Saturday night was witness to some crucial games in European qualifying. Here are the results from those games.
Group A :
Armenia 0-0 Serbia
Poland 3-1 Kazakhstan ( Ebi Smolarek*3/ Dmitriy Byakov)
A hattrick from Racing Santander forward Smolarek sees the Poles take all three points and retain their spot at the top of Group A.
Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal ( Bruno Alves, Hugo Almeida)
Chelsea and England left back Ashley Cole might miss his country’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia on the 17th of October in Moscow. The former Arsenal defender suffered an ankle injury in yesterday night’s game against Estonia, which the Three Lions won 3-0 thanks to goals from Shaun Wright Philips and Wayne Rooney and an own goal from Taavi Rahn
Players from African, Carribean and Pacific countries will no longer be considered as non EU by the Spanish La Liga. This is in accordance with the Cotonu accord, signed by the European Union and the ACP ( African, Carribean, Pacific States) in Benin in June 2000.
Spain has a rule which allows domestic clubs to sign only four players of non European nationality. Further, only three players can be named in the squad for a game. The move will allow for more South American talent to flow in, as Africans will no longer be considered as non European. Previously, if you had to free up a spot occupied by an African, you would have to wait till he acquired Spanish nationality.