Czechs struggle, easy win for Wales

Group D round-up/Czech Republic 1 Cyprus 0: The Czech Republic barely made up for Saturday's home loss to Germany and a controversial…

Group D round-up/Czech Republic 1 Cyprus 0:The Czech Republic barely made up for Saturday's home loss to Germany and a controversial party that night when they struggled to beat modest Cyprus 1-0 in Liberec yesterday.

Defender Radoslav Kovac headed in a corner in the 20th minute - Jan Koller was accredited with the goal although he appeared not to touch the ball.

The Czechs had a number of opportunities but lacked precision while Cyprus had some good chances in the second half.

Efstathios Aloneftis shot just wide of the left post from inside the box in the 67th minute, Ioannis Okkas sent the ball over the bar when he was alone in front of Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech in the 71st, and he missed again from close range seven minutes from time.

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Wales 3 San Marino 0

Wales earned the second win of their qualifying campaign with a comfortable 3-0 home victory over San Marino at the Millennium Stadium. It was a measure of manager John Toshak's need to avoid embarrassment that he played his strongest team against a side with a 100 per cent losing record in Europe.

Wales opened the scoring after just three minutes when Jason Koumas fed captain Ryan Giggs to score from close range.

Young defender Gareth Bale curled home the second after 20 minutes with a left-footed effort from just outside the box.

The scoreline was completed just after the hour mark when Jason Koumas scored from the spot after David Cotterill was fouled by Simone Bacciocchi.