Croatia- Andorra 2:0

Croatia's Dado Prsa, left, is challenged by Roberto Jonas Alonsoof Andorra during a qualification match for the 2004 European FootballChampionship, in Varazdin, Croatia on Wednesday April 2, 2003. (AP Photo/HrvojeKnez)

ZAGREB, Croatia - Milan Rapaic scored twice fromdead ball situations to give Croatia a 2-0 victory over tiny Andorra onWednesday in a Group 8 qualifying match for the 2004 European Championship.

The 28-year-old winger, who was a constantthreat on the left flank, scored his first goal in the 11th minute after heneatly converted a penalty kick awarded after striker Tomislav Maric was trippedin the box.

"We deserved to win, but we should have played better and scored up tofive goals against such a weak and indisposed team," Croatia coach OttoBaric said.

Rapaic scored the second a minute before the interval with another superbfree kick from outside the penalty area that sailed over a defensive wall andinto the top corner of goalkeeper Luis Alvarez's net.

The Croats dominated the match with flurries of attacks from all sides of thepitch and could have scored several more goals, while the visiting Andorranswere unable to move into a goalscoring position during the entire game andrarely passed the halfway mark of the pitch.

The win lifted Croatia into second place in Group 8, overtaking key rivalsBelgium. Bulgaria leads the group with 10 points, three ahead of Croatia andfour ahead of Belgium.

Lineups:

Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa; Dario Simic, Boris Zivkovic, Igor Tudor, JosipSimunic (Niko Kovac 45th), Milan Rapaic (Mario Babic, 64th), Robert Kovac, JerkoLeko, Tomislav Maric (Marko Stanic, 45th), Dario Srna, Dado Prso.

Andorra: Luis Alvarez, Manuel Ayala, Antoni Lima, Emiliano Gonzalez ( AlainMontwani, 90th), Genis Garcia, Oscar Sonejee, Juli Fernandez, Manuel Jimenez (JordiEscura, 54th), Juli Sanchez, Marc Pujol, Agusti Pol (Jesus Lucendo, 8th).

U KVALIFIKACIJAMA ZA EP HRVATSKA SVLADALA ANDORU s 2:0 (2:0) 
Rapaic i Estonija za aplauz  I drugu pobjedu na putu prema Portugalu potpisao je Milan Rapaic prekrasnim pogotkom iz slobodnog udraca i sigurnim izvodenjem jedanaesterca 
VARAzDIN - Nakon nezaboravne predstave protiv Belgije, Milan Rapaic je blistao i u Varazdinu, te potpisao i drugu pobjedu u pet dana. Hrvatska je nadjacala Andoru s 2:0 i zauzima drugo mjesto u 8. kvalifikacijskoj skupini za Europsko prvenstvo 2004. godine. A prije jos samo sest dana nasa je reprezentacija bila izgubljena. 
HRVATsKA - ANDORA 2:0
VARAzDIN - Gradski stadion. Gledatelja 8.500. Vrijeme oblacno, vjetrovito. sudac salomir (Rumunjska) 6. 
strijelci: 1:0 - Rapaic (10 - 11m), 2:0 - Rapaic (44) 
HRVATsKA: Pletikosa 6.5 - R. Kovac 6.5, Simic 6.5, Simunic 6 (od 46. N. Kovac 6) - Srna 7, Leko 6.5, Tudor 6.5, zivkovic 6.5, Rapaic 7.5 (od 65. Babic 6) - T. Maric 6 (od 46. stanic 6.5), Prso 7. Izbornik Otto Baric. 
ANDORA: Alvarez 7 - Ayala 5, sonejee 5.5, Fernandez 6, Alonso 5, J. Garcia 5- Gonzalez 5.5 (od 90. Mottovani -), Pujol 5.5 - Pol 5.5 (od 79. Lucendo -), Gimenez 5 (od 55. Escura 5) - J. sanchez 6. Izbornik David Rodrigo. 

