February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Jay Mwamba
Chelsea forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink made it three strikes in as many World Cup qualifiers to ignite a 4-0 Dutch victory over Cyprus last Wednesday and move the Netherlands into second place behind Ireland in Group 2.
Shaping up as one of the players to watch when the Dutch visit Lansdowne Road in August, the previously overlooked Hasselbaink drew first blood from a booming free-kick in the 29th minute to put Holland’s qualification hopes back on track.
Marc Overmars (35th) and Patrick Kluivert (44th) had the Dutch cruising at halftime at the Philips Stadium in Eindhoven, before Manchester United’s new $27.3 million signing Ruud van Nistelrooy iced it eight minutes from time.
The win lifted Holland (3-2-1, 11 points) into second place, ahead of
Portugal on goal difference, but still three points adrift of the Republic following their labored 3-1 victory over Andorra.
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Yugos sink
Injury-hit Russia went five points clear of Switzerland at the top of Group 1 following their 1-0 decision over Yugoslavia in Belgrade. Vladimir Beschastnykh, the only recognized striker in the Russian team that made the trip, drove in a diving header in the 72nd minute to grab full points for the unbeaten visitors (4-0-1, 13). The loss effectively ended any chances fourth-placed Yugoslavia (1-2-1, 5) had of making the finals.
Icy impact
Northern Ireland (1-1-3, 4) dropped to second from the bottom in Group 3 without kicking a ball. The North’s demise was as a result of Iceland defeating Malta 4-1 in their bottom of the table clash in Valletta.
Goals by Tryggvi Gudmundsson (42nd), Helgi Sigurdsson (45th), Smari Gudjohnsen (83rd), and Thordur Gudjonsson (90th), after Michael Mifsud (14th) had given Malta a false start, buoyed Iceland (2-3, 6) into fourth place.
The Czech Republic (11) lead the group by a point over Bulgaria.
Streak ends
San Marino ended an eight-year losing streak in World Cup qualifiers by tying Latvia 1-all in a Group 6 fixture in Riga. Nicola Albani (59th) canceled out Marians Pahars’ 1st minute effort for Latvia to earn San Marino its first World Cup point since a goalless tie with Turkey back in March 1993, in the race for the ’94 championship in the United States.
The Riga achievement was, nonetheless, academic, as the tiny principality remains mired at the bottom of the group headed by Scotland (3-0-2, 11).
Austria rise
Edi Glieder (43rd) and Thomas Floegel (75th) moved Austria past idle Spain (10) and into first place in Group 7 with a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein in Innsbruck. Austria lead by a point.