A thrilling Scandinavian derby between Denmark and Sweden was
abandoned a minute before full-time on Saturday after a fan
attacked referee Herbert Fandel who immediately blew his whistle
and walked off.
Denmark had fought back from 0-3 down to level their Euro 2008
Group F qualifier at 3-3 when Denmark's Christian Poulsen was shown
the red card just before the end for striking Markus Rosenberg.
Fandel awarded Sweden a penalty but before the kick was taken, a
fan lunged at the German - who officiated at last week's Champions
League final between AC Milan and Liverpool - and he abandoned the
match.
UEFA's Control and Disciplinary committee will now decide
whether the result should stand and what punitive action should be
taken.
While Denmark and Sweden shared six goals, Germany cracked six
of their own without reply against San Marino in Nuremberg to pull
two points clear of the Czech Republic at the top of Group D.
Germany set a European Championship record when they won 13-0 at
San Marino last September, but San Marino held out until the last
minute of the first half before Germany went ahead with a Kevin
Kuranyi header.
Marcell Jansen, Torsten Frings, Mario Gomez (2) and Clemens
Fritz added the others while San Marino had Davide Simoncini sent
off early in the second half.
Goodbye Giggs
Germany moved on to 16 points from six matches, two ahead of the
Czechs, who were held to a 0-0 draw in Cardiff by Wales with Ryan
Giggs making his 64th and last appearance for the home side. The
result all but ended Wales' faint hopes of qualifying.
In Group A, there were important wins for Poland, Portugal and
Serbia who occupy the top three positions with Finland edged out to
fourth place and Belgium's hopes dashed.
Poland came from behind to beat Azerbaijan 3-1 with goals by
Euzebiusz Smolarek (63) and Jacek Krzynowek (66, 90) to record
their sixth win from eight matches and stay five points clear at
the top.
Portugal won 2-1 in Brussels with a second-half goal from Helder
Postiga securing the points.
Manchester United's new signing Nani put the visitors in front
against the run of play in the 43rd minute and while Belgium
equalised in the 54th with a Marouane Felliani strike, Postiga
rifled home the winner nine minutes later.
Serbia won 2-0 in Finland in another Group A match to move on to
14 points to keep their chances alive.
France displaced Ukraine at the top of Group B after beating
them 2-0 in Paris with second half goals from Franck Ribery and
Nicolas Anelka who scored with a well struck volley.
Inzaghi double
World champions Italy moved up from fourth to second place with
a 2-1 win in the Faroe Islands with Filippo Inzaghi, who scored
both of Milan's goals in the Champions League final, getting both
of Italy's as they labored to a nervous win in the blustery North
Atlantic conditions.
Reigning European champions Greece also kept on course for the
finals with a 2-0 win over Hungary, which, coupled with Turkey's
3-2 defeat in Bosnia, took Greece to the top of Group C. They will
have a good chance of extending their lead when they face
bottom-placed Moldova in Crete again on Wednesday.
The top three teams in Group E all won with Croatia winning 1-0
in Estonia, Israel 2-1 in Macedonia and Russia beating Andorra 4-0
in St Petersburg.
Those results have put even greater pressure on England to win
in Estonia on Wednesday, but Croatia were made to work hard for
their victory despite the fact Estonia have no points or goals from
their six matches.
Spain, meanwhile, improved their chances of earning a place in
next year's finals when they notched up their third qualifying win
in a row with a 2-0 Group F victory in Latvia on Saturday.
That lifted them on to 12 points, one behind leaders Northern
Ireland and they could well be top on Wednesday after visiting
Liechtenstein with the Irish not playing.
(China Daily via Agencies June 4, 2007)