European powers wary of more slip-ups

Poland, who won 3-0 in Northern Ireland, are looking to become England8217;s nemesis again when the two sides meet in Chorzow in Group Six.

England are under pressure after letting slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against Austria in Vienna. England travel to Chorzow for the first time since losing 0-2 in a World Cup qualifier there 31 years ago.

France are rebuilding after the international retirement of the core of their 1998 World Cup-winning side and in particular Zinedine Zidane. Their inexperienced side were held 0-0 in Paris by Israel on Saturday and they will take an away match against the Faroe Islands lightly at their peril.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, the heavyweights from the Netherlands and the Czech Republic meet again after clashing in the finals of Euro 2004 as well as the qualifying campaign.

It will be the debut for both teams in Group One and they will be playing catch-up as Romania have already taken six points from two games so far and should make that nine when they play Andorra on Wednesday. Successive defeats would be too much for Greece to swallow but that is a prospect they must prepare to avoid at all costs against Turkey by recovering their excellent Euro 2004 defensive qualities.

Turkey, the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists who failed to reach the Euro 2004 tournament, will want to improve on their 1-1 draw at home to Georgia and may feel a Greek side off the boil are there for the taking.

Italy, making a new start under Marcello Lippi after their Euro failure, made a good start in Group Five with a 2-1 home win over Norway in Palermo and they will be looking for maximum points again on their trip to Moldova. Reuters

MATCH-UPS

Greece v Turkey