Macedonia crank up heat on Scots in race for second

Published on Thursday 11 June 2009 10:14

MACEDONIA moved level with second-placed Scotland in Group Nine after beating Iceland 2-0 in their World Cup qualifier in Skopje.

An early strike from Aco Stojkov and a late goal from his replacement Filip Ivanovski secured the three points for the hosts, enabling them to leapfrog their opponents in the race for the runner-ups spot behind already-qualified Holland.

The Macedonians are now on seven points along with George Burley's Scots, who enjoy a better goal difference and have a game in hand ahead of September's vital clash between the sides at Hampden.

Scotland have a strong chance of clinching second spot but must endeavour to secure as many points as possible from their remaining three games. Of the nine group runners-up, the one with the poorest record will miss out on a play-off spot.

Iceland's hopes of reaching South Africa 2010 are over as they have managed just four points with only one game left to play.

Midfielder Stojkov headed Macedonia into a tenth-minute lead after a surging run and cross by Filip Despotovski.

The home side should have added to their lead through Ilco Naumoski, who missed two good chances, before Ivanovski – who came on for Stojkov shortly after the hour – sealed their win in the 85th minute with a close-range effort.

Meanwhile, Andre Ooijer and Arjen Robben scored to earn Holland a 2-0 home victory over Norway and maintain their perfect record. The Dutch, who booked their place in next year's finals on Saturday, had to wait till the 33rd minute before Ooijer nodded in a Rafael van der Vaart free kick.

Norway's only chance came just after half-time but Maarten Stekelenburg saved from Morten Gamst Pedersen and a minute later Robben settled the match with a tight angled shot.

"When you consider our opponents were battling for their last chance and we only gave away one chance, and kept our concentration until the end, we did very well," said Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk. "But our game is still improving. We know that we have sufficient creativity up front to be decisive, but as a team we are getting better when we lose the ball."

The result leaves Norway bottom of Group Nine with just three points. Egil Olsen's side, who have yet to win a match, face Scotland in a crunch encounter in Oslo on August 12.