Ireland stumbles against Israel, Italy ties Norway

Ireland damaged its chances of qualifying for next year's World Cup, allowing a pair of late goals Saturday night in a 2-2 tie with Israel. <br/><br/>On a day with 32 qualifiers around the globe, Italy

Friday, June 3rd 2005, 6:41 pm

By: News On 6

Ireland damaged its chances of qualifying for next year's World Cup, allowing a pair of late goals Saturday night in a 2-2 tie with Israel.

On a day with 32 qualifiers around the globe, Italy played a 0-0 tie at Norway and European champion Greece played a 0-0 tie at Turkey.

Ukraine remained on course to land its first World Cup berth by winning 2-0 at Kazakhstan, and Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal and Russia also picked up key victories.

Argentina (8-2-4), which could have become the first team in qualifying to clinch, lost 2-0 at third-place Ecuador (7-5-2), which got second-half goals from Cristian Lara and Agustin Delgado. Colombia routed Peru 5-0, and Venezuela tied Uruguay 1-1. The top four South American teams qualify and the fifth goes to a playoff.

In North and Central America and the Caribbean, the United States beat Costa Rica 3-0, Trinidad and Tobago blanked Panama 2-0, and Mexico was at Guatemala.

In Africa, Cameroon won 4-1 at Benin to revive its hopes, and South Africa and Morocco stayed in first place in their groups.

At Dublin, Ireland took a 2-0 lead on goals by Ian Harte in the sixth minute and Robbie Keane in the 11th, but Israel rallied when Avi Yehiel scored in the 39th and Avi Nimi converted a penalty kick in first-half injury time.

Switzerland (3-0-3), which won 3-1 at the Faeroe Islands, leads Europe Group Four with 12 points, one ahead of Israel (2-0-5) and two ahead of Ireland and France (both 2-0-4). The eight group winners and top two second-place teams qualify, and the other six second-place teams advance to playoffs.

In Group Five, Italy (4-1-1) leads with 13 points, four more than Norway and Slovenia (2-1-3 each). Scotland (1-2-2), fifth with five points, won 2-0 over visiting Moldova on goals by Christian Dailly and James McFadden in Walter Smith's first home game since replacing Berti Vogts as manager. Slovenia and Belarus tied 1-1.

In Istanbul, Greece turned down its ticket allocation because of security concerns. Inonu Stadium was filled with red-and-white clad Turkish fans, some dressed like Ottoman warriors and some playing thundering drums.

At Kiev, Andriy Shevchenko and Igor Avdeyev score for Ukraine (6-0-2), which leads Group Two with 20 points, five ahead of Greece (4-1-3) and seven in front of Turkey (3-1-4), the third-place finisher in the 2002 World Cup. If Ukraine wins at Greece on Wednesday, it could qualify with one win in its final three games, against Georgia, Turkey and Albania. Albania beat Georgia 3-2.

At Rotterdam, Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuijt scored for the Netherlands in a 2-0 win over Romania. The Dutch (6-0-1) top Group One with 19 points, one ahead of the Czech Republic (6-1), which routed Andorra 8-1. Macedonia beat Armenia 2-1.

Poland (6-1) moved into the Group Six lead with 18 points by winning 3-0 at Azerbaijan on goals by Tomasz Frankowski, Tomasz Klos and Maciej Zurawski. The Poles have 18 points, two more than England (5-0-1), which has played one fewer game.

In Group Eight, Croatia won 3-1 at Bulgaria on goals by Marko Babic, Igor Tudor and Niko Kranjca. Croatia (5-0-1) leads with 16 points, one ahead of Sweden (5-1), which won 6-0 over Malta. Hungary beat Iceland 3-2.

Portugal (5-0-2) won 2-0 over Slovakia on goals by Fernando Meira and Cristiano Ronaldo and leads Group Three with 17 points, three ahead of Slovakia and Russia (both 4-1-2). Russia beat Latvia 2-0 on goals by Andrei Arshavin and Dmitri Loskov, and Estonia beat Liechtenstein 2-0.

Spain beat visiting Lithuania 1-0 on Alberto Luque's goal in the 68th minute. Serbia-Montenegro, like Spain 3-1-3, leads Group Seven on goal difference. Bosnia-Herzegovina beat San Marino 3-1.

South Africa topped the Cape Verde Islands 2-1 in Africa Group Two, while Morocco beat Malawi 4-1 and Tunisia defeated Botswana 3-1 in Group Five.