EURO Ch.Football 2008

[Rasputin]

رقابت های مقدماتی فوتبال یورو ۲۰۰۸


مایکل اوون دو گل تیم انگلستان را در دقیقه ۷ و۳۱به ثمر رساند.
رقابت های مقدماتی فوتبال یورو ۲۰۰۸ چهارشنبه دوازدهم سپتامبر نیز در نقاط مختلف قاره اروپا دنبال شد.
در مهمترین دیدارها، انگلستان سه بر صفر در خانه روسیه را شکست داد، فرانسه یک بر صفر مغلوب میهمان خود اسکاتلند شد و ایتالیا با نتیجه دو بر یک اوکراین میزبان را برد.

گل های تیم انگلستان را مایکل اوون (۷، ۳۱) و ریو فردیناند (۸۴) در برابر روسیه به ثمر رساندند. تک گل تیم اسکاتلند را جیمز مک فادن (۶۴) وارد دروازه فرانسه کرد. دو گل ایتالیا توسط آنتونیو دی ناتاله (۴۱، ۷۷) زده شد و تک گل اوکراین را نیز آندری شفچنکو (۷۱) به ثمر رساند.

در دیگر دیدارها، پرتقال در زمین خود با صربستان به نتیجه مساوی یک بر یک رسید، جمهوری چک یک بر صفر ایرلند را مغلوب کرد، اسپانیا دو بر صفر لتونی را شکست داد و هلند به سختی و با نتیجه یک بر صفر از سد میزبان خود آلبانی گذشت.

سابروسا سیمائو (۱۱) برای پرتقال و برانیسلاو ایوانوویچ (۸۸) برای صربستان گلزنی کردند. گل جمهوری چک را مارک یانکولوفسکی (۱۵) برابر ایرلند به ثمر رساند، دو گل اسپانیا را هرناندز ژاوی (۱۳) و فرناندو تورس (۸۶) وارد دروازه لتونی کردند و هلند با گل دقیقه نود رود فان نیستلروی، آلبانی را شکست داد.

رقابت های انتخابی جام ملت های اروپا در شش گروه هفت تیمی و یک گروه هشت تیمی دنبال می شود. تیم های برگزیده به دوره نهایی این رقابت ها که تابستان آینده مشترکا در کشورهای اتریش و سوئیس برگذار می شود راه پیدا می کنند.

نتایج بقیه دیدارهای شنبه به شرح زیر است:



قزاقستان ۲، بلژیک ۲
فنلاند ۰، لهستان ۰
لیتوانی ۲، جزایر فارو ۱
نروژ ۲، یونان ۲
ترکیه ۳، مجارستان ۰
بوسنی هرزگوین ۰، مولداوی ۱
اسلوواکی ۲، ولز ۵


قبرس ۳، سان مارینو ۰
آندورا ۰، کرواسی ۶
مقدونیه ۱، استونی ۱
دانمارک ۴، لیختن اشتاین ۰
ایسلند ۲، ایرلند شمالی ۱
بلغارستان ۳، لوکزامبورگ ۰
اسلوونی ۱، بلاروس ۰

[abadani69]

Roberto Donadoni's decision to shuffle his pack came up trumps on Wednesday when Italy won 2-1 in Ukraine in their Euro 2008 qualifier to move into second in Group B.

The Italian coach was under pressure after the world champions lost 3-1 to Hungary in a friendly last month and drew 0-0 with group rivals France in Milan on Saturday.

Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero was well off the pace in the goalless draw, while fellow World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi was sloppy and AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi failed to really trouble the French defence.

Faced with a tricky trip to Ukraine, already devoid of the injured Luca Toni and Marco Materazzi, Donadoni could have been forgiven for playing his top names again in Kiev.

Instead he dropped the three who struggled at the San Siro and brought in Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale, Juve forward Vincenzo Iaquinta and Milan midfielder Massimo Ambrosini.

The coach also selected 34-year-old Christian Panucci in place of inconsistent right back Massimo Oddo and stuck by inexperienced Palermo centre back Andrea Barzagli.

The gamble paid off with two goals by Di Natale and a cute assist by Ambrosini while his other changes also contributed to the victory, which 32-year-old Del Piero watched from the stands after failing to even make the bench.

