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World Cup pressure for Greece, Portugal
Nine months after winning the European championship, the Greeks are in jeopardy of failing to qualify for the World Cup.
And they're not the only ones.
Portugal, France and Spain also are in danger of missing next year's tournament in Germany.
World Cup qualifying in Europe has hit the halfway point, with 21 games scheduled for Wednesday in the continent's eight groups.
Elsewhere, the United States meets Guatemala at Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday in one of three games from the North and Central America and Caribbean region. There are four games in South America and four in Asia. On Tuesday, it's Venezuela at Bolivia.
The Greeks, who play Albania in Athens, won 3-1 in Georgia on Saturday but remain haunted in Group 2 by a 2-1 loss at Albania in September.
Greece trails group leader Ukraine by three points. Ukraine is home against Denmark, which is five behind. Ukraine will be without star striker Andriy Shevchenko, who has a broken cheekbone.
"With Shevchenko, it's one team, and it's quite another one without him," Ukraine coach Oleh Blokhin said.
Portugal, the Euro 2004 runner-up, faces a key game at Slovakia. Both have 13 points atop Group 3. Portugal is coming off a 4-1 exhibition win Saturday over Canada. Slovakia defeated Estonia 2-1.
Under European qualifying rules, the eight group winners advance automatically to Germany. The top two second-place teams also advance, and the other six second-place teams face playoffs. Host Germany qualifies automatically.
Wednesday's games mark the seventh of 13 playing dates. The next rounds are June 4 and 8. Qualifying ends Oct. 12, with playoffs set for November.
France is Europe's "Big Zero" entering its game in Israel. The 1998 World Cup champions tied visiting Switzerland 0-0 Saturday for their third scoreless home tie against their three main Group 4 rivals — Ireland, Israel and Switzerland.
"We are consistent. All we need to do now is score goals," coach Raymond Domenech said. The team has scored just six goals in eight games since Domenech took over in July.
France, Ireland and Israel have nine points, with Switzerland just three behind. France still has to play at Ireland and at Switzerland in the second half of the qualifying campaign.
Spain, one of Europe's consistent underachievers, could have trouble again at Belgrade against Serbia-Montenegro in Group 7. Serbia leads with 10 points, with Spain and Lithuania two behind.
Spain defeated China 3-0 in an exhibition Saturday. Coach Luis Aragones is under pressure to bench star striker Raul Gonzalez, who missed the China game with an injury.
"It's clear that Serbia is a great team, but I think if we set a faster pace, we can win," midfielder Luis Garcia said.
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