Thursday, September 14, 2000
Football News Online

Holders scrape last-minute draw

Nigeria, the Olympic champions of 1996, had to rely on an injury-time equaliser by Yakubu Ayegbeni to secure a 3-3 draw against Honduras in group A on Wednesday. Leading the group after one round are Italy, who beat the host nation, Australia, 1-0. In group C, Cameroon struggled to beat Kuwait, while the United States and the Czech Republic fought out a 2-2 draw. In the matches on Thursday, Ivan Zamorano scored a hat-trick to demolish Chile 4-1 in group B, while Spain had little trouble disposing of South Korea in the same group. Brazil battled to a 3-1 victory over Slovakia to head group D; Japan beat South Africa to lie second.

Brazil's women may not be as celebrated as their men, but they enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win to kick-start their group E campaign at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday. In the same group, Australia suffered a 3-0 reverse against Germany, at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra. In the round of games on Thursday, China's powerful side comfortably beat Nigeria, while the United States, the holders and World Cup-winners, beat Norway.

Craig Lord
The Times