"Ale (Del Piero) had tired a lot against France and I needed fresh legs. Unfortunately on such occasions and with this type of game it is necessary to take painful decisions," Donadoni told www.gazzetta.it as the Azzurri flew home.

The diminuitive Di Natale, who has 12 caps, was especially thrilled with his header for the first goal.

"When I saw the ball in the net I said, "Me with my head? Absurd," Di Natale told reporters.

"Then I understood that it was a special night."

Di Natale will recall that new Udinese team mate Fabio Quagliarella made a name for himself with two superb goals in June's 2-0 win in Lithuania but has since struggled to match the performance and only came on as a late substitute on Wednesday.

[abadani69]

Michael Owen handed England a major boost as he came through the squad's first training session ahead of their Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia, 11 days after undergoing hernia surgery.

But head coach Steve McClaren will have to do without back-up defender Wes Brown for at least the match against Estonia at Wembley on Saturday.

McClaren said the Manchester United defender had been sent back to his club after having a knee injury assessed by England's medical staff.

Brown, who may have been involved against Estonia because of McClaren's desire to rest first choice players ahead of next week's trip to Russia, is the third player to drop out of England's 27-man squad, joining injured strikers Dean Ashton and Andrew Johnson on the sidelines.

McClaren was delighted to see Owen -- who has scored four goals in England's last three competitive matches -- firing on all cylinders.

But he would not be drawn on the key selection dilemmas he faces, notably whether to restore Frank Lampard to his starting line-up following Gareth Barry's impressive displays against Israel and Russia last month.

"There are plenty of issues to talk about, as far as the team on Saturday goes," McClaren said. "Decisions will be made on Friday.

"Frank Lampard has been a great servant to England. I'm on record as saying he was our man of the match against Germany (in a 2-1 friendly defeat in August). He is looking good in training and we will see."

On Owen, McClaren said: "He looked very sharp, all the players did considering they played (for their clubs) only two days ago."

Owen has made it clear he is keen to play in both upcoming matches, despite the reservations of his Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce over whether he will be up to that so soon after his surgery.

"No risks will be taken, but Michael is a very, very important player for us," McClaren said.

"There is no club v country issue, no conflict. It is just dialogue between myself, the manager, the club and the player. Ultimately we don't take risks with any player but anybody in my situation would want Michael playing."

Owen made a scoring return to the Newcastle side on Sunday, coming off the bench to claim his club's third goal in a 3-2 win over Everton.

[abadani69]

France and Italy head into this weekend's Euro 2008 qualifiers knowing they risk the humiliation of failing to book a place at the tournament just a year after playing in the World Cup final.

Scotland are the surprise leaders of Group B with three matches left to play, having rattled up 21 points to Italy's 20 and France's 19. Only two of those three teams will qualify for the tournament in Switzerland and Austria.

Victory for France should be a formality in the Faroe Islands, subject to the match going ahead on Saturday after their plane was unable to land on Friday.

Whether or not the match is postponed to Sunday, Les Bleus will be treading a tightrope after losing at home to Scotland last month.

The French are also without striker Louis Saha and captain Patrick Vieira.

World champions Italy are at home to Georgia, while the Scots host fourth-placed Ukraine.

England will be without captain John Terry for their Group E match against Estonia at Wembley.

The Chelsea defender has a knee injury but England should defeat the Baltic state before heading off for a high-stakes battle with third-placed Russia on Wednesday.

Croatia will be on the verge of qualifying for the finals from England's group with a home win over Israel on Saturday.

A rampant Germany are guaranteed a place if they get at least a point in Ireland in Group D.

Spain still have work to do in Group F but can make further ground with a victory over Denmark, who still have a chance with Northern Ireland of grabbing second place behind likely group winners Sweden.

Group G leaders Romania host the Netherlands on Saturday with both sides level on 20 points from eight matches.

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is missing for the Dutch, having pulled out of the squad with a toe injury, while Romania captain Cristian Chivu is available despite a shoulder problem.

Bulgaria, who have played a game more and are not in action this weekend, are two points behind.

[abadani69]

A dash of rivalry will be added to the smooth flowing build-up for Euro 2008 on Saturday as Switzerland and Austria meet for a friendly 237 days before they jointly host the event.

