Danes await day of destiny

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Dramatically poised
No section is more dramatically poised than Group 2 where leaders Denmark will visit third-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina, who can still win the group themselves. After the Danes' 2-2 draw with Romania last night, their coach, Morten Olsen, said they would travel to Zenica with just one thing in mind: "If we play like this in Bosnia we are sure to lose, and we simply do not have a team that can play to just get a draw."

Norway 'need help'
If Denmark win or draw, Norway could climb from fourth place to second, above a second-placed Romania side who have completed their fixtures, provided they beat Luxembourg. "We still need some help from Denmark, I rate our chances as 50-50," said Norway coach Nils Johan Semb.

Lucky ticket
Latvia, second in Group 4, go into their final fixture away to section winners Sweden leading Hungary by two points and Poland by three. Aleksandrs Starkovs, their coach, said after the 3-1 win against Hungary: "Latvia, Hungary and Poland now [all] have an equal chance of qualify but I hope it will be us who get the lucky ticket."

Janas looks to Sweden
Poland must bounce back from defeat by Sweden by beating Hungary to stand any chance of finishing second. Coach Pawel Janas said: "We must win in Hungary and look to the Sweden game against Latvia."

Völler target
Rudi Völler said it was too early to celebrate after the 2-1 win against Scotland returned his Germany side to the top of Group 5. "I will not kid myself and celebrate this win as if we were in Portugal," he said. "We still need one point and of course we want to win against Iceland." It is between Iceland and Scotland for second place.

Sáez satisfied
It will go to the wire in Group 6 where leaders Greece play Northern Ireland and Spain, a point behind, visit Armenia. After beating Ukraine 2-1 in Elche last night, Spain coach Iñaki Sáez said: "The answer from Elche is just what we wanted. Now it hinges on the final matches."

Playing to win
The Group 7 showdown between Turkey and England will decide which team qualifies as section winners and who enters the play-offs. Leaders England need only a draw after beating Liechtenstein but coach Sven-Göran Eriksson said: "I don't think England, the team we have now, can go in and try and make a draw."

Anthuenis realistic
In Group 8, Belgium coach Aimé Anthuenis admitted the odds were weighed in Croatia's favour in the fight for second place behind Bulgaria. Belgium face Estonia knowing they must better Croatia's result against section winners Bulgaria. "It's a shame for us that Bulgaria have already qualified," he said. "The chances of Bulgaria taking points from Croatia have decreased now."

Wales on course
Wales coach Mark Hughes was upbeat after a 1-1 draw with Finland secured at least a play-off place in Group 9. "We started off as a fourth seed, but our progress to EURO 2004™ is still on," he said. Wales must beat Serbia and Montenegro and hope leaders Italy slip up against Azerbaijan if they are to top the section.

'We will win'
It is tight in Group 10 where only one point separates leaders Switzerland from Russia and the Republic of Ireland. The Swiss, beaten 4-1 in Moscow yesterday, face the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland coach Kobi Kuhn said: "I am sure we will win on 11 October and qualify for EURO 2004™. We are a strong team that needs no excuses. Russia were just better tonight."

Russian hopes
Russia finish at home to Georgia and coach Georgi Yartsev said: "It would be stupid to lose points against Georgia, when we earned them playing against the Swiss. However, everything will depend Switzerland-Ireland."

Already there
France, Czech Republic, Sweden and Bulgaria have all qualified as group winners together with hosts Portugal. Slovenia and the Netherlands are in the play-offs.