TBILISI, Georgia -- Italy virtually booked
their place for the 2002 World Cup finals with a 2-1 win against
Georgia on Saturday.
Roma striker Marco Delvecchio put the group eight leaders
ahead on the stroke of halftime with a near-post header from a
Gianluca Zambrotta cross.
The Georgians applied some pressure after the break but
Roma's Francesco Totti doubled Italy's advantage in the 67th
minute, racing on to a through ball from Damiano Tomassi and
rounding the Georgian goalkeeper before slotting home.
Giorgi Gakhokidze pulled one back for Georgia 10 minutes
from time with a close-range left-foot shot from a tight angle.
The result, Italy's fifth straight win, leaves them on 16
points from six games, 10 more than second-placed Romania who
were playing third-placed Hungary later on Saturday.
Niculae scores twice to boost Romania's WC hopes
BUCHAREST -- Marius Niculae scored twice to
boost Romania's hopes of a World Cup qualifying play-off place
with a 2-0 home win against Hungary on Saturday.
The European qualifying group eight win was only the second
time they had beaten their fierce rivals in 65 years.
Dinamo Bucharest's Niculae scored after just three minutes,
converting a great pass from Adrian Ilie, before heading home
his second eight minutes after the break when he latched on to
an Ilie cross.
The win puts Romania second in the group four points clear
of their neighbours, whom have a game in hand, but seven points
behind leaders Italy. Hungary play Romania at home in September.
Romania, whose fans chanted the name of their Hungarian-born
coach Ladislau Boloni in the final minutes, put the visitors
under early pressure and Viorel Moldovan, Niculae and Ilie
missed four great chances between them in the first 15 minutes.
In a bizarre second-half incident, Hungarian defender Csaba
Fejer punched a Romanian FA official on the touchline when
chasing a ball that had gone out of play, but his lunge went
unnoticed by the referee.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights
reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or
delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.