Group B - Match 2: France v Italy

6 September 2006: France 3-1 Italy (Paris)
Roberto Donadoni's Italy career is in trouble after France took a 3-1 World Cup revenge, leaving their Euro 2008 hopes in dire straits. Donadoni was already under pressure after the 1-1 draw with Lithuania and made changes to that line-up, introducing Franco Semioli, Gianluca Zambrotta and Alberto Gilardino for the 4-4-1-1 system that Italy employed in their World Cup win. Massimo Oddo, Daniele De Rossi and Pippo Inzaghi made way.

Before kick-off there was a minute's silence to mark the death of Inter President and legendary Azzurri captain Giacinto Facchetti. The Italian team also wore black armbands.

Les Bleus were still livid after that Berlin loss and it showed, as they came sprinting out of the blocks and within the opening 90 seconds Sidney Govou had volleyed a William Gallas cross low into the far corner past Gigi Buffon. As against Lithuania, the defending left something to be desired, although replays showed that the Arsenal defender was clearly offside when he got the ball.

On 17 minutes Buffon had his palms stung by a Florent Malouda rocket only for Henry to latch on to the loose ball and sidefoot it in from a tight angle with the aid of a Fabio Cannavaro deflection. However, Italy pulled a goal back moments later. As in the World Cup Final, they were superior on set-pieces and Gilardino was allowed a free header on Andrea Pirlo's free kick to glance it past Gregory Coupet.

Searching for an equaliser, Donadoni replaced Semioli with David Di Michele of Palermo, switching to a trident attack. However, this left Italy even more over-run in midfield and within seconds France scored their third goal. Willy Sagnol's assist was glanced into the far corner off Govou's head for his second of the game, but there were few celebrations as he clashed heads with Cannavaro.

The result now leaves Italy fives points behind the French and Scotland. October's ties in Rome against the Ukraine and away to Georgia become decisive if Donadoni is to have any hope of reaching Euro 2008.

France: Coupet, Sagnol, Gallas, Thuram, Abidal, Ribery (Saha 88), Vieira, Makelele, Malouda, Govou (Wiltord 75), Henry.
Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Barzagli, Grosso, Semioli (Di Michele 54), Pirlo, Gattuso, Perrotta, Cassano (Inzaghi 73), Gilardino (De Rossi 87).
Ref: Herbert Fandel (Germany).


Other Group B Matches
Scotland stretched their unbeaten away run to seven games to make it two wins out of two in their Euro 2008 campaign after a fine 2-1 win in Lithuania. Tomas Zvirgzduaskas had an early effort headed off the line by Gary Naysmith. But Scotland took the lead after the break when Christian Dailly headed home a Naysmith corner. And Kenny Miller hammered in a second after hesitation in the home defence before a suberb Darius Miceika overhead kick produced a tense finish.

Ukraine came from behind to beat Georgia 3-2 in Kiev. The hosts had to do it the hard way after appearing to have blown a lead given to them by Andriy Shevchenko's 31st minute header from Andrei Gusin's pass. A spirited fightback from Georgia was rewarded just seven minutes later when Shota Arveladze beat Alexander Shovkovsky from the edge of the area. And a curling free kick from George Demetradze completed the turnaround shortly after the hour - but only briefly. The visitors were left to rue the concession of an immediate equaliser after Ruslan Rotan capitalised on a defensive error to haul his side level. Rusol then struck to ensure his side got their Group B campaign off to the best possible start. Georgia, meanwhile, remain on three points after suffering a second successive defeat.


Group A
Portugal needed to hold on for a 1-1 Euro 2008 qualifying away draw with Finland in Helsinki. The World Cup semi-finalists will be happy to come away with the result after playing the majority of the second half with ten men. Roy Hodgson's Finns came into Wednesday's clash buoyed by their impressive win in Poland on Saturday, and they started well against Luiz Felipe Scolari's side. Jonatan Johansson gave the Nordic nation the lead on 22 minutes, as he converted Joonas Kolkka's free kick from the right. Finland's lead lasted until three minutes before the break, as Benfica striker Nuno Gomes scored his 25th goal for his country after converting Deco's pass from the right flank. Portugal then faced a difficult task to hold on for a point, as Ricardo Costa was sent for a second bookable offence after a challenge on Johansson on 53 minutes. The visitors, however, held out for a draw to open their qualifying account in Group A.

Serbia came from a goal down to earn an important 1-1 draw with struggling Poland in Warsaw. The Poles were looking to restore some pride after the home defeat to Finland and they took the lead on the half-hour mark. Radoslaw Matusiak curled home a fine strike to give the home side the lead, but the Serbs made sure of a point on their travels. Substitute Danko Lazovic struck midway through the second half to earn the Balkan nation a share of the spoils.

Belgium have recorded their first win in qualifying with a 1-0 away success over Armenia. After a disappointing goalless draw with Kazakhstan in Brussels last month, The Red Devils claimed all three points in Yerevan's Republican Stadium four minutes before the break. Bayern Munich's Daniel van Buyten headed home Jelle van Damme's cross from the left to secure the win.

Azerbaijan picked up their first point in qualifying after a 1-1 home draw with Kazakhstan. In a battle of two former Soviet Republics, it was Azerbaijan that took the lead just after the quarter-hour mark. Andre Ladaga struck home a free kick after Kazakhstan's Maksim Zhalmagambetov fouled Azerbaijan's Vagif Javadov just outside the visitors' penalty box. Kazakhstan earned themselves a point in Baku when Dmitry Byakov headed home Nikita Khokhlov's cross from the right on 36 minutes. It was Kazakhstan's first-ever goal in the European Championship since the country moved to become members of UEFA from the Asian Football Confederation back in 2002.


