Sports > Ukraine Qualifies for 2006 World Cup Play

Ukraine Qualifies for 2006 World Cup Play; England, the Netherlands, Israel Take Steps Forward to Tournament

Ukraine's goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovsky tries to save the ball during the World Cup group two qualifying soccer match against Georgia in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Skakh Aivazov)

Romania upset the fourth-ranked Czech Republic to boost its chances, and South Africa was beaten at Burkina Faso and is in danger of missing soccer's showcase tournament.

Ukraine tied 1-1 at Georgia in a game FIFA ordered played in an empty stadium because of fan violence at Georgia's home games against Greece and Turkey. Ruslan Rotan put the visitors ahead in the 44rd minute, but Georgi Gakhokidze tied the score in the 89th.

Ukraine (7-0-3), atop Group Two with 24 points, clinched its first World Cup appearance when second-place Turkey (4-1-5) was held to a 2-2 tie at home against Denmark. While Greece (4-2-3) is nine points back with three games left, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, and Ukraine won at Greece in June while the teams tied at Kiev last October.

The eight European group winners and top two second-place teams qualify, and the other six second-place teams go to playoffs for three more berths.

Argentina, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea already had qualified to join host Germany. The United States was in position to clinch its fifth straight World Cup berth by beating Mexico at Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday night while Costa Rica was at Panama and Guatemala at Trinidad and Tobago.

Seeking to make its first World Cup since 1970, Israel rallied for a 1-1 tie at Switzerland.

Alex Frei put the Swiss ahead in the fifth minute at Basel, but Adoram Keisi tied the score in the 20th with a header that went in off the post after Idan Tal's 35-yard free kick.

Israel plays its final two games against the Faeroe Islands, which lost 3-0 at France as Djibril Cisse scored twice. Switzerland, Ireland and France (3-0-4) each have 13 points in Group Four, one ahead of Israel (2-0-6). Wednesday's schedule has Israel at the Faeroes, France at Ireland and Switzerland at Cyprus.

"Switzerland was counting on getting six easy points against us and Cyprus. But now they have only one and that was our doing," Israel coach Avram Grant said.

England (6-0-1) won 1-0 at Wales (0-5-2) on Joe Cole's goal in the 54th minute. Poland (7-1), leads Group Six with 21 points but has played one more game than England, which has 19 points.

"If we go on like this, we will win the group," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. His team plays at Northern Ireland on Wednesday and hosts Poland on Oct. 12.

The Netherlands won 1-0 at Armenia (1-8-1) behind Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal in the 64th minute. The Dutch (8-0-1) lead Group One with 25 points, three ahead of Romania (7-3-1), which won 2-0 at home against the Czechs (7-2) on a pair of goals by Adrian Mutu.

Scotland (1-2-4) took a surprise lead at Glasgow on Kenny Miller's goal in the 13th minute. but Fabio Grosso tied the score in the 76th minute on a chip off a rebound following Francesco Totti's corner kick. Italy (4-1-2) heads Group Five with 14 points, two ahead of Norway (3-1-3), which won 3-2 at Slovenia (2-1-4) on Morten Gamst Pedersen's goal in the 92nd minute.

"It's a real honor to score my first goal for the national team," Grosso said. "It was an important goal and it came at a tough stadium to play in. "We suffered but we kept our determination and we were able to draw, that is what is important."

Germany lost an exhibition game 2-0 at Slovakia, which got two first-half goals from Miroslav Karhan.

In South America, third-place Ecuador (8-6-2) won 2-1 at Bolivia (4-11-1) on two goals by Agustin Delgado. Later Saturday, Argentina (9-2-4) was at Paraguay (6-5-4) and Peru (3-6-6) at Venezuela (4-8-3). Brazil (7-2-6) can clinch its 18th straight berth when it plays Chile (5-5-5) at home Sunday.

South Africa (5-4) will have a difficult path to qualify for its third straight World Cup following a 3-1 loss at Burkina Faso (4-5). The South Africans and Ghana (5-1-3) each have 15 points going into Ghana's game Sunday at home against last-place Uganda (2-5-1). In Africa, the five group winners gain berths.

Tunisia moved within one point of qualifying for its third straight World Cup, winning 2-0 at Kenya in a game also played behind closed doors. Tunisia (6-1-2) leads Group Five with 20 points, one in front of Morocco (5-0-4), which won 1-0 over visiting Botswana (3-6).

Senegal moved into the lead in Group One of African qualifying, winning 1-0 at Zambia on a goal by El-Hadji Diouf 11 minutes into the second half.

Uzbekistan beat visiting Bahrain 1-0 in the opener of a home-and-home playoff for fifth place in the Asian region, getting a goal from Mirdjalal Kasymov in the 11th minute. The series winner plays the No. 4 team from North and Central America and the Caribbean in a two-game playoff for a berth.

Australia routed the visiting Solomon Islands 7-0 at Sydney in the opener of the two-game Oceania playoff. Australia played its first qualifier under new coach Guus Hiddink, who led the Netherlands in the 1998 World Cup and South Korea in the 2002 tournament. The second game is Tuesday at Honiara, and the winner plays the No. 5 team from South America in another two-game playoff for a berth.

2005-09-04