Finns retain faint chance
Saturday, September 6, 2003
Article summary
Azerbaijan 1-2 Finland Finns win to keep mathematical hopes of qualification alive.
Article body
Finland beat ten-man Azerbaijan 2-1 on Saturday in Baku to keep alive their faint hopes of qualifying for UEFA EURO 2004™.
Akhmedov red card
Azerbaijan's Tarlan Akhmedov was sent off after a dangerous tackle in the 42nd minute and the Finns turned their one-man advantage into a goal seven minutes into the second half when Teemu Tainio fired into the net from the edge of the box.
Nurmela on target
Mika Nurmela made it 2-0, tapping in 14 minutes from time, before Azerbaijan scored a consolation on the stroke of full time through Farrukh Ismaylov. However, the result may ultimately have little meaning for Group 9 which is led by Wales on 12 points followed by Italy on ten. Those sides were meeting later in the day in Milan.
Final game
Finland have climbed into third place on nine points but with only one more game to play, away to Wales next Wednesday, they still face a tall order to reach the play-off spot. Azerbaijan are still bottom of the section on four points.
