4. EURO '08: Turks stun Greece in Athens

• by Soccer America , Mar 25, 2007

Turkey remained unbeaten and untied in Euro '08 qualifying with a stunning 4-1 victory over archrival Greece, the defending European champion, in Athens on Saturday.

The Turks, who went into the game with 12 players injured or suspended, recovered from an early deficit to crush Greece thanks to goals by Tuncay Sanli, Gokhan Unal, Metin Tumer and Gokdeniz Karadeniz. Turkey leads Greece by three points at the top of Group C and is one of only two unbeaten and untied teams left in qualifying along with idle Sweden in Group F.

In another clash between first-place teams, Germany took the lead in Group D with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic thanks to two goals from Kevin Kuranyi.

Scotland and France, tied for first in Group B, needed late goals to emerge victorious on Saturday. Craig Beattie scored in the 89th minute to give the Scots a 2-1 victory over Georgia. Nicolas Anelka scored for France 14 minutes from time to give the Bleus a 1-0 win at Lithuania.

England's troubles continued as it was held to a 0-0 tie at Israel and now trails Croatia and Russia, both winners on Saturday, by five and three points, respectively, in Group E.

Portugal and Spain, on the other hand, moved back into contention with wins on Saturday. Spain revived its hopes in Group F with a 2-1 victory over Denmark thanks to goals by Valencia strikers Fernando Morientes and David Villa. The Danes played with 10 men after defender Niclas Jensen was red-carded in the 19th minute. Portugal moved into third place in Group A, ahead of Serbia, after crushing Belgium, 4-0. Cristiano Ronaldo continued his sparkling form with two goals.

The biggest upset took place in Almaty, where Serbia was upset by Kazakhstan, 2-1. It was Kazakhstan's first competitive win and the first time it had scored at home in a qualifier since joining UEFA in 2002.

EURO '08 QUALIFYING
Group A
Kazakhstan 2 (Ashirbekov 47, Zhumaskaliyev 61) Serbia 1 (Zigic 68).
Poland 5 (Bak 2, Dudka 5, Lobodzinski 33, Krzynowek 58, Kazmierczak 83) Azerbaijan 0.
Portugal 4 (Nuno Gomes 52, Cristiano Ronaldo 54, 75, Quaresma 68) Belgium 0.
Group B
Scotland 2 (Boyd 11, Beattie 89) Georgia 1 (Arveladze 41).
Faeroe Islands 0 Ukraine 2 (Yezerskiy 21, Gusev 58).
Lithuania 0 France 1 (Anelka 74).
Group C
Moldova 1 (Epureanu 82) Malta 1 (Mallia 75).
Norway 1 (Carew pen. 49) Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 (Misimovic 17, Muslimovic 33).
Greece 1 (Kyrgiakos 5) Turkey 4 (Tuncay 26, Gokhan 55, Metin 70, Gokdeniz 81).
Group D
Cyprus 1 (Aloneftis 45) Slovakia 3 (Vittek 54, Skrtel 67, Jakubko 77).
Czech Republic 1 (Baros 76) Germany 2 (Kuranyi 42, 62).
Ireland 1 (Ireland 39) Wales 0.
Group E
Croatia 2 (Srna 58, da Silva 88) Macedonia 1 (Sedloski 36).
Estonia 0 Russia 2 (Kerzhakov 66, 78).
Israel 0 England 0.
Group F
Liechtenstein 1 (Burgmeier 90) Northern Ireland 4 (Healy 52, 75, 83, McCann 90).
Spain 2 (Morientes 34, David Villa 45) Denmark 1 (Gravgaard 48).
Group G
Albania 0 Slovenia 0.
Netherlands 0 Romania 0.
Luxembourg 1 (Sagrahola 68) Belarus 2 (Kalachev 25, Kutuzov 54).