Croatia stalemate gives England hope
Croatia could not find a way past the Russian defence
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Wednesday, 06, Jun 2007 10:27
Croatia's 0-0 draw with Russia has boosted England's hopes of qualifying for the European Championships in 2008.
The Croats remain on top of group E but their advantage over their group rivals has been significantly diminished after dropping two points at home.
Israel beat Andorra 2-0 to move two points ahead of Russia in the group standings, level with Croatia at the top. Toto Tamuz scored after 37 minutes before Roberto Colautti made the game safe in the second half.
In Scotland's group, France remained top after a 1-0 win over Georgia thanks to a goal from Marseille's Samir Nasri.
Italy beat Lithuania 2-0 with two goals from Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella to stay one point ahead of Scotland.
In the only game in group D Germany beat Slovakia 2-1 to move five points ahead of Czech Republic, who are one point clear of the Republic of Ireland in third place.
Germany took the lead thanks to an own goal by Jan Durica before Christophe Metzelder put through his own goal. But the home side were saved thanks to Thomas Hitzlsperger's goal just before the break.
Sweden moved to the top of group F on 15 points with a comprehensive 5-0 win against Iceland. Marcus Allback scored twice while Anders Svensson, Olof Mellberg and Markus Rosenberg were also on the scoresheet.
Spain are also on 15 points after Valencia's David Villa bagged a brace against Liechtenstein in a 2-0 win. That means Northern Ireland are now two points behind the leaders but have a game in hand on the Spanish.
Elsewhere Romania and Bulgaria both won in group G to pull away from Holland who were not in action.
Poland suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Armenia in group A while Finland pulled level with Portugal and Serbia at the top of the table on 14 points with a 2-0 win over Belgium.