Thierry Henry scored twice as France thrashed Egypt 5-0, and the Czech Republic picked up a lopsided victory 4-0 over Turkey in two key European soccer friendlies on Wednesday.
A night packed with several dozen exhibition matches also saw five Euro 2004 qualifiers contested with Georgia, Israel and Slovenia picking up important victories.
PHOTO: AFP
Georgia upset Russia 1-0 in a Group 10 match. In Group 1, Slovenia moved into second place with a 3-1 win at Malta. Israel took third in the same group with a 2-0 victory over Cyprus in Palermo, Sicily.
In other qualifiers, Group 4: Latvia 3, San Marino 0. Group 8: Andorra 0, Estonia 2. In key friendlies:
Mexico 0, Brazil 0
In Guadalajara, Mexico, Brazilian star Ronaldo was outshone by Mexican defender Rafael Marquez, as the sluggish World Cup champions came away with a scoreless draw. Mexico's Omar Briseno disarmed Ronaldinho on the only shot he had on goal, while a faster and more aggressive Mexico saw its shots repeatedly sail wide or high past the hands of goalkeeper Dida.
France 5, Egypt 0
At Paris, French captain Marcel Desailly made history as France's most-capped player, winning his 104th cap to top the old mark of 103 by Didier Deschamps. Henry scored twice in the first half with his Arsenal teammate Robert Pires scoring just before the interval. Djibril Cisse and Olivier Kapo also scored in the second half.
Netherlands 1, Portugal 1
At Eindhoven, Netherlands, Patrick Kluivert's 37th goal in an orange shirt equaled Dennis Bergkamp's Dutch national scoring record. The Barcelona striker picked up Roy Makaay's 27th-minute backheel and side-footed his shot through 'keeper Ricardo's fingertips and inside the post. Midfielder Simao Sabrosa equalized 12 minutes for time when he drove the ball through the legs of Frank de Boer. A bad deflection sent 'keeper Edwin van der Sar sprawling in the wrong direction.
The Dutch have won only once in eight meetings with Portugal. National coach Dick Advocaat stretched his unbeaten record to 14 games at the helm.
Spain 4, Ecuador 0
Striker Fernando Morientes scored three goals as Spain cruised over Ecuador in a friendly match at the Vicente Calderon stadium.
Morientes netted in the 20th, 22nd and 64th minutes on his return to the national side after being omitted from Spain's last four matches. The Real Madrid striker was re
Germany 1, Serbia
and Montenegro 0
At Bremen, Germany, Germany capitalized on a goalkeeping mistake to snap its winless streak with the victory on a goal by midfielder Sebastian Kehl. Germany, the World Cup runner-up, won for the first time in four games. It had goalkeeper Frank Rost to thank for the victory, while the error by the visitors' goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric led to Germany's goal. Kehl picked up a loose ball and fired from some 30m. Jevric tried to punch it away but instead diverted it inside his own post on the hour.
Czech Republic 4, Turkey 0
At Prague, the Czechs scored four first-half goals and buried Turkey. Tomas Rosicky opened the deluge in the second minute with three others getting into the act: Jan Koller (20th), Vladimir Smicer (37th) and Milan Baros (38th).
Switzerland 1, Italy 2
Alexander Frei gave Switzerland the lead in the fifth minute, but Nicola Legrottaglie equalized for Italy and Cristiano Zanetti got the winner.
Libya 1, Argentina 3
Javier Saviola, Juan Riquelme and Pablo Aimar scored for Argentina while Tariq al-Taib had equalized for Libya in the first half.
Denmark 1, Ukraine 0
At Copenhagen, Denmark, Thomas Graversen scored a first-half goal to give the Danes the victory. Claus Jensen took a corner kick in the 36th minute and Graversen, who was free of Ukrainian defenders, headed the ball past Ukraine goalkeeper Dmytro Shutkov.
In 2004 European qualifiers:
Georgia 1, Russia 0
At Tbilisi, Georgia, Malkhaz Asatiani scored in his international debut for the upset win over Russia and Georgia's first victory in Euro 2004 qualifying. The match was scheduled for last Oct. 12, but was suspended after 40 minutes due to a power failure. Russia refused to replay the game the next day.
Israel 2, Cyprus 0
At Palermo, Sicily, Walid Badier scored an 88th-minute match-winner for Israel's victory. The win gave Israel seven points in four games and put it in third place in the group behind France and Slovenia. France has won its five games.
Malta 1, Slovenia 3
At Valletta, Malta, Slovenia moved into second place in the group with the victory. Zlatko Zahovic gave the Slovenes a 1-0 lead after 15 minutes with Ermin Siljak scoring twice in the 37th and 57th.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS