The Hindu : Sport / Football : Russia draws with Latvia

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Friday, Aug 19, 2005

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Russia draws with Latvia

LONDON: Russia rallied to draw 1-1 at Latvia on Wednesday and Slovakia was held to a 0-0 draw at Liechtenstein, boosting Portugal's bid to clinch a berth in next year's World Cup football finals in Germany.

Portugal leads Group 3 with 20 points from eight games, two more than Slovakia, which has played nine games. Russia was third with 15 points from eight games and Latvia was fourth with 14 points from nine games.

In other qualifiers, Romania beat Andorra 2-0 to keep alive its hopes. The victory gave it 19 points in Group 1, three points behind the group leader Netherlands and two behind the Czech Republic. Finland won 3-0 at Macedonia to get to 12 points in Group 1; Georgia won 2-1 at Kazakhstan in a match between the bottom two teams in Group 2; and Cyprus won 3-0 at the Faeroe Islands in a game between the last two teams in Group 4.

In Riga, Latvia led in the sixth minute on a goal by Vitalijs Astafjevs. But Andrey Arshavin equalized for Russia in the 24th in a match each side needed to win.

Japan, S. Arabia win

Japan downed Iran 2-1 and Saudi Arabia beat South Korea 1-0 to wrap up their qualifying campaigns for the 2006 soccer World Cup on a high note.

Uzbekistan rallied for a 3-2 win over Kuwait to take third place in Group A and a last chance at qualifying.

The results: World Cup qualifying: Europe: Macedonia 0, Finland 3; Romania 2, Andorra 0; Kazakhstan 1, Georgia 2; Latvia 1, Russia 1; Liechtenstein 0, Slovakia 0; Faeroe Islands 0, Cyprus 3.

Africa (second round): Sudan 1, Benin 0; Tunisia 1, Kenya 0.

Asia (final round): South Korea 0, Saudi Arabia 1; Uzbekistan 3, Kuwait 2; Bahrain 2, North Korea 3; Japan 2, Iran 1.

CONCACAF (final round): Guatemala 2, Panama 1; Mexico 2, Costa Rica 0; United States 1, Trinidad and Tobago 0. — AP

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