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Kezman strike puts Serbia through
![]() Kezman (far left) scores the goal that put Serbia into the World Cup finals BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia and Montenegro edged bitter rivals Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 with a seventh minute goal from Mateja Kezman to qualify for the World Cup finals. Victory left Serbia top of Group Seven ahead of Spain, whose 6-0 win over San Marino 6-0 was good enough only for a place in the playoffs. The match was played in a charged atmosphere as the raucous 50,000 home crowd and a tiny contingent of fans sporadically pelted each other with flares and plastic seats. The home side dominated throughout and might have scored more goals after Kezman poked in the winner from point blank range after strike partner Nikola Zigic headed a perfect Ognjen Koroman cross into his path. Full back Mladen Krstajic saw his header deflected just wide for a corner midway through the first half and then shaved the post with a crisp low shot after a well worked free kick several minutes later. The visitors, who needed a win to have a chance of progress, rarely came forward but almost snatched an equaliser on the hour when Serbia's keeper Dragoslav Jevric produced a superb save to tip over Vedin Music's rasping shot from 30 meters. Tension eased after the interval and the players shook hands after the final whistle as the home crowd went into raptures and started celebrations likely to go on long into the night. The legacy of the bloody 1992-95 Bosnian war lingered in the air throughout the match, however. One banner reminded the visitors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslim males by Bosnian Serb forces. Chants and banners praised Ratko Mladic, the fugitive Bosnian Serb army commander indicted for genocide for the massacre. Torres treble in vainSpain are in the play-offs despite thrashing San Marino courtesy of a hat-trick from Fernando Torres. It means they face the risk of missing out on the finals for the first time since 1974. As expected Spain had little trouble against San Marino, who have never won a World Cup qualifier. It took just 53 seconds for Spain to find the target when left back Antonio Lopez burst down the flank and his speculative effort from wide of the penalty area beat the flapping San Marino keeper Federico Gasperoni. San Marino, who have managed just two draws in World Cup qualifiers since they began competing in 1992, were without their only professional player, striker Andy Selva who plays in Italy's third division, but it was their defence where the lack of quality was exposed. Simone Bacciocchi made a hash of an attempted header clear, completely missing the ball and leaving Torres clear on goal to make it 2-0 with an angled shot in the 11th minute. The tiny two-sided Serravalle stadium, not even full to its 4,000 capacity and shrouded in mist, was an unlikely setting for a game of such importance for Spain. But they managed to keep focused on their task of amassing at least a five-goal victory, the tally they needed to be able to take advantage of a draw in Belgrade. The Spaniards went 3-0 up 20 minutes later when defender Sergio Ramos poked the ball home after a scramble from a corner to claim his first goal for his country. Despite the lead, Spain knew they needed another two goals after the break. Ramos added his second and Spain's fourth off just three minutes after the restart when he was left unattended to power in a header from an Ivan De La Pena corner. Poor finishing frustrated Spain for a large spell of the second half with Torres and Raul Gonzalez both wasting good opportunities but the fifth goal finally came via a Torres penalty kick after he had been brought down by Luca Nanni inside the area. Torres then completed his hat-trick with a confident conversion of a low pass from substitute Ruben Baraja. Spain had done all they could on the night but it was their slip-ups from earlier in the campaign that mean they now face two more games to decide whether they will travel to Germany.
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