First Mario Stanic went in late on Staunton and received his second yellow card. Representatives of Arsenal and Manchester United, the two clubs most involved with a breakaway European Super League, have been told by Peter Leaver, chief executive of the Premier League, that they will only be able to attend meetings about the future of the Super League scheduled for early this week, if they act as official representatives of the Premier League and report their findings back to the whole league. THE SOLIDARITY of the Premier League, so widely advertised after the meeting of the 20 club chairmen on Thursday, will be severely tested over the next two days. Barthez fumbled a high free-kick from the left by Runar Kristinsson and Dadason headed into an empty net in the 33rd minute.France were at last stung into action and within three minutes they equalised when Dugarry struck the ball home from close range after Robert Pires’ fierce shot was turned against the post by the goalkeeper Birkir Kristinsson.Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Nerlinger scored just four minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Germany in a lacklustre friendly with Romania. Russia were given a glimmer of hope when Mostovoi’s free-kick was headed home by Viktor Onopko three minutes from time but it was just too late.The staying power of the Spain coach, Javier Clemente, will be severely tested yet gain after his World Cup flops were embarrassed by Cyprus in their Group Six qualifier.The unfancied Cypriots outplayed their illustrious visitors from the kick-off and deserved the 3-2 final score, their most important victory in international competition.Panayiotis Engomitis opened the scoring for Cyprus just before half- time with a superb chip and the islanders went 2-0 ahead just after the break, Sinica Gogic slotting home Milenko Spoljaric’s pass.Spain came back with a goal from Raul Gonzalez but Cyprus put the game out of reach with their third from Spoljaric. Not even a late Spanish surge and Fernando Morientes’ last-ditch strike could prevent the Cypriot celebrations.Iceland held the world champions France 1-1 in their European Championship Group Four qualifier.The French, playing under their new coach Roger Lemerre, needed an equaliser from Christophe Dugarry to secure a point after a blunder by Fabien Barthez let in Iceland’s Rikhardur Dadason for the opening goal.

But they were unable to capitalise on a string of chances and Yevgeny Varlamov put Russia back in the match in the 67th minute, latching on to a free-kick from the substitute Alexander Mostovoi. Rebrov hit the penalty past the replacement goalkeeper, Stanislav Cherchesov, to guarantee the home side victory.
Ukraine led 2-0 at half-time after goals from Serhiy Popov and Serhiy Skachenko in the 14th and 24th minutes. Kharin, left exposed by a poor back header by Yuri Kovtun, brought down Serhiy Rebrov in the box in the 73rd minute and was dismissed. THE CHELSEA goalkeeper, Dmitri Kharin, was sent off as Russia went down 3-2 away against Ukraine in their European Championship Group Four qualifier. But within four minutes Turkey had doubled their lead with a penalty by Tayfur Havutcu after Sergen Yalcin was brought down by Hill.Turkey continued to pile on the pressure and on 58 minutes Oktay collected Tugay Kerimoglu’s pass and turned inside Hill before placing his second goal in the far top corner..

Gillespie lost the ball upfield and Abdullah Ercan hit a 50-yard pass over the top for Okray to outpace Morrow and chip Alan Fettis on 18 minutes.McMenemy brought on an extra striker, James Quinn, at halftime as he reverted to a 4-4-2 formation. The first chance fell to Dowie, who was unmarked as Michael Hughes delivered a free kick into the area in the ninth minute, but the captain headed wide.
Any plans to smother Turkey’s attacking options were dashed, however, as Colin Hill and Steve Morrow were badly exposed at the back by Okray Derelioglu The home side’s first goal came from a counter-attack. Their coach, Mustafa Denizli, had promised the nation a victory following heavy defeats by Israel and Albania, and his players delivered his pledge in emphatic style. Lawrie McMenemy’s team lost 3-0, and it could have been more. McMenemy was able to call upon Keith Gillespie for his first match in five months, and he deployed Iain Dowie, winning his 50th cap, as a lone striker in a 4-4-1-1 formation. Then Jurcic, absurdly, lunged at the same opponent and the Portuguese referee brought out the red card..

A VISIT to Galatasaray’s inhospitable home was never going to be an easy start to Northern Ireland’s European Championship campaign, in spite of Turkey’s recent poor form. The ball fell perfectly for Carsley, whose first touch in the match was a 20-yard drive heading for the top corner of the net until Ladic pushed it away. From the resulting corner Kinsella thumped a shot against the bar from similar range.A header by substitute Egor Pamic straight at Shay Given suggested a possible recovery by the Croats, which was soon undermined when two of their number were sent off within as many minutes. The ball was overhit, but Igor Tudor, the right wing-back, unnecessarily conceded a corner, which was cleared only to McAteer some 20 yards out. His fierce drive was deflected into the air and Roy Keane out-jumped everyone to head inside the far post.After setting up McAteer soon after halftime for a shot just passed the post, Robbie Keane made way for Lee Carsley in a substitution designed to bolster the midfield, which almost brought a third goal instead.Keane had barely made it to the dugout as Irwin swung over a free kick that goalkeeper Drazen Ladic pushed out unconvincingly.

Although his cross came to nothing, the Manchester United full-back, challenging for possession again, found himself sandwiched between Robert Jarni and Krunoslav Jurcic.If it was the kind of penalty award that falls to home teams more often than visitors, Irwin was not about to refuse the gift and calmly placed his kick low to the goalkeeper’s left for, surprisingly, only his third goal in 49 internationals.Keith O’Neill, the Norwich striker, was off the pitch having treatment on a leg injury while the penalty was taken and he returned for only a few more minutes before being replaced by Tony Cascarino, still domiciled in France.The 36-year-old, even more of a physical presence than O’Neill, immediately put himself about and it was a swirling cross from McAteer aimed towards him that led indirectly to the second goal. In the summer, they became the first country ever to win the European Championship at both Under-18 and Under- 16 level.The first graduate from those sides, Robbie Keane of Wolves, played his first competitive game for the seniors yesterday and although any comparisons with Michael Owen may prove unwise, he was very much in McCarthy’s mind when the manager said earlier in the week: “The guts of this team could be together for 10 years.”It was Keane’s namesake Roy who made the greater impression yesterday, producing a driving midfield performance on his return after a year’s absence. Along side him Mark Kinsella was as impressive as he has been in Charlton’s opening Premiership games, while the experience of Irwin, Steve Staunton and Jason McAteer shone through when it mattered.It was vital to the Republic’s hopes of success in the group to begin well before travelling to Yugoslavia next month, as McCarthy acknowledged afterwards “We played well and deserved to win,” he said. “We’ve started with a good victory but it’s only a start.”As fortune has not always favoured him since succeeding Jack Charlton two and a half years ago, the manager could not be begrudged his luck in playing Croatia at a time when players like the World Cup’s leading scorer Davor Suker, Alen Boksic, Goran, Vlaovic, all strikers, Robert Prosinecki and Slaven Bilic were all unavailable.Without them, Miroslav Blazevic’s side badly needed to subdue the home team and another full house of 34,000 early on, rather than conceding a penalty within five minutes of the kick-off.Having already twice thrust forcefully down the left, the Irish switched to the right, where Jason McAteer sent Irwin away on the overlap. IRISH FOOTBALL’s new-found confidence was reflected in a triumphant start to the European Championship campaign at Lansdowne Road yesterday afternoon. A penalty by Denis Irwin followed by Roy Keane’s goal in the first 16 minutes put them on their way against Croatia, placed third at the World Cup, who then obligingly made three points a formality by having two players dismissed for unnecessary fouls midway through the second half.