Racing Post
November 17, 2004, Wednesday

FOOTBALL: 10-1 ARMENIA’S TASK MADE EASIER

by IAN COYNE

HILLS yesterday slashed Armenia to 9-2 from 7-1 to win their World
Cup qualifier against Romania today after Steaua Bucharest’s
Florentin Dumitru became the 13th player to withdraw from the
visitors’ squad.

Romania coach Anghel Iordanescu is expected to field an experimental
line-up including uncapped defenders Mihai Pascovici of Farul
Constanta and Lucian Goian of FCM Bacau, and midfielders Tiberiu
Balan of Sportul Studentesc and Ciprian Danciu of Otelul Galati.

Ladbrokes should see plenty of business for the home side in their
shops, as they are 10-1 Armenia on their coupons but only 7-1 for
internet and telephone clients.

Punters who backed Wrexham at 3-1 with Skybet to be relegated from
League One at the start of the season will be far happier than the
beleaguered north Wales outfit’s fans after the club applied to go
into administration in order to avoid a winding-up order from the
High Court.

Clubs in administration receive an automatic ten-point penalty from
the Football League, which would leave the Dragons second-bottom in
the standings. The club owe pounds 800,000 in unpaid taxes.

Steven Gerrard is expected to return to Liverpool’s midfield against
Middlesbrough on Saturday after playing the second half of a Reds
reserves game on Monday.

Gerrard, who broke a bone in his foot in the Merseysiders’ 2-1 defeat
against Manchester United on September 20, admitted he hopes to stay
injury-free for the remainder of the campaign.

Anyone who fancies backing Mexico at 1-100 to beat St Kitts and Nevis
can do so with Blue Square, who are betting on tonight’s Concacaf
World Cup qualifiers.

Blue Square – Concacaf World Cup qualifiers (kick -off time): 5-4
Honduras v 17-10 Costa Rica, 11-5 draw (11pm); 1-8 Trinidad & Tobago
v 11 St Vincent, 11-2 draw (11pm); 6-5 Panama v 7-4 El Salvador, 11-5
draw (12.30am); 2-7 USA v 7 Jamaica, 7-2 draw (1.15am); 1-100 Mexico
v 33 St Kitts & Nevis, 9 draw (2am).