Vacation mood

In Europe they decided to do without sensations

1. Switzerland

6. Faroe Islands

There are only a few days left before the holiday period begins in football Europe. Almost all national championships have already ended, and only the national teams still have to play on June 8th. After this, the World Cup qualifying tournament will resume only at the end of August. And in order to go on vacation with an unspoiled mood, the favorites in the last matches decided to do without sensations.

In Group 1, two teams have long been known to be vying for first place. In the correspondence fight between Holland and the Czech Republic, a draw was recorded again. While the Czechs improved their goal difference in the match with Andorra, the Dutch finally excluded the Romanian team from the list of contenders for the first two places.

The Ukrainian national team further strengthened its position in Group 2 . After Oleg Blokhin's team beat Kazakhstan 2:0, and its main competitors Turkey and Greece played a draw, the Ukrainians' lead over the European champions is already five points. “It was one of our best games at home,” noted Ukrainian team coach Oleg Blokhin after the match. -- A lot of chances were created. Before the match, there were voices of skeptics asking how the Ukrainian national team would be able to play against a packed defense. It turned out that we can play not only as number two.” But in a few days, the Ukrainians will again have to remember how to play on counterattacks. On Wednesday they will meet away with the Greek national team. And if Blokhin’s team manages not to lose in this match, then the Ukrainians can already consider themselves a participant in the final part of the World Cup.

Group 4 has its unexpected leader - the Swiss team, which only managed to avoid a sensational draw with the Faroe Islands team in the last minutes of the meeting. But the Irish were the unlucky ones in this group on Saturday. By the 11th minute of the meeting with Israel, they were leading 2:0, but were unable to maintain their advantage and allowed their opponents to level the score before the break.

In the key Group 5 match, Italy managed not to concede away to Norway and, thanks to a goalless draw, maintained a comfortable four-point lead. Norwegians, for their part, have only themselves to blame. In any case, they had plenty of chances to score. Even Zenit defender Eric Hagen could score.

In group 6, the Poles continued to mock the Azerbaijani team. In the first match of these teams, the Polish national team scored eight unanswered goals, and in the second - three more. The head coach of the Azerbaijani national team, Brazilian Carlos Alberto Torres, was so upset that the third goal against the goal was scored from an offside position that he first got into a fight with the refereeing team, and then completely left the stadium.

One of the leaders of Group 7 , the national team of Serbia and Montenegro remains the only team in the qualifying tournament that has not yet conceded a goal. Goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric's clean streak reached 575 minutes. However, the goalkeeper of the Spanish national team, playing in the same group, Iker Casillas also did not miss on Saturday, and now his clean streak in the national team is 646 minutes, which is a national record.

In Group 8, the Croatian team continues to hold first place. On Saturday, the Croats, having beaten the Bulgarian team, deprived their opponent of their last chance for one of the two first places. One of the heroes of the match was CSKA forward Ivica Olic, who recorded two assists.

Match results. Group 1. Czech Republic - Andorra - 8:1, Armenia - Macedonia - 1:2, Holland - Romania - 2:0. Group 2. Ukraine - Kazakhstan - 2:0, Albania - Georgia - 3:2, Turkey - Greece - 0:0. Group 3. Russia - Latvia - 2:0, Estonia - Liechtenstein - 2:0, Portugal - Slovakia - 2:0. Group 4. Faroe Islands - Switzerland - 1:3, Ireland - Israel - 2:2. Group 5. Scotland - Moldova - 2:0, Belarus - Slovenia - 1:1, Norway - Italy - 0:0. Group 6. Azerbaijan - Poland - 0:3. Group 7. Serbia and Montenegro - Belgium - 0:0, San Marino - Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1:3, Spain - Lithuania - 1:0. Group 8. Bulgaria - Croatia - 1:3, Sweden - Malta - 6:0, Iceland - Hungary - 2:3.

Group 1 I V N P M O

1. Netherlands	7	6	1	0	16--3	19
2. Czech Republic	7	6	0	1	22--6	18
3. Romania	8	4	1	3	12--10	13
4. Finland	6	3	0	3	13--10	9
5. Macedonia	8	2	2	4	9--10	8
6. Armenia	8	1	1	6	5--17	4
7. Andorra	8	1	1	6	4--25	4

Group 2 I V N P M O

1. Ukraine	8	6	2	0	14--3	20
2. Greece	8	4	3	1	12--6	15
3. Türkiye	8	3	4	1	13--7	13
4. Denmark	7	2	3	2	10--7	9
5. Albania	8	3	0	5	6--13	9
6. Georgia	7	1	2	4	10--16	5
7. Kazakhstan	6	0	0	6	2--15	0

Group 3 I V N P M O

1. Portugal	7	5	2	0	23--4	17
2. Slovakia	7	4	2	1	18--7	14
3. Russia	7	4	2	1	15--10	14
4. Estonia	8	3	2	3	12--14	11
5. Latvia	7	3	1	3	14--14	10
6. Liechtenstein	7	1	1	5	9--18	4
7. Luxembourg	7	0	0	7	4--28	0

Group 4 I V N P M O

Group 5 I V N P M O

Group 6 I V N P M O

Group 7 I V N P M O

Group 8 I V N P M O

Andrey VDOVIN