Abroad will help them

Losers of the qualifying round hope for outside help

On Wednesday, several teams will have their last chance to qualify for the 2008 European Championship. Nine teams are vying for the four remaining spots. And although most of them, including the Russian team, have purely theoretical chances, no one is in a hurry to part with faith in a miracle.

Russia can only believe in the Croats. In order for Guus Hiddink's team to qualify for Euro 2008, they must beat the English at Wembley. In order for this belief to be at least somehow supported financially, the owner of Spartak Leonid Fedun promised the goalkeeper of the Croatian national team and its three best players if they won a Mercedes. Slaven Bilic’s team wasn’t exactly happy about the additional incentive, although they didn’t immediately refuse.

For the youngest Croatian coach, who played in England for a long time, victory in London is a matter of honor. “A draw at Wembley is a good result, but no one comes out to play thinking about a draw,” Bilic promised at the pre-match press conference. - This will be the most important match for us: every football player dreams of playing at Wembley. The guests here will never be favorites, and therefore I will be happy even with a division of points. On the other hand, I can guarantee that if the meeting ends with a draw, it will be a fair result.”

The Russian team, with its heart in England, must also beat the Andorran team. By the way, even this team has a grudge against us. In 1999, it was the Russian national team that inflicted the most painful defeat on the Andorrans in the entire history of their international matches - 1:6. Before the upcoming match with the “dwarf”, which has not yet scored a single point in Group “E” of this qualifying cycle, the Russians also prepared thoroughly: they conducted two unloading training sessions and went on an excursion to Barcelona.

The last match of the Russian national team in this qualifying round will be officiated by a Norwegian team of referees led by Terje Hauge. The last meeting with him for the Russians ended sadly: at the European Championships in a match against the Spaniards, Hauge sent Ovchinnikov off the field, and, having lost, the Russian team lost all chances to continue the fight.

In other groups, the situation of those catching up is not so hopeless. In Quartet C, the Norwegians, having lost to the Turks three days ago in Oslo, are now forced to worry about the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina - now only they can stop the Turkish team on the way to the European Championship. “Of course, we will play with Malta to win and hope that the Turks misfire at home,” all that could be said was the head coach of the Norwegian national team, Aage Hareida. For him, the end of this qualifying round means a lot - in case of defeat, he promised to leave his post in the national team and, possibly, quit football altogether.

The Swedes are in an even easier position than the Turks: Lars Lagerbäck's team only needs to avoid losing at home to Latvia. The head coach of the Swedes did not make a tragedy out of the recent major defeat from the Spaniards - 0:3. “We played against a team that was stronger, and we shouldn’t worry too much about the result,” Lagerbeck reassured the fans. “Everything remains in our hands, and we can solve our problem at home.”

At the same time, even if the Swedes misfire, it is far from certain that the Northern Ireland team will catch up with them. The British, of course, created several sensations, including beating the same Swedes (2:1). But it will be very difficult for the top scorer of the qualifying round, David Heatley, and his partners to defeat the leaders of the group - Spain in Las Palmas.

The most confusing situation arose in group “A”. In general, everything can be decided only on November 24, when the Serbs play at home with Kazakhstan. The match was postponed a week due to snowfall in Belgrade over the weekend, and the game could see three teams - Portugal, Finland and Serbia - tied on points.

In this case, you will have to calculate a lot of additional indicators. But it’s quite possible that you won’t need the help of calculators. If the European vice-champions, the Portuguese team, do not lose to the Finns at the Dragao, then Felippe Scolari's team will no longer be accessible to their rivals. The Finns, however, do not give up and remember how five years ago they defeated the same Portuguese on the road - 4:1. In this qualifying round, Felippe Scolari's team does not shine either. Bright victories over Belgium alternated with failures in Yerevan and Chorzow. And in the last match, which was largely decisive for the Portuguese, they were only able to defeat the same Armenians with a minimal score - 1:0. Moreover, the author of the only goal, Ugu Almeida, was injured and will not be able to play against the Finns.

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Group "E" I V N P M O

1. Croatia	11	8	2	1	25--6	26
2. England	11	7	2	2	22--4	23
3. Russia	11	6	3	2	17--7	21
4. Israel	11	6	2	3	19--12	20
5. Macedonia	11	4	2	5	12--11	14
6. Estonia	12	2	1	9	5--21	7
7. Andorra	11	0	0	11	2--41	0

Group "A" I V N P M O

1. Poland	13	8	3	2	22--10	27
2. Portugal	13	7	5	1	24--10	26
3. Finland	13	6	5	2	13--7	23
4. Serbia	12	5	5	2	19--9	20
5. Belgium	13	4	3	6	13--16	15
6. Armenia	11	2	3	6	4--12	9
7. Kazakhstan	12	1	4	7	10--20	7
8. Azerbaijan	11	1	2	8	6--27	5

Group "C" I V N P M O

1. Greece	11	9	1	1	23--9	28
2. Türkiye	11	6	3	2	24--11	21
3. Norway	11	6	2	3	23--10	20
4. Bosnia	11	4	1	6	16--21	13
5. Moldova	12	3	3	6	12--19	12
6. Hungary	11	4	0	7	10--20	12
7. Malta	11	1	2	4	9--27	5

Group "F" I V N P M O

1. Spain	11	8	1	2	22--8	25
2. Sweden	11	7	2	2	21--8	23
3. North Ireland	11	6	3	3	17--13	20
4. Denmark	11	5	2	4	18--11	17
5. Latvia	11	4	0	7	14--15	12
6. Iceland	11	2	2	7	10--24	8
7. Liechtenstein	12	2	1	7	9--32	7

Andrey VDOVIN