After a tumultuous week, England overcame a missed penalty kick by David Beckham and qualified for next summer's European Championship.
England scraped out a 0-0 draw against Turkey in Istanbul on Saturday night to win Group 7 and secure an automatic qualifying berth for the 16-team championship in Portugal.
Turkish players taunted Beckham after his wild penalty miss, triggering a brawl in the stadium tunnel at halftime.
PHOTO: AP
Two other European powers, Italy and Germany, also qualified Saturday, along with Denmark, Switzerland and Greece.
But Spain was left to contest a playoff, along with other second-place finishers Turkey, Scotland, Norway, Russia, Latvia, Croatia and Wales.
A total of six automatic qualifying spots and eight playoff berths were decided in 20 games across Europe.
PHOTO: EPA
Five nations had already secured places in next summer's tournament: host Portugal and group winners France, Czech Republic, Sweden and Bulgaria.
Two countries -- the Netherlands and Slovenia -- had been assured of playoff spots as group runners-up.
The unseeded draw for the 10-nation playoff will be held Monday in Frankfurt. The games will be contested over two legs on Nov. 15 and 19.
The English needed only a point to advance ahead of Turkey -- and that's just what they got. England finished with 20 points, two ahead of the Turks.
England went into the game after a week marred by a drug scandal, rape allegations, a player revolt and doubts over coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's future. But the team managed to restore some pride.
"The nil-nil showed our character even more than winning 1-nil or 2-nil," Beckham said.
England defender Rio Ferdinand was excluded from the team after missing a drug test, triggering a short-lived player threat to boycott the game. Newspapers reported that Eriksson could quit after Saturday's match to become manager of Chelsea, and police are investigating rape allegations involving several Premier League players.
"I'm very, very proud," Eriksson said. "To do a job like that today after a week like we had is very professional."
Pressed on whether he planned to stay as England coach, Eriksson said, "I really hope so. Yes, of course."
After Steven Gerrard was tripped in the penalty area, Beckham lined up for a penalty kick in the 36th minute. He slipped, his left foot giving way under him, and shanked the ball some 6m over the crossbar. It's the first time Beckham has failed to convert a penalty in his England career.
Turkish defender Alpay Ozalan got in Beckham's face to taunt him. Later as the players walked off at halftime, Alpay jabbed his hand in Beckham's face, and the England captain tried to reach out after him.
"He just went past me and clipped me around the ear, and said something about my mother," Beckham said. "Obviously it upset me a little bit."
At least 50 people scuffled in the tunnel outside the teams' dressing rooms in a "mini riot," Sky Sports News reported. After the clashes were broken up, Italian referee Pierluigi Collina called in Beckham and Alpay and told them to cool down.
English fans were barred from the game to prevent crowd violence. Turkish fans booed the British national anthem and set off flares in the stadium, but no major incidents were reported.
Filippo Inzaghi scored two goals and Christian Vieri and Marco Di Vaio had one each as Italy beat Azerbaijan 4-0 in Reggio Calabria to win Group 9. Wales, which could have topped the group had Italy slipped up, lost 3-2 in Cardiff to Serbia-Montenegro.
Greece 1, N. Ireland 0
Greece beat Northern Ireland 1-0 in Athens on a second-half penalty by Vassilis Tsiartas to win Group 6 ahead of Spain and advance to its first Euro championship in 24 years.
Spain beat Armenia 4-0 in Yerevan, but finished a point behind Greece.
The Greeks, coached by Germany's Otto Rehhagel, won six straight qualifiers after losing their opening two matches against Ukraine and Spain. Saturday's win assures Greece of a double celebration in 2004: playing in its first European Championship since 1980 and hosting the Olympics in Athens.
For Spain, failing to win the group marked another disappointment for one of the world's most underachieving national teams.
Germany 3, Iceland 0
In Hamburg, Michael Ballack, Freddie Bobic and Kevin Kuranyi scored as Germany beat Iceland 3-0 to win Group 5.
Scotland claimed second place in the group and a playoff berth by beating Lithuania 1-0 in Glasgow on a goal by Manchester United's Darren Fletcher in the 70th minute.
In the tightest of the 10 groups, Denmark secured first place and automatic qualification from Group 2 with a 1-1 draw at Bosnia-Herzegovina. Norway claimed second place and a playoff spot, beating Luxembourg 1-0 on a first half goal by Tor Andre Flo.
Denmark finished with 15 points. Norway and Romania, which had played all its matches, finished tied with 14, but the Norwegians had better head-to-head results.
Switzerland 2, Ireland 0
Group 10 was settled when Switzerland qualified by defeating Ireland 2-0 in Basle with a goal in each half from Hakan Yakin and Alexander Frei. Russia, which defeated Georgia 3-1, settled for the playoff spot.
Surprising Latvia secured a playoff spot by beating Sweden 1-0 in Stockholm on a first-half goal by Maris Verpakovskis. Sweden, which had been unbeaten in Euro 2004 qualifying, had already clinched first place in Group 4.
Croatia took second place in Group 8 by beating already-qualifed Bulgaria 1-0 in Zagreb on a 48th minute goal by Ivica Olic. Belgium, which defeated Estonia 2-0, finished tied on points with Croatia but had inferior head-to-head results.
France, the defending European champion, finished as the only team with a perfect record of eight qualifying victories, beating Israel 3-0 on first-half goals by Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Jean-Alain Boumsong.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS