament, while Wales’ only appearance came at the 1958 World Cup.
Photo: Reuters
“We know what we have to do,” Bale said. “We are a strong team, we are together. We know what our capabilities are. We have earned the right to be in this position.”
Meanwhile, Graziano Pelle saved Italy from embarrassment against Malta again, securing a 1-0 win against the 160th-ranked opponents to put the Azzurri in command of Group H.
Pelle also scored in a 1-0 win in Malta in October last year.
Photo: AP
“That’s my job — to score,” Pelle said. “It’s never easy. Football is very balanced these days.”
The top two finishers from the nine groups qualify automatically for next year’s tournament in France. The best third-placed team also qualifies automatically, while the other eight third-placed teams enter the playoffs.
In Group A, Arjen Robben’s first match as Netherlands captain was over inside a half hour as he limped off at the Amsterdam Arena injured and had to watch from the sideline as his team lost 1-0 to group leaders Iceland.
Danny Blind’s debut as national coach went from bad to worse in the 33rd minute when referee Milorad Mazic showed defender Bruno Martins Indi a red card for making a striking movement with his arm as he tumbled to the ground in a tackle with Kolbeinn Sigthhorsson.
Blind was highly critical of Martins Indi, calling his foul “unbelievably unprofessional.”
“This is not the scenario you have in mind for your first match as Netherlands coach,” Blind said.
Gylfi Sigurdsson converted a 51st-minute penalty for Iceland’s only goal after Gregory van der Wiel brought down Birkir Bjarnason.
Sigurdsson must wish he only plays the Netherlands — the midfielder scored twice in Iceland’s 2-0 home defeat of them in October last.
In the other Group A qualifiers, the Czech Republic came from behind to beat Kazakhstan 2-1 to stay in second place, while Latvia drew 1-1 with Turkey.
In Group B, Wales are one win from qualifying for a first major tournament in 58 years after Gareth Bale powered in an 82nd-minute header to clinch the 1-0 victory.
Wales, who reached an all-time high ninth in the FIFA rankings hours earlier, have a three-point lead over Belgium after Marouane Fellaini, Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard gave them a 3-1 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
With three games remaining, Israel stayed two points further back after routing Andorra 4-0.
Beating Israel tomorrow would secure Wales’ first trip to a tournament since the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
In Group H, Italy took command of the group after scraping out a 1-0 win over Malta.
It appeared that Pelle used his shoulder or arm to redirect in a cross from Antonio Candreva in the 69th minute, but it was not clear if the goal should have been disallowed.
“When I rewatch it, I’ll be able to tell,” Pelle said.
Italy are level on 15 points with Croatia, who were held to 0-0 in Azerebaijan and are likely to lose a point for fan trouble pending an appeal.
Norway, who won 1-0 in Bulgaria, are next with 13 points, followed by Bulgaria with eight, Azerbaijan with five and Malta with one.
Vegard Forren scored his first international goal for Norway in the 57th minute with a volley.
In Azerbaijan, the closest either team came to scoring was a shot off the crossbar from Croatia’s Ivan Perisic in the second half.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was