England's goalscorers Michael Owen (left), Shaun Wright-Phillips (centre) and Micah Richards celebrate Owen's strike against Israel in their Euro 2008 Group E qualifying match at Wembley, yesterday. England won 3-0. - AP

LONDON (AP):

ITALY MADE their bid to qualify for next year's European Championship a lot more difficult yesterday, and England made it much more likely.

The World Cup champions, playing France for the second time since beating Les Bleus on penalties last year in Germany, were held to a 0-0 draw, dropping them into third place in Group B with four matches to go.

England, however, successfully completed the first step of their six-point plan by beating Israel 3-0. The other three points in the plan could come on Wednesday when England hosts Russia in a key Group E match that is likely to leave one of the two teams facing elimination.

biggest surprise

Russia beat Macedonia 3-0 to stay one point ahead of England with four matches to go. Croatia, who lead the group with 20 points after beating Estonia 2-0, and Israel are also in position to claim one of the two qualifying spots from the group.

There were 20 Euro 2008 qualifying matches yesterday, with Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic also getting wins.

Malta produced the biggest surprise of the day, holding 2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey to a 2-2 draw. Brian Said and André Schembri each gave Malta the lead, but Hali equalised first for Turkey and Servet Cetin again in the 78th.

Neither Italy nor France could make much headway against the other. Gianluigi Buffon and Italy's solid defence proved too good for France forwards Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka, and Alessandro Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi were too slow at the other end.

"As far as the standings are concerned, it's wide open," Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said. "But I'm not making any calculations."

Italy haven't beaten France without the help of penalties since the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. The Azzurri won last year's World Cup final in a shootout, then lost in France 3-1 two months later to open Euro 2008 qualifying. France lead Group B with 19 points. Scotland, who beat Lithuania 3-1, are next with 18 points, followed by Italy with 17. Only the top two teams in each of the seven groups qualify along with co-hosts Austria and Switzerland.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Owen and Micah Richards each scored for England, who entered the day in fourth place in Group E.

"It was important to win," England coach Steve McClaren said. "It does our goal difference a world of good. The performance was just the icing on the cake. We made Israel look ordinary."

Wright-Phillips, who scored his first competitive international goal, made it 1-0 in the 20th minute with a volley after Joe Cole's cross. Owen added another in the 49th - his 38th goal in his 85th international appearance - and Richards scored his first international goal in the 66th, jumping to head in a corner from Gareth Barry.

England have 17 points from eight games and Israel have 17 from nine.

"There's obvious gaps between us and the England side, and it was a well-known fact," Israel coach Dror Kashtan said. "These are not excuses, these are plain, simple facts."

Improved points

Russia improved to 18 points by beating Macedonia with goals from Vasiliy Berezutskiy, Andrei Arshavin and Alexander Kerzhakov.

The Russians scored twice after being reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute, when goalkeeper VladimirGabulov was sent off for fouling Goran Maznov.

Zenit St. Petersburg goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev, who came on for striker Dmitry Sychev, blocked Igor Mitreski's ensuing penalty kick and Maznov's header off the rebound.

Miroslav Klose, playing as Germany's captain for the first time, scored both goals in his team's 2-0 win over Wales.

Klose scored in the 34th and 60th minutes as Germany stayed five points ahead of the Czech Republic and atop Group D.

"It was a wonderful experience to be captain but the important thing was the three points," Klose said. "We have a comfortable lead and we should keep playing like this."

Bastian Schweinsteiger nearly added another goal in the 56th, but his shot grazed the crossbar.

The Czech Republic got goals from Tomas Rosicky, Marek Jankulovski and Jan Koller in a 3-0 win over 10-man San Marino.

Wesley Sneijder and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a goal each to help the Netherlands beat Bulgaria 2-0.

Sneijder put the Dutch ahead in the 23rd minute with a free kick from 20 metres, and Van Nistlerooy added a goal in the 58th with a low shot from close range.

Van Nistelrooy was playing in his first competitive match for the Netherlands since last year's World Cup.

The Netherlands moved into second place in Group G, three points behind Romania, who beat Belarus 3-1. Bulgaria dropped to third.

Northern Ireland, who had been a surprise in qualifying after beating both Spain and Sweden in Group F, lost to Latvia 1-0. Northern Ireland captain Chris Baird scored an own-goal, tapping in a low cross from Imants Bleidelis in the 56th.

Sweden, who were held to a 0-0 draw by visiting Denmark, lead Group F with 19 points, three more than Northern Ireland.

Group A: Portugal 2 Poland 2, Serbia 0 Finland 0.

Group B: Georgia 1 Ukraine 1, Italy 0 France 0, Scotland 3 Lithuania 1.

Group C: Hungary 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 0, Malta 2 Turkey 2, Moldova 0 Norway 1.

Group D: San Marino 0 Czech Republic 3,Slovakia 2 Ireland 2, Wales 0 Germany 2.

Group E: Croatia 2 Estonia 0, England 3 Israel 0, Russia 3 Macedonia 0.

Group F: Iceland 1 Spain 1, Latvia 1 Northern Ireland 0, Sweden 0 Denmark 0.

Group G: Belarus 1 Romania 3, Luxembourg 0 Slovenia 3, Netherlands 2 Bulgaria 0.
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS