NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Football

Soccer: Big guns get back on track

By Trevor Huggins
29 Mar, 2007 12:45 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Italy's Luca Toni celebrates after scoring against Scotland. Photo / Reuters

Italy's Luca Toni celebrates after scoring against Scotland. Photo / Reuters

KEY POINTS:

LONDON - Soccer World Cup holders Italy and European champions Greece got back on track in Euro 2008 qualifying on Wednesday, but England laboured to beat Andorra and Sweden suffered an upset in Northern Ireland today.

Striker Luca Toni headed a goal in each half as Italy beat
Scotland 2-0 in Bari, sending a clear message to the rest of Group B and to the critics of under-fire coach Roberto Donadoni.

The world champions looked sharp right from the start, despite not having played since a qualifying win over Georgia last November.

A friendly scheduled last month against Romania was cancelled in the wake of the death of a policeman in rioting after a Serie A match.

Italy are fourth on 10 points, but they are only two points behind the other three sides -- France, Scotland, who have played a game more, and leaders Ukraine.

Captained by Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine were 1-0 winners over Lithuania, courtesy of an Oleg Gusev header.

Greece, rocked by a 4-1 home defeat by arch-rivals Turkey last weekend, beat Malta 1-0 with a 66th-minute penalty converted by Angelos Basinas, following a red card for Malta's Roderick Briffa.

The win moved the Greeks into second place in Group C on 12 points, one behind Turkey who came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Norway in Frankfurt.

The Turks, playing behind closed doors in Germany to complete a ban after crowd trouble in a World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in 2005, were trailing with under 20 minutes to go before Hamit Altintop levelled with two free kicks.

Sweden, the only side other than Turkey with a 100 per cent record before Wednesday's games, fared even worse -- losing 2-1 in Northern Ireland after taking a 27th-minute lead.

Johan Elmander got the opener but Northern Ireland striker David Healy, who scored a hat-trick against Liechtenstein on Saturday, struck twice more to propel Lawrie Sanchez's men to the top of Group F.

It is a remarkable achievement for both men.

Healy is now the qualifying competition's top scorer with nine goals while Sanchez has defied the odds with his team since being tipped to quit after he was savaged in the local media last September.

His team now have 13 points, one more than Sweden and four ahead of Spain, who gave their qualifying hopes a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Iceland that lifted them to third in the group.

Group E leaders Croatia, who did not play, now have three teams firmly on their tail with Russia, Israel and England all just two points behind.

Israel leapfrogged England after a 4-0 drubbing of Estonia in which 17-year-old substitute striker Ben Sahar scored twice.

England, who were booed at halftime and full time, stumbled to a 3-0 win over lowly Andorra in Barcelona -- with Steven Gerrard only breaking the deadlock in the 54th minute.

He added another before David Nugent tapped in a late third on his debut but it will not be enough to still a growing media campaign against coach Steve McClaren.

Furious fans chanted "What a load of rubbish" and "You're not fit to wear the shirt" as England toiled against a side ranked 163rd in the world.

The pressure appeared to take its toll on McClaren as he walked out of the news conference after just two minutes of questioning from reporters.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst kept the Netherlands top of Group G after scoring the winner five minutes from time in a 1-0 victory in Slovenia.

Though Northern Ireland's feat was impressive, the two real shocks of the night came earlier.

Azerbaijan defeated a previously unbeaten Finland side 1-0 in Group A to record only their third win in 34 qualifiers since they first started playing them in 1994.

Liechtenstein caused the next upset with a 1-0 victory over Latvia in Group F, bringing up only their second win in their 33rd qualifier since 1994.

With the qualifying competition now around the halfway mark, the next qualifiers take place at the beginning of June. Next year's finals are being jointly staged by Austria and Switzerland.

- REUTERS

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Football

All Whites

All Whites stun Ivory Coast for notable win as Fifa World Cup countdown begins

08 Jun 02:09 AM
Football

David Beckham to be awarded knighthood – reports

07 Jun 12:57 AM
New Zealand

On The Up: Inside the provincial football team beating big city clubs

04 Jun 05:00 PM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Football

All Whites stun Ivory Coast for notable win as Fifa World Cup countdown begins

All Whites stun Ivory Coast for notable win as Fifa World Cup countdown begins

08 Jun 02:09 AM

This was the All Whites' first match since they qualified for next year's World Cup.

David Beckham to be awarded knighthood – reports

David Beckham to be awarded knighthood – reports

07 Jun 12:57 AM
On The Up: Inside the provincial football team beating big city clubs

On The Up: Inside the provincial football team beating big city clubs

04 Jun 05:00 PM
Manchester United captain rejects $450m Saudi Arabia move

Manchester United captain rejects $450m Saudi Arabia move

03 Jun 11:35 PM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP