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Italy, England, Portugal, Dutch advance in World Cup
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-09 09:00
LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, England and
Poland all secured their places in the 2006 World Cup finals in the penultimate
round of European qualifiers on Saturday.
The Netherland's players celebrate after the World Cup 2006, Group One,
qualifier soccer match against the Czech Republic at the Toyota Arena in
Prague October 8, 2005. The Netherlands won the match 2-0. [Reuters]
| With Ukraine already through to join
hosts Germany the remaining automatic qualifiers and playoff berths will be
decided on Wednesday.
The Netherlands advanced with 2-0 win at fellow Euro 2004 semi-finalists the
Czech Republic - a result that had widespread ramifications as it also sent
through England and Poland and kept Romania in the hunt for a Group One playoff
spot after their 1-0 win in Finland.
The clash in Prague between the top two in Group One lived up to
expectations, particularly in an action-packed first half.
Edwin van der Sar saved a harshly-awarded penalty by Tomas Rosicky in the
29th minute and a minute later Rafael van der Vaart put the Dutch ahead.
Barry Opdam headed the second in the 37th and though the home side made most
of the running after the break it was the massed ranks of orange-clad visiting
fans celebrating at the end.
The victory sent the Dutch to Germany as group winners with a game to spare
and left the Czechs needing to win in Finland to pip Romania for second.
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