Fri, Nov 21, 2003 page23

• Latvia knocks out Turkey

  EURO 2004 The Baltic team hit back from 2-0 down in Istanbul to gain a 2-2 tie and, together with its 1-0 victory from the home leg in Riga, moves to the finals

  • AP
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  Latvia produced the shock of the Euro 2004 playoffs on Wednesday by ousting World Cup semifinalist Turkey.

  The Baltic team hit back from 2-0 down in Istanbul to gain a 2-2 tie and, together with its 1-0 victory from the home leg in Riga, advanced to its first major soccer championship.

  "It was a historic win," said Latvia's coach Alexandrs Starkovs. "I can't answer you on how we will do in Portugal. It's too early."

  

  Turkey Emre Belozoglu, left, battles against Imants Bleidis of Latvia at Besiktas Inonu Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, during their Euro 2004 second-leg match. The match ended in a draw, qualifying Latvia for the finals.

  PHOTO: AP

  While Latvians took the streets of Riga in celebration of reaching the finals, the Netherlands and Spain burst through the side door with convincing victories in other playoffs of group runners up.

  Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy scored three as the Dutch overturned Scotland's 1-0 first leg lead with a 6-0 hammering in Amsterdam.

  And Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez led the Spaniards to a 3-0 victory over Norway in Oslo which meant a 5-1 triumph overall.

  If only they could have played like that in the group stages.

  Russia gained a 1-0 victory in Cardiff to lengthen Wales' 45-year wait for an appearance in a major championship while 10-man Croatia also made it to Portugal by winning 1-0 at neighbor Slovenia.

  The five survivors from the runners up playoffs join host Portugal and the 10 group winners -- defending champion France, World Cup runner up Germany, Italy, England, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Greece, Denmark, Bulgaria and Sweden -- in the June 12-July 4 finals.

  The draw is in Lisbon Nov. 30.

  The Turks know they should have been there too.

  The World Cup semifinalist needed just 20 minutes to wipe out Latvia's 1-0 first leg advantage when Ilhan Mansiz hit the target in the 20th minute. When veteran striker Hakan Sukur made it 2-0 on the night in the 64th minute it looked as if the Turks were going to the finals.

  But Latvia, runner up to Sweden in Group 4, hit back with goals by Juris Laizans (66th minute) and Maris Verpakovskis (77th) for a tie which stunned the Turks in front of their own fans. It is the first time the Baltic state, once part of the Soviet Union, has qualified for a major championship.

  Croatia 1, Slovenia 0

  Croatia gained a 1-0 victory at Slovenia to advance to the finals 2-1 on aggregate, having been held 1-1 at home in the first leg.

  Two minutes after Juventus defender Igor Tudor had been ejected for a second yellow card in Ljubljana, 10-man Croatia went ahead through AS Monaco's Dado Prso.

  The victory meant it gained its second appearance in the finals and maintained an unbeaten record in eight matches against its neighbor.

  "We gave it our best, fighting to the end as much as we could," said Prso, who also scored the Croatian goal in the first leg. "I said earlier that the best team would come out on top after two games and we did."

  Croatia, which finished runner up to Bulgaria in Group 8, reached the quarterfinal at Euro '96 in England and then went on to finish third at the 1998 World Cup in France. Each time the Croats lost to the team that won the title -- Germany and France.

  Russia 1, Wales 0

  Vadim Evseev headed Russia into the European Championship in a 1-0 playoff victory over Wales on Wednesday.

  The defender netted in the 22nd minute before a 73,062 fans at the Millennium stadium and it proved the only goal over 180 minutes, the two teams having tied 0-0 in Moscow on Saturday.

  Russia coach Georgy Yartsev said his side deserved to win over the two legs.

  "It took us two very tough playoff games against one of the strongest teams, which had not just European class, but world class players," he said.

  Yartsev said the Welsh lost because they were "overly emotional."

  It was a sad ending for the Welsh, who once led their qualifying group by five points, but faded badly and then failed to score over the two legs. Wales has now not qualified for a major championship since the 1958 World Cup.

  "Conceding the first goal, it hurt us," Welsh manager Mark Hughes said. "They could sit back and frustrate us. We had to chase the game in the second half, it was very difficult to make inroads."

  The fact that it was Evseev who scored the winner added more pain for the Welsh. He was at the center of the Ryan Giggs' elbowing incident in the first leg that ended with UEFA charging the Manchester United star with improper conduct.

  The home fans -- a record number for a Welsh soccer international -- in the Millennium Stadium began by booing the Russian national anthem in a reaction to the Russians' bid to get Giggs suspended for the game. The Russians had sent a video of the Evseev incident to UEFA and the result was the disciplinary charge.