The neighbourly clash in Zurich has the makings of a revenge match following Switzerland's 2-1 defeat in Innsbruck last year, and Swiss coach Jakob "Kobi" Kuhn has been surprised by the amount of pressure on his opponents' shoulders.

"I was astonished to find that even former internationals and an ex national team coach were coming down on the side. That's not very elegant," Kuhn commented.

Lacklustre Austria's largely home based squad sees the return of captain Andreas Ivanschitz, after a draw with the Czech Republic in August, a 2-0 home defeat against Chile and a penalty victory against Japan after 0-0 draw last month.

Meanwhile Switzerland have shown fleeting signs of inspiration in the absence of competitive qualifying matches as Kuhn tries to add some depth to his World Cup squad by trying out young newcomers in friendlies.

After a 1-1 draw against Argentina, 2-1 victories against the Netherlands and against Chile during the summer, the Swiss squandered a clear first half lead to lose 4-3 against Japan a month ago.

Saturday's tie could turn into a sharp test for the youngsters' in the absence of about six injured first choice players, including Dortmund striker Alexander Frei.

Meanwhile preparations off the field appear to be slotting into place smoothly on either side of the border. Even neighbouring French police were being lined up to help with security in Switzerland.

UEFA chief Michel Platini this week gave the thumbs up after touring the eight Euro 2008 venues -- Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Vienna in Austria.

"We're absolutely on schedule. The work that has been undertaken by Euro 2008 has been exemplary," he said.

Most of the stadiums are new or renovated, with a capacity of 30,000 to 40,000, while the venerable 50,000 seat Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna is being spruced up to host the final.

"The stadium in Vienna is a lot older than the others, but it has a lot of atmosphere and is a worthy venue for the final," Platini said.

"It would have made no sense for Switzerland and Austria to build bigger stadiums," he added.

Outside a handful of top clubs, football leagues in both countries measure match attendaces by the single-digit thousands.

In Switzerland, most of the the best young players have been snapped up by German, Italian, Spanish and English clubs, but that has also turned the national side into a magnet for local fans.

And Euro 2008 is having no trouble recruiting local volunteers to help out during the tournament -- the organisers say they are well on their way to interviewing double the 5,000 they need.

A first round of ticket sales was hugely oversubscribed with 8.7 million requests and had to be settled by lottery, indicating that matches will play before capacity crowds next June.

The Alpine nations are better known for keeping their heartiness under wraps until the right moment, and the organisers believe the missing ingredient will emerge once next summer's match line-up is settled at the draw in December.

[abadani69]

Poland coach Leo Beenhakker named the following 24-man squad for the Euro 2008 Group A qualifier against Kazakhstan on Saturday:

Goalkeepers: Artur Boruc (Celtic), Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal), Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United).

Defenders: Grzegorz Bartczak (Zaglebie Lubin), Jacek Bak (Austria Wien), Grzegorz Bronowicki (FK Crvena Zvezda), Mariusz Jop (FK Moskva), Marcin Wasilewski (RSC Anderlecht), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warszawa), Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos).

Midfielders: Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow), Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow), Konrad Golos (Gornik Zabrze), Przemyslaw Kazmierczak (Porto), Kamil Kosowski (Wisla Krakow), Jacek Krzynowek (VfL Wolfsburg), Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Wojciech Lobodzinski (Zaglebie Lubin), Euzebiusz Smolarek (Racing Club Santander), Radoslaw Sobolewski (Wisla Krakow).

Forwards: Radoslaw Matusiak (SC Heerenveen), Marek Saganowski (Southampton), Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze), Maciej Zurawski (Celtic).

[abadani69]

Security chiefs on Friday played down reports of terrorism threats against next year's European Championship, following a two-day summit in Zurich.

Martin Jaeggi, head of Switzerland's security operations for the June 2008 tournament, said the recent arrests of three people in Austria was not being treated as a genuine threat to Euro 2008. One of the three was freed for lack of evidence.

Police said there were no indications of attacks being actively planned and no one had been charged with any crime.

"It seems Euro 2008 was mentioned in passing in talks between these alleged extremists but not in a way that needs to be taken seriously," Jaeggi told Reuters.

"On the other hand it is clearly a good thing that we are receiving this information so we can clarify the situation."

