France secure place in finals

HOLDERS France booked their place in next year’s European championship finals with a 2-0 away win over nearest Group One rivals Slovenia last night.

The defending champions, who had Claude Makelele sent off, are now eight points clear of Slovenia who secured a playoff berth thanks to Israel’s 2-2 draw with Malta.

David Trezeguet curled France in front after 10 minutes with a shot just inside goalkeeper Marko Simeunovic’s far post.

Makelele was shown the red card in the 66th minute for a second bookable offence, five minutes before substitute Olivier Dacourt doubled the tally.

The Czech Republic also booked their place in the finals of Euro 2004 with a 3-1 win over Group Three rivals Holland in a game where the Dutch played with 10 men for most of the match.

The Dutch, winners in 1988 and trying desperately to make up for the disappointment of missing out on last year’s World Cup, were always up against it when they had midfielder Edgar Davids sent off after just 13 minutes.

The Juventus hard-man, who had been booked for a foul on club teammate Pavel Nedved after 10 minutes, was red-carded for bringing down Karel Poborsky inside the penalty area three minutes later.

Borussia Dortmund’s giant striker Jan Koller stepped up to score from the penalty spot.

The Dutch were forced into a drastic rethink of their tactics and Marc Overmars was substituted by Paul Bosvelt after only 20 minutes.

However, the home side, winners in 1976 and runners-up in 1996, turned the screw seven minutes from half-time when Poborsky picked up a pass from Nedved and beat goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar with a deft chip.

Holland gave themselves hope when they pulled one back in the 61st minute through Rafael van der Vaart.

However, the Czechs made sure of the victory when Liverpool midfielder Milan Baros tucked away the third goal in the fourth minute of injury time. The result means Holland must now hope to qualify for the finals by winning a two-legged play-off against another runner-up.

Italy survived a late rally by Serbia and Montenegro to earn a 1-1 draw in a pulsating Group Nine qualifier.

The result means that Italy have a guaranteed play-off place at worst while Serbia and Montenegro have lost all hope of reaching the finals in Portugal.

The Italians took a 22nd minute lead through Filippo Inzaghi, who capitalised on a defensive blunder and slotted the ball home from close range past helpless keeper Dragoslav Jevric.

The home side had Italy on the back-foot for most of the match and missed a number of good chances before Sasa Ilic grabbed an 81st minute equaliser, when he tapped the ball in from a goalmouth melee after a well-taken corner by second half substitute Branko Boskovic.

Two first-half goals powered in-form Sweden past Poland 2-0 and into the finals on top of qualifying Group Four. Sweden had a dream start when midfielder Mikael Nilsson tapped in from seven metres in the second minute after confusion deep within Poland’s penalty box.

Aston Villa’s Olof Mellberg made it 2-0 with a sharp header in the 36th minute and the Swedes could have easily added to the tally had it not been for some inspired play by keeper Jerzy Dudek.

Poland must now win in Hungary on October 11 and hope Sweden top Latvia to advance to the playoffs.

A late and controversial equaliser by Martin Laursen earned Denmark a 2-2 draw against Romania and kept them top of Group Two.

The result also meant the Danes are guaranteed at least a place in the play-offs, although Morten Olsen’s team, who had home advantage, will be confident of winning the group still.

An Adrian Mutu-inspired Romania had looked set to jump above their opponents and take top spot in the standings.

Jon Dahl Tomasson put the home side ahead from the penalty spot in the 34th minute but the crowd was silenced when Adrian Mutu and Daniel Pancu put Romania 2-1 up midway through the second half.

In the last minute a cross from the left found its way to Laursen, eight yards out, and although he looked to control the ball with his right arm, his prodded shot found the left corner of the net and saved the day.

Israel’s hopes of clinching a playoff berth for Euro were ended when they could only manage a 2-2 draw against Malta.

In Ireland’s Group 10, Albania produced a strong second-half performance to beat Georgia 3-1 to avenge their 3-0 drubbing by the Georgians on Saturday and rule the latter out of any bid for the play offs.