close
Friday March 29, 2024

Spain punch World Cup ticket

By AFP
October 08, 2017

PARIS: Heavyweights Spain qualified for the 2018 World Cup with a routine 3-0 home win over Albania, but Serbia must wait to seal their place following a 3-2 loss in Austria.

Rodrigo, Isco and Thiago Alcantara all scored inside the first 30 minutes in Alicante as the 2010 world champions locked up top spot in Group G as Italy were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Macedonia in Turin.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was greeted with a mixture of jeers and applause on his 92nd international appearance just days after voting in a referendum on Catalan independence deemed illegal by the Spanish government and blighted by police violence.

“We had to concentrate solely on football,” coach Julen Lopetegui told Spanish TV station Teledeporte.

“It has been a difficult, complicated week and fortunately we managed to do that in a very, very good first 30 minutes.”

Four-time World Cup winners Italy are destined for the November play-offs after Macedonian substitute Aleksandar Trajkovski’s 77th-minute equaliser cancelled out a first-half goal by veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini.

“There’s still one match left and then we’ll think about the play-offs. We hope to get some players back,” said Italy coach Gian Piero Ventura, whose squad has been depleted by a raft of injuries.

Serbia missed out on a chance to wrap up qualification from Group D with a match to spare as Louis Schaub struck a minute from time to give Austria victory in Vienna.

Serbia, who could have sealed a spot in Russia with victory, led through an early Luka Milivojevic goal but fell behind as Austria replied through efforts from Guido Burgstaller and Marko Arnautovic.

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic had levelled on 83 minutes before Schaub’s winner, but Serbia can still advance by defeating Georgia in their final qualifier in Belgrade on Monday.

Tom Lawrence scored his first international goal to earn Wales a vital 1-0 victory in Georgia and keep them firmly in the hunt for a finals berth.

The Derby County forward rifled in the winner four minutes after half-time in Tbilisi as Chris Coleman’s team stayed a point clear of third-placed Republic of Ireland.

The Irish brushed Moldova aside 2-0 in Dublin through a first-half brace from Daryl Murphy and now face Wales at home in a final-round showdown with first place in the group still in play.

Serbia head the section on 18 points with Wales, aiming to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1958, second on 17 and Ireland another point further back.

Iceland took a huge step towards a maiden World Cup appearance with an impressive 3-0 win over Turkey in Eskisehir that leaves the hosts all but out of the running.

Johann Gudmundsson, Birkir Bjarnason and Kari Arnason scored as Iceland pulled two points clear of Croatia at the top of Group I after the latter were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to eliminated Finland.

Ukraine are level on 17 points with Croatia following a 2-0 win away to Kosovo and host the Croats in Kiev on Monday.

Meanwhile, Christian Pulisic ran riot in Orlando to fire the United States to within touching distance of Russia 2018 with a 4-0 win over Panama.

The brilliant 19-year-old scored one and made another to cap a sensational 19-minute burst at the start of this crucial World Cup qualifier to see off a shellshocked Panama team and help Bruce Arena’s men take a firm step towards next year’s showpiece finals.

Pulisic opened the scoring on eight minutes and beautifully set up strike partner Jozy Altidore to make it two and compound a nightmare start for Panama, who now look destined to settle for a play-off match against either Syria or Australia to land a World Cup place for the first time in their history.

Honduras, whose match in Costa Rica was put back a day because of adverse weather, also remain in the mix.

For the Americans, however, a win against bottom of the hexagonal table Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday will seal their ticket for an eighth consecutive finals and even a point should be enough.