Jaeggi rejected suggestions that a riot in the Swiss capital Berne on Saturday reflected badly on the state of police preparations for Euro 2008.

More than two dozen police officers were injured after leftist protesters disrupted an officially-sanctioned rally of the country's right-wing Swiss People's Party.

The rally was scheduled to take place in front of the national parliament, close to where Berne will stage public viewing events during Euro 2008.

UNDER REVIEW

"I don't want to comment on what precisely happened in Berne as this is currently under review by the city's police force," Jaeggi said.

"When we receive their report we will be able to say if anything needs changing as far as our own preparations are concerned. In general, though, I don't think we can compare this political event with a sporting tournament which is being planned as a peaceful event."

Jaeggi acknowledged that Switzerland's security forces would be stretched to the limit by the three-week event and said organisers planned to call on French and German police back-up if necessary.

"We know that police cover is relatively thin in Switzerland with one officer for around every 500 citizens."

"In our neighbouring countries it is more like one officer for every 300 citizens which is why we have already signed an agreement this week with the French authorities.

"We are in talks with Germany to see what is possible from their end but we will only firm that up once we know how many high-security matches are taking place in Switzerland."

Jaeggi said matches would be classified as high, middle, or low risk following the tournament's final draw in the Swiss city of Lucerne on Dec. 2.

Euro 2008 runs from June 7 to 29 with Switzerland staging matches in Geneva, Basel, Bern and Zurich. Austria will host games in Innsbruck, Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Vienna.

[Rasputin]

Saturday, 13 October 2007

European Championship Qualifying

Armenia 0-0 Serbia
Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal
Belarus 0-1 Luxembourg
Belgium 0-0 Finland
Croatia 1-0 Israel
Cyprus 3-1 Wales
Denmark 1-3 Spain
England 3-0 Estonia
Faroe Islands 0-6 France
Greece 3-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Hungary 2-0 Malta
Iceland 2-4 Latvia
Italy 2-0 Georgia
Liechtenstein 0-3 Sweden
Moldova 1-1 Turkey
Poland 3-1 Kazakhstan
Rep of Ireland 0-0 Germany
Romania 1-0 Holland
Scotland 3-1 Ukraine
Slovakia 7-0 San Marino
Slovenia 0-0 Albania

[abadani69]

England, Sweden and the Czech Republic can secure Euro 2008 finals berths on Wednesday and join Germany, who became the first nation to qualify with a 0-0 draw at Ireland on Saturday.

After an unimpressive start, England registered a fifth successive 3-0 victory with their triumph over Estonia on Saturday, and a win against Russia in Moscow would secure qualification with a match to spare. Such a result would also see Group E leaders Croatia through.

Croatia, who top the group with 26 points from 10 matches, will also reach next year's tournament in Austria and Switzerland with a Moscow draw before they visit Macedonia and England in November.

Group F front-runners Sweden are a win away from the finals ahead of their home match with Northern Ireland, who have a slim chance of staying in contention after consecutive defeats at Latvia and Iceland.

Sweden have 22 points from nine matches as do second-placed Spain, who have played a game more but still look a safe bet to finish in the top two after a resounding 3-1 win at Denmark at the weekend.

Third-placed Northern Ireland faded after a bright run and have 16 points from 10 games with a home match against Denmark and the final outing at Spain after facing the Swedes in Solna.

The Czech Republic will be looking for a win against old rivals Germany in Munich in Group D to be mathematically sure of finishing ahead of Ireland and Cyprus, who play each other at Croke Park in Dublin.

Germany have 23 points from nine matches followed by the Czechs on 20 from nine and Ireland on 15 from 10. Fourth-placed Slovakia are out with 13 points from 10 matches while Cyprus on 13 from nine can still theoretically finish second.

TRICKY TRIP

Elsewhere, the most enthralling of tight three-way battles is in Group B, where surprise package Scotland need four points from their visit to Georgia on Wednesday and the home match against Italy on Nov 17 to end a decade-long barren spell.

The Scots last played in a major tournament at the 1998 World Cup and Saturday's 3-1 home win over Ukraine will have boosted their confidence ahead of the tricky trip to Tbilisi.

Group A leaders Poland made a big step towards the finals with a 3-1 home win over Kazakhstan as did Portugal in second thanks to a 2-0 success at Azerbaijan.

