Yesterday in the 2006 World Cup European Zone qualifying matches, there were as many as 23 games. Many big surprises were recorded in them. The biggest surprise was presented by Liechtenstein, who managed to snatch a draw at home against the European vice-champions Portugal.
Unexpected results also occurred in a few other matches. In Macedonia, the home team drew against the Netherlands, the Slovenians won at home against the Italians, and the French failed to beat the Irish. The European champions, the Greeks, continue to struggle. After trailing for a long time, they managed to snatch a point in the last minutes against Ukraine.
Our neighbors, the Latvians, were unable to resist Slovakia away from home and lost 4-1. Meanwhile, in Group 7, where Lithuania plays, Bosnia and Serbia played to a draw, while the Spaniards beat the Belgians 2-0. In the latter match, referee Kim Milton Nielsen showed two red cards to the Belgians. B.Goor received one for a foul on an opponent.
All Saturday match results:
Group I
Finland 3 - 1 Armenia
8' [1 - 0] Shefki Kuqi
28' [2 - 0] Aleksei Eremenko
32' [2 - 1] Armen Shahgeldyan
87' [3 - 1] Shefki Kuqi
The Czech Republic 1 - 0 Romania
36' [1 - 0] Jan Koller (penalty)
Macedonia 2 - 2 Netherlands
43' [0 - 1] Wilfred Bouma
45' [1 - 1] Goran Pandev
66' [1 - 2] Dirk Kuijt
69' [2 - 2] Ace Stojkov
Group II
Ukraine 1 - 1 Greece
49' [1 - 0] Andrei Shevchenko
82' [1 - 1] Vassilios Tsiartas
Turkey 4 - 0 Kazakhstan
17' [1 - 0] Gokdeniz Karadeniz
51' [2 - 0] Nihat Kahveci
90' [3 - 0] Fatih Tekke
90' [4 - 0] Fatih Tekke
Albania 0 - 2 Denmark
52' [0 - 1] Martin Jorgensen
72' [0 - 2] Jon Dahl Tomasson
Group III
Luxembourg 0 - 4 Russia
57' [0 - 1] Dmitri Sychev
63' [0 - 2] Andrey Arshavin
70' [0 - 3] Dmitri Sychev
87' [0 - 4] Dmitri Sychev
Slovakia 4 - 1 Latvia
3' [0 - 1] Maris Verpakovskis
48' [1 - 1] Szilard Nemeth
51' [2 - 1] Lubomir Reiter
56' [3 - 1] Miroslav Karhan
87' [4 - 1] Miroslav Karhan
Liechtenstein 2 - 2 Portugal
23' [0 - 1] Pedro Pauleta
39' [0 - 2] Daniel Hasler (own goal)
48' [1 - 2] Franz Burgmeier
76' [2 - 2] Matthias Beck
Group IV
Cyprus 2 - 2 Faroe Islands
14' [1 - 0] Michalis Konstantinou (penalty)
21' [1 - 1] Claus Bech Jorgensen
43' [1 - 2] Rogvi Jacobsen
82' [2 - 2] Giannakis Okkas
Israel 2 - 2 Switzerland
9' [1 - 0] Yossi Benayoun
26' [1 - 1] Alexander Frei
34' [1 - 2] Johan Vonlanthen
48' [2 - 2] Yossi Benayoun
France 0 - 0 Ireland
Group V
Scotland 0 - 1 Norway
54' Steffen Iversen (penalty)
53' James McFadden (Scotland) sent off
Belarus 4 - 0 Moldova
45' [1 - 0] Sergey Omelianchuk
65' [2 - 0] Vitaliy Kutuzov
76' [3 - 0] Vitaliy Buliga
90' [4 - 0] Maxim Romaschenko
Slovenia 1 - 0 Italy
82' [1 - 0] Bostjan Cesar
Group VI
England 2 - 0 Wales
4' [1 - 0] Frank Lampard
76' [2 - 0] David Beckham
Azerbaijan 0 - 0 Northern Ireland
Austria 1 - 3 Poland
10' [0 - 1] Radoslaw Kaluzny
30' [1 - 1] Marcus Schopp
79' [1 - 2] Jacek Krzynowek
90' [1 - 3] Tomasz Frankowski
88' Arkadiusz Radomski (Poland) sent off
Group VII
Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 - 0 Serbia and Montenegro
Spain 2 - 0 Belgium
60' [1 - 0] Albert Luque
63' [2 - 0] Raul Gonzalez Blanco
29' Eric Deflandre (Belgium) sent off, 68' Bart Goor (Belgium) sent off
Group VII
Sweden 3 - 0 Hungary
27' [1 - 0] Fredrik Ljungberg
51' [2 - 0] Henrik Larsson
68' [3 - 0] Anders Svensson
Malta 0 - 0 Iceland
Croatia 2 - 2 Bulgaria
16' [1 - 0] Darijo Srna
31' [2 - 0] Darijo Srna (penalty)
78' [2 - 1] Martin Petrov
87' [2 - 2] Dimitar Berbatov