Israel and England in goalless draw

Israel and England played out a disappointing 0-0 draw in their Euro 2008 Group E qualifying match yesterday a result that dented the chances of both teams reaching the finals in Austria and Switzerland next year.

England manager Steve McClaren said he was frustrated and disappointed by the result.

"There was poor quality and poor finishing. We made the chances but we weren't ruthless enough in front of goal. It was two points dropped," he said after the game ended.

England have scored only one goal in their last five internationals - their worst run for 26 years.

The visitors went close when Jamie Carragher shaved the bar with a header in the 69th minute and Micah Richards and Jermain Defoe had the ball in the net three times late in the match but from offside positions.

England showed a little more intensity in the second half after Israel had held their own in opening period when Toto Tamuz had two good chances within two minutes.

The much-anticipated encounter left most of the 41,500 supporters well subdued and the uninspiring game was played out in a muted, relatively quiet stadium.

Late winning goals kept France and Scotland neck and neck at the top of Group B yesterday.

Both teams stayed on course for next year's finals with Nicolas Anelka grabbing France's winner against Lithuania in Kaunas 16 minutes from time when he scored the only goal of the game with a low shot from just outside the box.

Scotland left it even later, beating Georgia 2-1 in Glasgow with Craig Beattie scoring their winner a minute from time.

Kris Boyd had put the Scots ahead after 11 minutes before the evergreen Shota Arveladze equalised four minutes before the break.

Scotland and France top the group with 12 points from five matches followed by Ukraine, who won 2-0 in the Faroe Islands, third on nine points.

Poland were the biggest winners in the early matches thrashing Azerbaijan 5-0 in Group A to go top after Serbia suffered a shock 2-1 defeat in Kazakhstan in the same section.

It was Kazakhstan's first competitive win in Europe and also the first time they had scored at home since joining UEFA in 2002.

Kairat Ashirbekov and Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev gave them a 2-0 lead before Nikola Zigic pulled one back for the Serbs.

Poland moved top with 13 points from six matches, two points clear of Finland who did not play and have a match in hand. Serbia slipped to fourth on 10 points.

Turkey thrashed European champions Greece 4-1 to move three points clear at the top of Group C. Turkey went in level at half-time before three goals in the second period wrapped up the points and gave them the edge over their Greek rivals in the table with 12 points from four games.

Greece took the lead after five minutes when defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos turned and drilled the ball past goalkeeper Volkan Demirel after a Giorgos Karagounis cross.

But Turkey kept finding space on the left flank from which to launch counter attacks and looked dangerous despite the noise from a fiery 33,000 sell-out crowd at the Karaiskakis stadium.

The visitors almost equalised in the 13th minute when Tuncay Sanli raced through only to see his curling shot from the edge of the box fly past Antonis Nikopolidis's left post.

Sanli did level the scores 14 minutes later when he got the ball in the box, turned past two defenders and fired home.

Gokhan Unal added a second in the 55th before Metin Tumer made it three with a solo effort from outside the box with 20 minutes left.

Gokdeniz Karadeniz scored the fourth in the 81st within a minute of coming on with a sparkling sprint down the left before he slotted the ball past Nikopolidis.

Kuranyi downs Czechs

Two Kevin Kuranyi headers gave Germany a 2-1 win over Czech Republic in a Group D top-of-the-table clash.

Germany have 13 points ahead of the Czechs after five matches with Ireland also on 10 points.

The Czechs had the first chance but the Germans gradually built up the pressure and in the 42nd minute Kuranyi shrugged off two defenders to head a corner past Petr Cech.

Czech striker Milan Baros had early chances in the second half but headed two Tomas Ujfalusi crosses over before Kuranyi put Germany 2-0 ahead in the 62nd from a Philipp Lahm centre.

Baros scored a lucky goal in the 76th minute, deflecting in a shot by Jan Polak on the edge of the box, to give the home side hope but despite several chances they could not equalise.

Ireland improved their chances in a tightly bunched group with a 1-0 win over Wales in the first soccer international played at Croke Park, the home of Ireland's Gaelic sports.

Fittingly the only goal was scored by the aptly-named Stephen Ireland six minutes before half-time.