Thu Dec 20 17:58:45 2007

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Nurnberg gives Germany five in UEFA Cup knockout stage

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Larissa, Greece (Sports Network) - Nurnberg advanced to the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup on Thursday with a 3-1 victory over Larissa, giving Germany five teams in the final 32.

Ivan Saenko, Marek Mintal and Angelos Charisteas had goals for Nurnberg, which was fourth in Group A entering the last matches in the group stage but climbed to second.

Aberdeen, AEK Athens, Brann, Fiorentina and Zenit St. Petersburg also advanced Thursday.

Atletico Madrid, Basle, Everton, Hamburg, Panathinaikos and Villarreal already had berths in the next round locked up entering the last day of groups A-D.

Three of the four German teams in group play had already secured a spot in the next round - Werder Bremen will join the field from the Champions League - and Nurnberg needed a win to join them.

With just four wins in the Bundesliga - and currently in the relegation zone - Nurnberg still managed to continue its strong UEFA Cup play.

Larissa stunned the Bundesliga club early when Jozef Kozlej scored 11 minutes into the match, but Saenko tied the score in the 45th for Nurnberg. Mintal and Charisteas added goals in the first 30 minutes of the second half.

Also in Group A, James Vaughan scored in the 79th as Everton edged AZ Alkmaar to finish perfect in the stage with four wins and finish first in the group.

Andrew Johnson and Phil Jagielka scored in the first half for Everton.

Zenit St. Petersburg didn't play, but finished third in the group - one point ahead of AZ Alkmaar - to advance to the next round.

In Group B, Sabrosa Simao scored deep into extra time off a free kick to lead Atletico Madrid to a 2-1 win over Panathinaikos and the top spot in the group.

Dimitrios Salpigidis scored in the 34th for Panathinaikos, which was unbeaten in its first three group matches. Panathinaikos finished second.

Sanz Luis Garcia leveled the match in the 74th for Atletico Madrid, setting up Simao's winner.

Aberdeen blasted FC Copenhagen, 4-0, to grab the third qualifying spot. Jamie Smith scored twice as Aberdeen scored all four goals in the second half.

Aberdeen moved from last to third with the victory, eliminating Copenhagen in the process.

In Group C, Christian Vieri scored the game-winner in the 67th for Fiorentina in a 2-1 win over Mlada Boleslav, sending the Italians into the next round.

Jon Dahl Tomasson scored the game-winner in the 69th - one minute after AEK Athens had pulled level - to give Villarreal a 2-1 win and first in the group.

AEK Athens still advanced by finishing third, two points ahead of Boleslav.

In Group D, Ivica Olic scored in the 73rd as Hamburg tied Basle, 1-1, to win the group. Ivan Ergic scored for Basle, which finished second.

Brann, which was third entering the last day and didn't play, made it through because Rennes tied Dinamo Zagreb, 1-1.

Anderlecht, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern, Bolton, Bordeaux, Braga, Galatasaray, Getafe, Helsingborg, Spartak Moscow, Tottenham and Zurich advanced in groups E-H on Wednesday.

Eight third-place finishers from the Champions League group stage - Benfica, Marseille, PSV, Rangers, Rosenborg, Sporting Lisbon and Werder Bremen - join the UEFA Cup for the 32-team knockout round.

The draw for the knockout stage is Friday and play resumes on Feb. 13.