Germany leave it late to beat Faroe

Miroslav Klose spared German blushes in Torshavn with an 89th-minute opener and Fredi Bobic scored two minutes into stoppage time to deny the Faroes their most noteworthy result since beating Austria 1-0 13 years ago.

The result put Germany two points clear at the top of Group Five on 11 points. Iceland, who won 3-0 in Lithuania, are second on nine points, followed by Scotland on eight.

Turkey had to come from behind twice before beating Macedonia 3-2 in Istanbul and England fought back from a goal down to beat Slovakia 2-1 in Middlesbrough, skipper Michael Owen scoring two goals in his 50th international. Those results left Turkey top of Group Seven on 15 points, two clear of England, who are seven points ahead of third-placed Slovakia.

There was another significant win for Greece in Group Six, just five days after beating Spain, as they defeated Ukraine 1-0 in Athens thanks to an 86th-minute winner from Angelos Haristeas. If Greece win in Armenia on September 6 and beat Northern Ireland at home on October 11 they will secure their place in next year’s tournament in Portugal.

Spain, the long-time group leaders, were held to a 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland in Belfast, the 10th straight game in which the Irish have failed to score. Greece have 12 points, Spain 10 and Ukraine nine.

Elsewhere, there were expected wins for most of the countries chasing places in Portugal.

Denmark consolidated their position at the top of Group Two after goals from Claus Jensen and Thomas Gravesen gave them a 2-0 win in Luxembourg. Denmark are top with 13 points from six games ahead of Norway, who have 11 points after a 1-1 draw with Romania in Oslo. Third-placed Romania have 10 points.

There were two big wins in Group Three with the Czech Republic crushing Moldova 5-0 and Austria recovering from the shock of losing to Moldova on Saturday by beating Belarus 5-0. The Czechs, who also missed a penalty, moved on to 13 points alongside the Netherlands at the top of the group. Austria kept their slim hopes alive by moving on to nine points.

In Group Four, Sweden scored a convincing 3-0 win over Poland and Hungary won 5-0 in San Marino to occupy first and second places, pushing Latvia down from first to third. (Reuters)