Croats and Czechs turn up World Cup pressure

Dado Prso(R) of Croatia and Kevin Sammut of Malta fight for the ball during a qualification match in Zagreb for the 2006 World Cup. Coratia won 3-0

Croatia and the Czech Republic boosted their dreams of making the 2006 World Cup finals with convincing wins as another busy night of qualifiers got underway in Europe.

Struggling Liverpool striker Milan Baros was on the scoresheet as the Czechs cruised past little Andorra 4-0 to take temporary charge of Group One while Rangers attacker Dado Prso scored twice to set the Croatians on their way to a 3-0 win against Malta in Zagreb.

The win put Croatia on top of Group Eight ahead of Sweden who were without a game on Wednesday.

Ukraine continued their astounding form with a 1-0 win against Denmark in Kiev to open up a five-point gap at the head of Group Two although European champions Greece can trim the deficit with a win over Albania later in the day.

The Czechs claimed their fifth win thanks to their mauling of Andorra with Marek Jankulovski opening the scoring from the penalty spot in the 31st minute before Baros made it 2-0 five minutes before the interval.

Vratislav Lokvenc and Tomas Rosicky, with another penalty, sealed the win for the Czechs although the Dutch can reclaim top spot in Group One later Wednesday with a win over Armenia.

Czeck's Poborsky Karel(R) vies with Andorra's Jordi Escura(L) during their World Cup 2006 clash in Andorra. The Czechs won 4-0

In Zagreb, Prso struck in the 24th and 35th minutes before Igor Tudor fired in the third in the 80th minute as Croatia beat Malta 3-0.

In Kiev, Ukraine shrugged off the absence of injured star striker Andrei Shevchenko to beat Denmark 1-0 and take another huge step towards their first ever World Cup finals.

Bayer Leverkusen forward Andrei Voronin's second-half goal confirmed Ukraine's top spot in Group Two where they now have 17 points from seven matches.

Turkey kept their hopes alive with a 5-2 thrashing of Georgia with Fatih Tekke scoring twice in Tbilisi.

In Group Three, Portugal needed a goal eight minutes from time from former Tottenham striker Helder Postiga to earn a 1-1 draw against Slovakia in Bratislava.

Miroslav Karhan had given the hosts an eighth-minute lead from the penalty spot but Postiga's late strike kept the Euro 2004 runners-up on top of the group on goal difference from Slovakia

Russia's hopes of closing the gap on the top two were snuffed out when they could only draw 1-1 with Estonia for whom Sergei Terehhov earned equalised Andrei Arshavin's 18-minute opener.