U21 contenders strengthen claims

The latest round of qualifiers for the 2004/06 UEFA European Under-21 Championship were played on Friday and Saturday, and Croatia, Italy and England all recorded their third victories to strengthen their positions at the top of their respective sections. uefa.com rounds up the action in the eight qualifying groups.

Group 1
Leaders Romania suffered their first defeat as the Czech Republic ran out 4-1 winners at the Mladá Boleslav stadium, with Tomáš Jun scoring a hat-trick and Michal Kadlec getting the other before Nicolae Mitea scored a late consolation. In the only two matches to be played on Saturday, Collins John and Jerrel Wolfgang scored as the Netherlands moved up to third place with a 2-0 win away against F.Y.R. Macedonia, while Samvel Melkonyan's 77th-minute goal gave Armenia a 1-0 victory in Finland.

Group 2
Denmark moved top with a narrow 2-1 victory in Albania thanks to goals from Morten Rasmussen and Johan Absalonsen. Ukraine also have six points after Alexander Aliyev's penalty earned victory against Greece in Kiev, while Semih Senturk scored the only goal of the game as Turkey defeated Kazakhstan in Istanbul.

Group 3
Slovakia and Russia both recorded victories to join Portugal on six points. Igor Lebendenko struck twice in Russia's 4-0 win in Luxembourg, with Rouslan Nakhoushev and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov also scoring. Milan Ivana, Radovan Kulík and Ivan Lietava all found the net as Slovakia defeated Latvia 3-1 in Senec.

Group 4
Leaders Switzerland needed an added-time equaliser from David Degen to cancel out Shai Abutbul's 32nd-minute opener and salvage a draw from their visit to Israel. France took full advantage against the Republic of Ireland in Troyes, Stephen Drouin's 84th-minute winner sending René Girard's side to the top of the table.

Group 5
Italy moved five points clear with a 3-0 win away to second-placed Slovenia in Nova Gorica, Rolando Bianchi (2) and Giorgio Chiellini finding the net in the second half after Slovenia's Marko Bozic had been sent off a minute before the hour. Norway and Moldova both picked up their first points with fine away victories, Christian Grindheim and Lars Kristian Eriksen scoring in the Scandinavian side's 2-0 win in Scotland while Oleg Hromtsov's 71st-minute goal earned Moldova a 3-2 win in Belarus.

Group 6
Second-half goals from James Milner and Darren Bent earned England a 2-0 victory against Wales at Blackburn Rovers FC's Ewood Park, opening up a six-point gap at the top of the table. Germany began their campaign with a win, Mike Hanke and Marvin Matip scoring in Azerbaijan to give new coach Dieter Eilts a perfect start. Poland collected their first points in impressive fashion, defeating Austria 3-0 in Steyr thanks to a Piotr Brozek hat-trick.

Group 7
Serbia and Montenegro took over at the top and maintained their perfect record with a 3-1 win away to
Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo with Bosko Jankovic, Danko Lazovic and Marko Perovic getting the goals. Meanwhile, Spain needed a late equaliser from Santiago Cazorla to salvage a 2-2 draw against ten-man Belgium in Santander. Cesc Fabregas scored Spain's opening goal while Benjamin De Ceulaer and Maarten Martens were on target for Belgium, who lost Sylvio Proto to a red card.

Group 8
Leaders Croatia consolidated their position with a 1-0 win at home to Bulgaria in Velika Gorica thanks to Eduardo Da Silva's strike six minutes into the second half. Sweden climbed up to second place with six points thanks to Bjorn Runstrom's last-minute winner against Hungary in Enkoping that sealed a 2-1 success. Malta also left it late to defeat Iceland in Ta'Qali, Cleaven Frendo striking the game's only goal two minutes into added time.