Varazdinci su napunili svoju "bombonijeru", zahvalili "kockastima" na velikoj pobjedi nad belgijskim Crvenim vragovima i prizeljkivali da se mreza Andore do vrha napuni. I tih je osam tisuca gledatelja sinoc najvise pljeskalo Milanu Rapaicu i Estoniji. Njemu za prekarsan pogodak iz slobodnog udarca, za sigurnost pri izvodenju jedanaesterca i za nekoliko minijatura. Estonicama pak stoga jer su otrgnuli favoriziranoj Bugarskoj dva velika boda i borbu u nasoj kvalifikacijskoj skupinu uciniliuzbudljivom. David Rodrigo, izbornik gostiju, postavio je ispred svog vratara Jesusa Alvareza barikade. Prestrasen cetvorkom "kockastih" protiv Belgije, on se potpuno zatvorio, s nakanom da primi sto manje pogodaka. Otto Baric je znao da ce se Andora zacahuriti, no ostao je pri svom planu, zaigravsi s tri stopera i zivkovicem ispred njih. I spocetka nismo uspijevali probijati bokove, pa smo pokusavali dalekometnim topnistvom naceti goste. Tek se Dado Prso nudio, trazio je s kim ce odigrati dupli pas, ponovno se dopao, namjestio veliku prigodu Tomislavu Maricu, no malo je bilo raspolozenih. I onda je jedna visoko nabacena lopta Darija simica pala u sesnaesterac, Alonso je zakacio Maricevu nogu na kojoj je stajao. Ostalo je s bijele tocke obavio Rapaic. I dalje smo se mucili, bilo je poluprigoda, a onda je pri samom kraju prvog poluvremena Rapaic iz slobodnog udarca na semaforu ispisao 2:0. Kasnije se ispostavilo - i konacni rezultat. 
Tudoru drugi zuti karton 

VARAZDIN - Igor Tudor kaznjen je zutim kartonom, a kako mu je to drugi u ovim kvalifikacijama, ne smije nastupiti na gostovanju protiv Estonije 11. lipnja. 
- Upozorili smo Tudora da se cuva zutog kartona, no nije bio oprezan. steta - komentirao je Otto Baric, ocito vec razmisljajuci o sljedecem susretu. 
zal zbog Tudorova kartona djelomicno je nadoknadilo zadovoljstvo zbog remija Bugara. (zv)
U nastavku smo vrlo rano imali tri prigode, no uspjeli smo samo razbuditi vratara Alvareza, koji je sjajno reagirao. Taj pocetni zalet je polako nestajao, sve smo vise grijesili, akcije su bile sve sporije i na kraju varazdinsku cemo utakmicu pamtiti po velika tri boda. 
Do puta u Tallin ostalo je nesto vise od dva mjeseca, a za izbornika Barica ostala je briga kako pronaci igraca koji ce malo bolje povezati redove, preko kojeg ce ici igra. Priznat ce i izbornik da takvog jos nemamo, no obecao je da ce ga pronaci, i to medu nogometasima koji su bili u kadru na posljednje dvije utakmice. 
IGOR FLAK

ZAGREB, Croatia - Croatia kept its hopes alivefor a berth in the 2004 European Championship by trouncing Belgium 4-0 in aGroup 8 qualifying match Saturday.

Youngster Dario Srna put the Croats ahead in theninth minute with a misdirected cross on the right side that wrong footedgoalkeeper Franky Vandendriessche and flew into the right side of the net.

Genk striker Wesley Sonck then had a chance to level the score, but failed tobeat Stipe Pletikosa from close range.

Monaco striker Dado Prso, who was making his debut for the Croats, made it2-0 eight minutes after half-time when he headed in a cross from winger MilanRapaic.

Forward Tomislav Maric made it 3-0 in the 68th minute with another headerfrom the small box, while midfielder Jerko Leko finished the scoring eightminutes later when he weaved his way through the Belgian defense with amesmerizing run and fired the ball home.

"It was painful," said midfielder Thomas Buffel. "When theyscored the second goal, we knew we were in trouble."

The win vaulted the Croats, who were floundering in second-to-last place withonly one point from two matches, back into the running for a berth in theEuropean Championship, to be played in Portugal. The Belgians remain in secondwith six points from four matches, behind runaway leaders Bulgaria, who areundefeated in three matches, on nine points.

Lineups:

Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa; Dario Simic, Boris Zivkovic, Igor Tudor (Niko Kovac78th), Josip Simunic, Milan Rapaic, Robert Kovac, Giovanni Rosso (Jerko Leko46th), Tomislav Maric, Dario Srna, Dado Prso (Mario Stanic 68th).

Belgium: Franky Vandendriessche, Joos Valgaeren (Jelle Van Damme 66th), TimmySimons, Olivier De Cock (Eric Deflandre 56th), Daniel Van Buyten, Peter Van derHeyden, Gaetan Englebert (Walter Baseggio 54th), Bart Goor, Emile Mpenza, ThomasBuffel, Wesley Sonck.