Poland are top with 24 points from 12 matches, Portugal have 20 from 11 ahead of their home match against Kazakhstan, while Finland kept alive their hopes after a 0-0 draw at Belgium left them in third position on 20 points from 12 games.

Turkey put themselves under pressure with a 1-1 draw at Moldova as it left them only a point ahead of Norway and four behind holders and Group B leaders Greece ahead of their potentially explosive clash in Istanbul.

Greece, beaten by the Turks 4-1 at home in the reverse fixture in March, have 22 points from nine games followed by Turkey on 18 and Norway on 17 with the latter two meeting in Oslo next month.

Romania went three points clear of The Netherlands in Group G after beating them 1-0 on Saturday and also opened the door for third-placed Bulgaria, who are a further two points adrift. All three sides will hope to keep up their bids on Wednesday with Romania away to Luxembourg, Bulgaria going to Albania and the Dutch entertaining Slovenia.

[abadani69]

With only two games to go, Italy and France trail Scotland in qualifying for next year's European Championship.

Scotland?

Yes, the team that has made it to only two Euros and has never been past the first round of the World Cup in eight attempts.

When qualifying began a year ago, it was expected that World Cup champion Italy and runner-up France would run away with the two spots from Group B. Ukraine, with Andriy Shevchenko, was supposed to be the nearest challenger.

No one really thought about the Scots.

But the team that usually counts major success as a victory over neighboring England, has undergone a coaching change and won eight of its 10 group games, including 1-0 home-and-away victories over the French.

Although it lost to Italy 2-0 in Bari, Scotland still has the Italians to play next month at Hampden Park, and the Scots show no sign of wilting under pressure.

While Italy edged Georgia 2-0 and France routed the Faeroe Islands 6-0 on Saturday, Scotland stayed at the top of the group with a 3-1 victory over Ukraine.

Even Shevchenko, who scored Ukraine's lone goal in Glasgow, was impressed.

"Scotland is a good team and this is a big success for the country and the national side," said the striker, who now plays in England for Chelsea.

"This is a great result for them and keeps them first in the group with every chance of qualifying. It is a very tough group, but everything is in Scotland's hands. They have two very important games left, which everything now depends on."

Traveling to Georgia for Wednesday's next game, Scotland leads Italy by one point. France is third, a further point behind.

The Scots should be confident of a victory in Tbilisi, and the French should beat Lithuania in Nantes to put the pressure back on the Italians.

Scotland captain Barry Ferguson said Saturday's victory over Ukraine showed what big improvements the Scots had made despite Walter Smith's decision to quit and join the Rangers halfway through qualification.

"It's great to be part of a national side that is doing ever so well, but we are desperate to get to a major championship," the Rangers midfielder said. "We are so close -- two games to go -- and hopefully we can get there."

Scotland will have Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher back from suspension and injury. But a glance at the lineup shows it has few big stars.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon is considered Scotland's best for years, and the rest of the lineup is a mixture of veterans and players who sit on the bench in the English Premier League.

Scotland has been one of the underachievers in world soccer despite giving the game the likes of Manchester United's Denis Law, Liverpool's Kenny Dalglish and Rangers' Jim Baxter.

In 1967, Scottish club Celtic was the first British team to win the European Cup. Yet the national team failed to match its success.

Scotland has also produced some of the greatest coaches.

Alex Ferguson guided Manchester United to 20 trophies in his two decades at Old Trafford, and other hugely successful Scots to make it at coaching level were Matt Busby (Man United), Jock Stein (Celtic) and Bill Shankly (Liverpool).

Now Alex McLeish, who played under Ferguson when Aberdeen broke the Celtic-Rangers domination of Scottish soccer in the mid-80s, is in charge of the national team and could be guiding it to Euro 2008, which will be played Austria and Switzerland.

Although he doesn't have a squad of stars, McLeish is glad to have the likes of Fletcher.

"He is a big player," McLeish said. "He is a Manchester United player and Manchester United players exude an aura. To be fair, the squad already has that aura because of the results and performances that they have already so I take my hat off to them. They have been fantastic."

[abadani69]

مسابقات فوتبال مرحله مقدماتي يورو ۲۰۰۸چهارشنبه شب در سراسر اروپا ادامه خواهد يافت.

