Germany, England Gain World Cup Spots
Three-time winner Germany clinched its World Cup ’98 spot Saturday and England--after missing out four years ago--claimed a place with a scoreless draw in Rome, forcing Italy to a playoff to reach the 32-team field in France next summer.
Austria, Denmark and The Netherlands also got through by winning their respective European qualifying groups. They joined Romania, Norway, Bulgaria and Spain, who already were assured of going through.
France qualified automatically as the host team and Scotland claimed a place in the June 10-July 12 tournament by defeating Latvia, 2-0, to finish as the best runner-up in the nine European groups.
Europe’s final four places will be determined in a playoff between the eight remaining second-place teams. The draw for those matchups is Monday in Zurich.
Italy--runner-up four years ago to Brazil in USA ’94 and a three-time World Cup winner--will have to qualify through this route, as will Ireland, Hungary, Belgium, Russia, Croatia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia.
Germany needed Oliver Bierhoff’s second goal--a header in the 92nd minute--to win, 4-3, and secure a place in a match in Hanover.
The Germans, needing only a tie to qualify, finished first in their group with 22 points after a wild match in which they couldn’t shake last-place Albania.
England played Italy to a 0-0 standstill--shutting down the Italian offense and angering a crowd of 80,000 in Rome’s Olympic Stadium. England, needing only a tie, frustrated the Italians, who had to win to qualify directly.
Former Inter Milan midfielder Paul Ince, who picked up five stitches in the match, was England’s strongest player. Italy couldn’t crack the well-organized English and was hurt when Angelo Di Livio was expelled in the 76th minute.
England topped the group with 19 points from six victories, one loss and one tie, with unbeaten Italy second with 18 points from five victories and three ties.
Austria beat Belarus, 4-0, to clinch the top place in its group. The result gave Austria 25 points from 10 games, while Scotland finished second with 23. The Scottish victory left Sweden, the third-place finisher in 1994, out of the World Cup with 21 points despite a 1-0 victory over Estonia.
The Scots had to wait a few hours to celebrate until Spain beat the Faroe Islands, 3-1. Had Spain faltered, the Spaniards would have gone through with the best second-place record and Scotland would have been forced into the playoffs.
The Dutch got in with a scoreless draw against Turkey. The point gave the Dutch the top spot in its group, a point ahead of second-place Belgium.
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About a dozen England and Italy fans were hospitalized after clashes during the match in Rome. Security forces at Santo Spirito Hospital said they were treated for knife wounds, broken bones and bruises. No one was in critical condition.
Clashes also broke out in the stadium between riot police and England fans. Police using batons charged into the fans after objects were hurled between rival fans.
Earlier in the day, police arrested seven England fans on a Rome-bound train for attacking an Italian man and his son. In all, 28 fans were reported arrested in various incidents.
Tennis
Fourth-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain made quick work of countryman Tim Henman at Vienna, Austria, to set up a match against Goran Ivanisevic in the final of the $800,000 CA Trophy tournament.
Rusedski defeated Henman, 6-4, 6-4, in only 59 minutes, and Croatia’s Ivanisevic, seeded third, struggled to a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Richard Krajicek.
Despite an injury to his serving hand, Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer defeated Sweden’s Mikael Tillstrom at Singapore to move into the final of the Heineken Open, where he will face Magnus Gustafsson.
Kiefer, the eighth seed and the only non-Swede in the semifinals being played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, defeated Tillstrom, 6-7 (7-1), 6-3, 6-3.
Gustafsson defeated fellow Swede Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-6 (10-8).
Motor Sports
Tony Stewart overcame a balky suspension to win the Indy Racing League season championship, but it was Eliseo Salazar of Chile who won the Las Vegas 500K at the Las Vegas Speedway for his first Indy-car victory.
Salazar took the lead for good with 48 laps to go and held on to win by 1.2 seconds over Scott Goodyear in the final IRL race of the season. Stewart finished 11th to wrap up the IRL title, edging Davey Hamilton, who finished seventh.
Mike Bliss, seeking his first victory of the season, overcame slick conditions to earn the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Dodge Truck 300 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield. Bliss had a fast lap of 91.799 mph. Rich Bickle qualified second at 91.724 mph.
Jacques Villeneuve, the leader in the Formula One driver standings, could clinch the season title in today’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Japan, and still not be the champion despite having an insurmountable advantage in the points.
The confusing situation arose after a controversial qualifying session: First, Villeneuve won the pole. Then, he was disqualified for ignoring a yellow flag during practice earlier in the day.
After an appeal from his Williams-Renault team was accepted, Villeneuve was reinstated on the pole. But a victory or a high placing today would make Villeneuve only a provisional champion--until Formula One’s governing body, the International Federation of Automobile Sport (FIA), makes a ruling.
Snow, rain, hail and high winds combined to make conditions impossible for any attempt to be made to break the world land speed record on Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, 125 miles north of Reno.
Richard Noble’s Thrust SSC team, with Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green at the wheel, has first dibs on the 13-mile desert course today and hopes to be out just after daybreak. Green set the record Sept. 25 at 714.144 mph. Californian Craig Breedlove also hopes to put in some time on the desert today. His best time in the Spirit of America is 531 mph, set on Monday.
Boxing
Rocky Phillips scored an upset victory by breaking the jaw of former champion Michael Dokes with one second left in the second round of their heavyweight fight at Erlanger, Ky. Phillips improved his record to 20-3, while Dokes, 39, who hadn’t had a fight in four years and weighed in at 282 pounds, fell to 53-6-2.
Artur Grigorian of Uzbekistan pounded American David Armstrong and won a unanimous decision to retain his World Boxing Organization lightweight title at Cottbus, Germany.
Names in the News
Robin Lee, an Olympic skater who became the youngest junior national figure skating champion at age 12 and won five consecutive men’s titles in the 1930s, died of bone cancer. He was 77. . . . Doug Flutie broke the CFL touchdown pass record, throwing for his 39th and 40th scores of the season as the Toronto Argonauts defeated the Montreal Alouettes, 28-21, at Toronto, for their ninth victory in a row. . . . Baltimore Raven running back Byron (Bam) Morris posted bond and was released from a Rockwall, Texas, jail in a probation revocation case.
Times sports columnist Jim Murray will be the honoree Oct. 20 at the 23rd annual Cedars Sinai Grand Foundation Dinner at Hillcrest Country Club. The dinner, benefiting heart research, will have comedian John Byner as master of ceremonies and will also feature comedians Norm Crosby, Shecky Green, Dave Barry, Buddy Hackett and Sammy Shore. Former Dodger manager Tom Lasorda will also be on the dais. Details: 310-855-3664.
