Tie-break decides thriller
Thursday 25 October 2007-
Lithuania finished top – but only just (©AFP)Lithuania
and Armenia edged into the UEFA European Under-19
Championship Elite round above Poland after qualifying
round Group 7 went to a three-way tie.
Tie-breaker
The leading trio all beat San Marino and drew with
each other, meaning the group went to a head-to-head
count involving only results between the top three.
And on goals scored, hosts Lithuania were first,
Armenia second and Poland just out of the qualifying
spots in third. There is still hope for Poland,
though, as the two third-placed teams in the 13 groups
with the best record against the leading pair in their
pool will also be in November’s Elite round draw, with
five mini-tournament still to end.
Poland win
Poland led the group after Matchday 1 as they defeated
San Marino 5-0. Przemys³aw Wysocki and Grzegorz
Krychowiak struck in the first half-hour and Rados³aw
Kursa, Tomasz Kupisz and substitute Wojciech £uczak
scored after the break. Armenia drew 2-2 with
Lithuania, the high-scoring nature of that encounter
later to be invaluable for both teams.
Close finish
Two days later Armenia edged to a 1-0 win against San
Marino, while Poland drew 1-1 with Lithuania. It was
goalless on the final afternoon between Poland and
Armenia, and Lithuania overcame San Marino 4-0 to set
up the tie-breaker that favoured the hosts and their
fellow former Soviet republic.
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