France's Florent Malouda (right) is challenged by Scotland's Paul Hartley during their Euro 2008 Group B qualifying match at the Parc des Princes Stadium yesterday. Scotland won 1-0. - ReutersLONDON (AP):
SCOTLAND AGAIN upset France 1-0 in European Championship qualifying yesterday, while Italy and England strengthened their chances with victories.
James McFadden scored with a long-range goal in the 64th minute at Parc des Princes, lifting the Scots to the top of Group B with 21 points.
"I think we can say it's the best (Scotland) result of modern times," Scotland manager Alex McLeish said.
France, missing suspended striker Thierry Henry, also lost to Scotland 1-0 in October.
"It's hard to do better than that, scoring off your only shot," France coach Raymond Domenech said.
Italy beat Ukraine 2-1 to move into second place with 20 points, pushing France down to third with 19. Ukraine have 13 points.
Antonio Di Natale scored two goals for Italy. He headed in Christian Panucci's cross from the left in the 41st minute and added his second in the 77th. In between, Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko beat Gianluigi Buffon in the 71st.
"We showed a lot of character," Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said. "We're still a step behind physically but we're improving."
Only two countries from each of the seven groups advance to the final tournament in Austria and Switzerland.
Portugal's chances of reaching the final tournament took a hit with a 1-1 draw against Serbia. Branislav Ivanovic equalised in the 86th for the visitors, cancelling out Simao Sabrosa's 11th-minute goal.
Poland kept their lead in Group A after a 0-0 draw with Finland. Poland have 21 points, followed by Finland with 19 and Portugal with 16.
Michael Owen scored twice at Wembley Stadium, leading England to a 3-0 win over Russia. Owen now has 40 international goals - fourth on the all-time list and nine behind leader Bobby Charlton.
Results
"It's lovely on a personal note, but it means nothing unless we get results like this tonight," Owen said.
Rio Ferdinand made it 3-0 in the 84th. England now have 20 points, three behind leader Croatia, who kept their unbeaten record in qualifying with an easy 6-0 win over Andorra.
Mladen Petric scored twice for Croatia and Darijo Srna, Niko Kranjcar, Eduardo Da Silva and Ivan Rakitic added the others. Russia are third in the group with 18 points.
Spain beat Latvia 2-0 with goals from Xavi Hernandez and Fernando Torres to move even with idle Group F leaders Sweden. Both have 19 points.
Northern Ireland hurt their chances with a 2-1 loss at Iceland. The Northern Irish remain with 16 points.
Northern Ireland's second defeat in four days again came from an own-goal. This time, it was Keith Gillespie who gave Iceland the winning goal in injury time.
David Healy scored for Northern Ireland, giving him 12 in qualifying and keeping him at the top on the scoring list. Armann Bjornsson scored for Iceland, who have eight points.
Denmark beat Liechtenstein 4-0 in the other Group F game with goals from Dennis Rommedahl, Martin Laursen, Jon Dahl Tomasson and Morten Nordstrand - all inside 36 minutes.
John Arne Riise salvaged a 2-2 draw for Norway against Greece. Riise scored in the 39th minute, after Greece had twice taken the lead on goals from Sotirios Kyrgiakos.
Greece remain at the top of Group C with 19 points, with Norway second with 17. Turkey, 2002 World Cup semi-finalists, also moved to 17 points with a 3-0 win over visiting Hungary.
Brazilian-born Mehmet Aurelioscored his first international goal for Turkey. Gokhan Unal and Hali also scored for the hosts.
Marek Jankulovski scored in the 16th to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 victory over 10-man Ireland. The Czechs have 20 points in Group D - two behind idle Germany. Ireland substitute Stephen Hunt was sent off in the 61st after a rough tackle on Czech Republic midfielder Jan Polak.
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
Group A: Finland 0 Poland 0, Kazakhstan 2 Belgium 2, Portugal 1 Serbia 1.Group B: France 0 Scotland 1, Lithuania 2 Faeroe Islands 1, Ukraine 1 Italy 2.Group C: Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 Moldova 1, Norway 2 Greece 2, Turkey 3 Hungary 0.Group D: Cyprus 3 San Marino 0, Czech Republic 1 Ireland 0, Slovakia 2 Wales 5.Group E: Andorra 0 Croatia 6, England 3 Russia 0, Macedonia 1 Estonia 1.Group F: Denmark 4 Liechtenstein 0, Iceland 2 Northern Ireland 1, Spain 2 Latvia
Group G: Albania 0 Netherlands 1, Bulgaria 3 Luxembourg 0, Slovenia 1 Belarus 0.
