The Hindu : Sport / Football : Goal... but who scored?

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Saturday, Jun 19, 2004

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Sport - Football

Goal... but who scored?

LISBON, JNE 18. UEFA was assessing on Friday whether Wayne Rooney's second strike in England's 3-0 victory over Switzerland was his goal or an own-goal by the goalkeeper.

``The technical people are looking at the issue,'' said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard.

After the 18-year old slotted his first goal to become the youngest goalscorer at the championships, he followed it up with a second to put the game beyond doubt.

His fierce shot hit the post and rebounded into the net off 'keeper Joerg Stiel's back. Own goal by Stiel or goal by Rooney?

``I will be claiming it,'' Rooney said after the match.

Now UEFA is assessing the goal again.

Time to count: With the quarterfinals only a week away, mathematics come into play to determine who advances to the last eight.

The first criterion is easy enough — the two teams with most points in each of the four groups advance.

If teams are equal on points, it comes down to the results between the teams involved. First comes the goal difference, followed by the number of goals.

If that is still equal, it goes down to the goal difference from all three group games, followed by goals scored in all group games.

Still equal? Then UEFA takes into account the results from the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 qualifiers.

That, for example, would give an edge to Portugal and Spain in Group A, with Russia and Greece further behind. In Group `B', France leads ahead of England, Croatia and Switzerland.

In Group `C', Sweden leads Italy, followed by Denmark and Bulgaria. Group `D' has the Czech Republic in front, edging Germany and the Netherlands, with Latvia last.

Dutch visit: The Netherlands' game against the Czech Republic in Aveiro on Saturday will be attended by the Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and princes Bernhard and Maurits. The government will also send a high-profile delegation led by Vice-Premier Thom de Graaf. ``The Dutch team appreciates the support of the delegation,'' the soccer federation said in a statement.

Last Tuesday, some 20,000 orange-clad fans attended the first game in Porto against archrival Germany. Ten thousand Dutch fans are expected at the game against the Czechs.

Porto's Dragao Stadium has a capacity of 52,000 while Aveiro's municipal stadium only has 30,000 seats, which reduced the allotment of tickets for Dutch fans. — AP

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