به گزارش خبرگزاري فرانسه از پاريس، بر همين اساس در مهمترين ديدار تيم ملي فوتبال انگليس در مسكو به مصاف روسيه مي*رود.

برنامه مسابقات چهارشنبه شب به شرح زير است:
گروه اول:
قزاقستان پرتغال در آلماتي
آذربايجان صربستان و مونته*نگرو در باكو
بلژيك ارمنستان در بروكسل
گروه دوم:
اوكراين جزاير فارو در كي*يف
گرجستان اسكاتلند در تفليس
فرانسه ليتواني در نانت
گروه سوم:
تركيه يونان در استانبول
مالت مولداوي در والتا
بوسني و هرزگوين نروژ در سارايوو
گروه چهارم:
سن مارينو ولز در سراوالا
جمهوري ايرلند قبرس در دوبلين
آلمان جمهوري چك در مونيخ
گروه پنجم:
روسيه انگليس در مسكو
مقدونيه آندورا در اسكوپيه
كرواسي رژيم صهيونيستي در زاگرب
گروه ششم:
ليختن اشتاين ايسلند در وادوز
دانمارك لتوني در كوپنهاگ
سوئد ايرلند شمالي در سولنا
گروه هفتم:
لوكزمبورگ روماني در لوكزمبورگ
هلند اسلوني در آيندهوون
آلباني بلغارستان در تيرانا

[abadani69]

England wasted a second-half lead, putting its European Championship qualifying chances in jeopardy with a 2-1 loss to Russia on Wednesday night.

England would have clinched a berth with a victory. Instead, it is in danger of missing soccer's No. 2 tournament behind the World Cup.

"We ended up losing a game where after 70 minutes, I never thought we'd lose," England coach Steve McClaren said. "We had it. It was in our grasp, and we ended up losing it."

Wayne Rooney put England ahead in the 29th minute off a pass from Michael Owen on the artificial turf of Luzhniki Stadium. Steven Gerrard wasted a chance to put England ahead 2-0 in the 51st minute when he shot wide while unmarked close to goal.

"I can't believe it is out of our hands," Gerrard said. "You start believing you are nearly there, that you have got one foot there, but football is a cruel game and chances and decisions and mistakes turn football matches. For England not to make the finals will be unthinkable."

Roman Pavlyuchenko, who entered in the 58th minute, tied the score with a disputed penalty kick in the 69th after Rooney brought down Konstantin Zyryanov. Replays appeared to show Rooney's foul occurred outside the penalty area.

"It's an absolute disgrace. It's outside the box," McClaren said. "The linesman didn't give it. It was the referee from a distance. Things like that turn games."

Pavlyuchenko scored the go-ahead goal four minutes later after getting between Sol Campbell and Joleon Lescott, then tapping in the rebound after goalkeeper Paul Robinson pushed away an attempt from Alexei Berezutskiy.

Croatia (8-0-2) leads Group E with 26 points and England (7-2-2) is second with 23. Russia (6-1-3) is third with 21 but has two games left to one for the English.

Russia would advance if it wins at Israel on Nov. 17 and at Andorra on Nov. 21.

"We have a perfect chance now," Pavlyuchenko said. "All is now in our hands. We must beat Israel -- it will be the key match."

Midfielder David Beckham, coming back from a knee injury, hopes to return for England's final qualifier, at Wembley against Croatia on Nov. 21.

Only the top two team in each group advance to next year's 16-nation tournament in Austria and Switzerland.

The victory was the first for Russia coach Guus Hiddink in 10 tries against English opposition.

[abadani69]

Thierry Henry broke Michel Platini's record of 41 goals for France when he scored twice in two minutes to lead his country to a 2-0 win over Lithuania in Euro 2008 qualifying on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old Barcelona striker netted his 42nd and 43rd goals from 96 internationals in the 79th and 80th minutes.

Henry broke the deadlock with a shot from inside the box before making it 2-0 after a sharp counter attack.

"It is a huge pleasure (to break Platini's record). I can't find the words, I'm overwhelmed," said Henry.

"We absolutely needed to win and we did it. I think of my father who is not well. It's for him."

The former Arsenal captain won his first cap on Oct. 11, 1997 in a 2-1 friendly win over South Africa in Lens.

