SERRAVALLE, San Marino -- Belgium opened up
a three-point lead in European World Cup qualifying group six on
Wednesday but were unconvincing 4-1 winners against unglamorous
San Marino.
Belgium are in pole position with 14 points from six games.
Rivals Croatia, who earlier beat Latvia 1-0, and Scotland both
have 11 points from five matches.
The visitors, who crushed San Marino 10-1 in February, took
an early lead through Marc Wilmots who crashed a volley past
Federico Gasperoni after 10 minutes.
But from the restart, San Marino caught the Belgian defence
napping and Andy Selva pounced to score his third goal for the
world's smallest and oldest republic.
Belgium had to wait until the 60th minute to move into the
safety zone when Club Bruges' Gert Verheyen tapped in at the far
post.
Substitute Wesley Sonck made it 3-1, heading his first
international goal, before Wilmots wrapped up the win with a
last minute penalty, his 23rd goal for his country.
Croatia climbs table after 1-0 win over Latvia
RIGA -- Croatia leapfrogged over Scotland
to take second place in group six after a 1-0 World Cup
qualifying victory over Latvia on Wednesday.
The winner, which followed one of Latvia's best chances to
score, came in the 39th minute when Milan Rapaic broke down the
wing and and set up Bosko Balaban to score.
Latvia played the last 17 minutes with 10 men after Andrejs
Stolcers was shown the red card.
Croatia are now level with the Scots on 11 points from five
games, but lead on goal difference -- a single goal. Group
leaders Belgium, also on 11 points, were away to San Marino
later in the day.
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.