Group C
Norway made it two wins from two after a hard-fought 2-0 success at home to Moldova. Age Hareide's men had been easy winners in Hungary over the weekend, but were pressed all the way back on home soil. Following a scoreless first half, Moldova were reduced to 10 men just a minute into the second period when Victor Berco was sent off. It was not until the 73rd minute that Norway made the breakthrough with Fredrik Stromstad opening the scoring. Former Tottenham striker Steffen Iversen made the game safe six minutes later as Norway put down an early marker of their intent to qualify for Euro 2008.

Turkey notched a 2-0 'home' triumph as they started their Euro 2008 campaign by beating Malta in Frankfurt. Nihat Kahveci netted the opener on 56 minutes and Tumer Metin added a second goal on 77 minutes.

Hungary bounced back from their heavy defeat at home to Norway with an impressive 3-1 success in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The visitors were ahead on 36 minutes through Szabolcs Huszti's penalty and three minutes later Bosnia had Emir Spahic sent off for a second yellow card. Zoltan Gera scored a minute into the second half and two soon became three as Pal Dardai netted on 49 minutes. Bosnia replied with a penalty through Zvjezdan Misimovic on 64 minutes, but Hungary saw out the game to take the points.


Group D
Germany set a European Championship qualifying record after crushing San Marino 13-0 in the republic. Striker Lukas Podolski scored four, while Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Thomas Hitzlsperger all found the net twice. Michael Ballack, Manuel Friedrich and Bernd Schneider with a 90th-minute penalty also scored in the game, which Germany led 6-0 at the break. Germany's win bettered Spain's 12-1 victory over Malta in 1983.

Czech Republic secured bragging rights as they secured a very good 3-0 win over Slovakia. The two nations, formerly one, have an intense rivalry but it was the visitors who went away with a crucial three points. Rangers midfielder Libor Sionko was the star of the show as he fired a first half double to set Karel Bruckner's men on their way. He opened the scoring on ten minutes before doubling his tally on 21 minutes. The third arrived before the hour when talismanic front-man Jan Koller pounced.


Group E
Peter Crouch's rich vein of scoring form continued to give England a hard-fought 1-0 victory in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje. Crouch scored seconds after half-time with a shot that bounced off the bar but was clearly over the line. The Liverpool striker's 11th goal in 14 internationals made it three successive wins for England coach Steve McClaren. Macedonia almost snatched a point late on, with Artemi Sakiri shooting wide and Ashley Cole clearing off the line.

Israel coasted to a 4-1 victory 'at home' to Andorra. First-half goals by captain Yossi Benayoun and debutant striker Amit Ben Shushan as well as Shimon Gershon's penalty put Israel in control. Substitute Toto Tamuz added a fourth, before Andorra defender Fernando Silva was sent off, though late on substitute Juli Fernandez scored the Andorrans' first goal of the campaign. The game was played in Nijmegen after UEFA in July banned all matches under its jurisdiction from being hosted in Israel due to the Lebanon war.

Russia and Croatia shared a 0-0 in Moscow. After a lacklustre first-half Milan Rapaic struck the bar with a free-kick, while Eduardo da Silva and van Klasnic also missed good chances for Croatia. Coach Guus Hiddink's decision to introduce Pavel Pogrebniak revived Russia's attack, with the Tom Tomsk striker twice going close. Igor Semshov's volley drew a reaction save from Stipe Pletikosa and Andrei Arshavin's went close with a shot.


Group F
David Healy's hat-trick helped Northern Ireland claim a shock 3-2 victory over Spain at Windsor Park. Healy punished a Xabi Alonso mistake to level from close range shortly after Barcelona star Xavi had volleyed Spain ahead with 14 minutes gone. David Villa restored Spain's lead on 52 minutes but Healy converted Sammy Clingan's free-kick to level. Healy then ensured the home win with a glorious lobbed winner on 80 minutes.

Sweden made it two wins out of two with 3-1 success over minnows Liechtenstein. The Swedes put behind their off-field problems from earlier this week which saw three players expelled from their squad to record victory - although it was far from convincing. Marcus Allback put the home side ahead after just two minutes but Mario Frick levelled just before the half hour to silence the crowd. Allback finally restored Sweden's lead on 69 minutes before Markus Rosenberg sealed victory in the final minute after Freddie Ljungberg had missed a penalty.

Denmark opened their Euro 2008 campaign with a 2-0 win in Iceland. Charlton's Dennis Rommedahl opened the scoring after just five minutes in Reykjavik. The comfortable win was sealed just after the half hour mark when Jon Dahl Tomasson pounced.


Group G
Holland beat Belarus 3-0 in Eindhoven to move two points clear of Bulgaria. Robin Van Persie opened the scoring for the Dutch after 32 minutes when Belarus failed to clear a corner, allowing the Arsenal forward to hammer the ball home. Van Persie sealed victory with 12 minutes left with a well-placed shot. Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt added a third when he headed home a free kick by Van Persie.

Romania got their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign off and running with victory over Albania on Wednesday. Having been frustrated for large periods of their clash in Tirana, the visitors eventually broke the deadlock in the 65th minute through Nicolae Dica. Ten minutes later, Debatik Curri felled Florentin Petre inside the penalty area, and Adrian Mutu converted the spot kick to make sure of victory.

Bulgaria beat Slovenia 3-0 in Wednesday's other game in the Group. After a goalless first period, Juventus' Valeri Bojinov got the ball rolling for his side with a left-footed strike in the 58th minute. In the 72nd minute, Martin Petrov doubled his side's lead in spectacular fashion, firing in a right-footed strike from long range into the top-left corner. And Dmitar Telkiiski then got his first international goal with a left-footed shot from Hristo Yovov's pass nine minutes from time to round off a comfortable win.


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