  Wales should have scored the first goal of the two-leg playoff in the 13th minute when Andy Johnson headed on a long throw and Andy Melville touched the ball forward to John Hartson. The tall Celtic striker turned a defender but pulled his shot tamely wide of the far post to the dismay of the home fans. The miss looked even more costly as the Russians went ahead in the 22nd minute.

  Rolan Gusev swung over a rightwing free kick and Evseev beat Gary Speed to the ball to power a header past goalkeeper Paul Jones.

  "I took this team when the situtation was probably worse than you can imagaine," Yartsev said. "I had to bring back the players who were willing to be part of the national team."

  Netherlands 6, Scotland 0

  The Netherlands qualified for the 2004 European Championship finals by crushing Scotland 6-0 Wednesday and advancing with a 6-1 aggregate victory.

  Ruud van Nistelrooy scored three times to silence the team's critics while 19-year-old Ajax midfielder Wesley Sneijder opened the scoring in the 14th minute and set up three more.

  Sneijder beat Scotland defender Neil McCann and then exposed the Scottish defense, which sat back on the edge of the penalty area and allowed him to drive a low 20m shot at goalkeeper Robert Douglas' right-hand post.

  Sneijder then set up two more goals with free kicks headed in by Andre Ooijer in the 32nd minute and Van Nistelrooy in the 37th, making clear the Dutch would avenge their 1-0 humbling in Glasgow.

  Van Nistelrooy clipped the fourth over Douglas in the 51st minute. The ball had just enough speed to bounce into the roof of the net and elude the returning defenders.

  With the Dutch playing with a fire uncommon in recent performances, Scotland lacked the guile to mount a concerted response. The Scottish central defenders who had stood so firm in the first leg looked to have lost their way.

  But in the 40th minute, Scotland defender Lee Wilkie had his side's best chance, forcing an acrobatic parry from Dutch 'keeper Edwin van der Sar with a header from a free kick.

  Frank de Boer, who came on for Ooijer at the half, netted the fifth in the 64th with another header -- off a corner kick by Sneijder.

  And Van Nistelrooy's hat trick in the 67th was a fortunate affair after Andy van der Meyde broke down the right to pull the ball back. The Manchester United man scuffed his shot but it bounced over Douglas as the 'keeper dived.

  Spain 3, Norway 0

  Spain blanked Norway 3-0 on Wednesday behind goals by Raul Gonzalez, Vicente Rodriguez and Joseba Etxeberria to clinch a berth in the 2004 European Championship finals with a 5-1 aggregate win.

  Spain carried the play during the first half hour and took a well-deserved lead in the 34th minute.

  Goalkeeper Espen Johnsen, one of Norway's heroes in the 2-1 loss Saturday in Valencia, had no chance to stop the shot after Raul outraced defender Ronny Johnsen. The goal meant Norway had to score at least two goals to advance.

  It was Raul's 37th goal for Spain and one of the most important in the Real Madrid striker's national team career.

  "The first goal was important because it gave us confidence. Now we can enjoy the victory. We're all really happy. We dedicate the win to our fans. We can now start dreaming about doing well in Portugal," Raul said.

  Johnsen appeared to be suffering from an aching right ankle after an incident in the 22nd minute, but he kept playing until the last half hour.

  Vicente capitalized on a defensive blunder by Christer Basma to make it 2-0 and put the game out of reach just five minutes into the second half.

  Spain struck again in the 57th minute, when Etxeberria got the third goal thanks to a blunder by Johnsen. Trying to clear the ball, Johnsen mishit it with his injured foot and the ball bounced off Etxeberria and into the net.

  Frode Olsen replaced Johnsen with 30 minutes left.

  "We played a great match. We were much the better team," Spain midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron said.

  "There seemed to be doubt about us after the first game in Valencia but we didn't deserve it. In that game, we were superior too."

  Spanish coach Inaki Saez agreed that Spain played a great match.

  "The quality this team has makes it an obligation to do well for the sake of the supporters, and also to play good soccer," Saez said.

  "The players were immense all match. They always kept their concentration and pushed forward in search of goals when they had the chance."

  The loss means Nils Johan Semb has coached Norway for the last time. Three months ago, Semb announced he would step down after next year's championships in Portugal or leave the post earlier if Norway failed to qualify.

  Under Semb, Norway also missed a berth in last year's World Cup, while its Scandinavian neighbors Sweden and Denmark both made the second round in South Korea and Japan.
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