Henry was part of the team that won the 1998 World Cup on home soil, scoring three goals, and also became a European champion with Les Bleus in the Netherlands two years later.

"We can say we had the chance to play with Zinedine Zidane, now we can say we play with Henry, who has a special place in French soccer history," said goalkeeper Mickael Landreau.

"With him, we always know something is going to happen. He now is among the greats, among the great forwards," said France coach Raymond Domenech.

Born in the outs***ts of Paris, Henry started his professional career at Monaco in 1993, winning the French league with the principality team in 1997.

During the 1997/98 winter transfer window he moved to Arsenal where he won two Premier League titles in 2002 and 2004. Henry also added two FA Cups in 2002 and 2003.

He left Arsenal for Barcelona this June for a fee of 24 million euros ($34.04 million).

[abadani69]

Czech Republic secured a place at Euro 2008 when they thumped already-qualified Germany 3-0 in Group D on Wednesday.

Libor Sionko gave the Czechs a perfect start when he tapped the opening goal past Timo Hildebrand after just 112 seconds at the Allianz Arena.

Marek Matejovsky gave the visitors breathing space with a well-taken second in the 23rd minute and Jaroslav Plasil capped an outstanding display, individually and collectively, with the third in the 63rd minute.

Germany had become the first country to qualify for the finals in Austria and Switzerland with a draw in Ireland on Saturday and offered precious little in response.

The result left the two teams with 23 points from 10 games and ended the qualifying hopes of Ireland and Cyprus.

"I'm very happy," Czech coach Karel Brueckner told a news conference. "We worked hard in preparation and they did everything we wanted on the field.

"The early goal was important but it wasn't decisive. The hard work of every player made the difference."

SIMPLE MISTAKES

The Czechs had a lot more riding on the game than Germany and it showed in the home side's uncharacteristic carelessness, especially in the first half.

"The match was disappointing across the board," said Germany coach Joachim Loew. "All the things we do well were missing. We played poorly, pure and simple. It was a day to forget."

The early goal stemmed from a misplaced pass from Bastian Schweinsteiger, giving Plasil possession on the left.

His clever through ball beat the offside by a fraction and found Jan Koller all on his own, five metres from goal. The tall striker, who looked like he could hardly believe his luck, calmly played the ball back to Sionko to finish comfortably.

Germany, who beat the Czech Republic in the final of the 1996 European Championship, were missing captain Michael Ballack and striker Miroslav Klose through injury and they looked toothless as a result.

They had still not threatened Petr Cech's goal before they found themselves 2-0 down, via another soft goal.

Cech punted the ball forward, Koller headed it on and Matejovsky did well to fight his way past Torsten Frings and Christoph Metzelder before beating Hildebrand.

That finally provoked a German response and Kevin Kuranyi twice went close with point-blank headers.

As Germany pressed in the second half they left themselves open on the break and Plasil made them pay with the third goal, picking his spot from around 12 metres after Daniel Pudil's perfect cross had picked him out.

[abadani69]

Belgium 3 Armenia 0 - European Championship 2008 Group A qualifying result

At Brussels

Scorers: Wesley Sonck 63, Moussa Dembele 66, Karel Geraerts 75

Teams

Belgium: 1-Stijn Stijnen; 2-Nicolas Lombaerts (15-Jan Vertonghen 81), 16-Gill Swerts, 5-Daniel Van Buyten (27-Vincent Kompany 59), 13-Guillaume Gillet; 3-Timmy Simons, 7-Faris Haroun, 6-Gaby Mudingayi, 19-Christophe Gregoire; 18 Moussa Dembele, 9 Kevin Mirallas (10-Wesley Sonck 46)

Armenia: 1-Gevorig Kasparov; 5-Robert Arzumanyan, 3-Karen Dokhoyan, 4-Sargis Hovsepyan, 18-Alexander Tateosian (17-Aghvan Mkrtchyan 81); 7-Ararat Arakelyan, 10-Arman Karamyan, 6-Romik Khachatryan (Aram Hakobya 57), 16-Levon Pachajyan, 8-Artur Voskanyan; 14-Samvel Melkonyan (11-Robert Zebelyan)

Referee: Johannes Valgeirsson (Iceland)