September 5 2001

Aki Riihilahti

Midfielder AKI RIIHILAHTI scored in Finland's resounding 5-1 victory over Greece in World Cup Qualifying Group Nine.

Former Eagle Mikael Forssell got two goals and Joonas Kolkka and Jari Litmanen (penalty) got the others.

The win in Helsinki keeps the Finns in third place in the group and they play their final game against Germany on October 6.

Wayne Carlisle's Northern Ireland U-21 side's bad run continued when they lost 3-1 to Iceland U-21s on Tuesday.

It was their sixth defeat of their European Championship qualifying campaign and means they finish fifth in Group Three.

The United States' World Cup bid faltered when they lost 2-0 away to Costa Rica in the World Cup qualifying game.

Jovan Kirovski played up front, while Gregg Berhalter was an unused substitute.