A quick summary of action around the UEFA group phase on SAT 04 SEP 2004.
» Austria 2-2 England: England took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but in a wild ten minute stretch, Steven GERRARD doubled the lead, Roland KOLLMAN halved it, and finally Andreas IVANSCHITZ eliminated it to draw with the Group 6 favourites.
» Albania 2-1 Greece: Edvin MURATI and Adrian ALIAJ found net in the first eleven minutes to lead unfancied Albania past Greece to the top of Group 2.
» Russia 1-1 Slovakia: Andrei KARYAKA missed a 73rd minute penalty for Russia, and Robert VITTEK made him regret his error by equalising late on. Slovakia pull into second in Group 3, two points behind Estonia.
» France 0-0 Israel: Having been hosts and then defending champs, France played a real World Cup qualifier for the first time in over ten years and looked out of practise, stumbling to third place in Group 4 behind Switzerland and Ireland Rep.
» Italy 2-1 Norway: John CAREW put Norway ahead in the first minute, but only three minutes later, Daniele DE ROSSI scored for Italy. Luca TONI was responsible for the late winner in the key Group 5 clash.