Sunday, March 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
By ROBERT MILLWARD
AP Sports Writer
Defender Gheorghe Popescu scored four goals as Romania routed Liechtenstein 8-0, and Italy moved into first place in its group by beating Moldova 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier Saturday night.
At Bucharest, Popescu beat goalkeeper Martin Hebb in the 30th, 32nd, 67th and 82nd minutes. Vioerel Moldovan scored in the 11th, Gheorghe Hagi in the 47th, Dan Petrescu in the 49th and Gheorghe Craioveanu in the 70th.
Romania (4-0) leads Group Eight with 12 points, five ahead of Ireland (2-0-1) and Macedonia (2-2-1). Liechtenstein (0-5) has been outscored 29-2.
At Trieste, Paolo Maldini scored in the 24th minute, Gianfranco Zola in the 44th and Christian Vieri - making his international debut - in the 49th.
Italy (4-0) leads Group Two with 12 points, three ahead of England (3-1) and nine in front of Poland (1-1). The top team qualifies for the 1998 tournament in France while the second-place team probably will wind up in a playoff.
In other games, Croatia tied visiting Denmark 1-1 in Group One, Scotland beat visiting Estonia 2-0 in Group Four, Cyprus tied visiting Russia 1-1 in Group Five, the Netherlands routed visiting San Marino 4-0 and Belgium won 2-1 at Wales in Group Seven. in Group Nine, Ukraine won 1-0 against Albania and Portugal played a scoreless tie at Northern Ireland.
In Asia Group One, Saudi Arabia (4-0-1) joined Qatar in the 10-team second round, beating Malaysia 3-0 on two second-half goals from Khaled Musaid and one from Obaid al-Dousary. Malaysia dropped to 2-1-2. In the day's other game at Jeddah, Bangladesh (1-4) scored a 2-1 victory over Taiwan (1-3-1) on goals by Mohammed Al Ameen and Imtiyaz Ahmed. Huang Che Ming had tied the score for Taiwan in the first minute of the second half.
In an exhibition game, England beat Mexico 2-0 at Wembley on Teddy Sheringham's penalty kick in the 18th minute and Robbie Fowler's goal in the 55th.
Group One
Croatia 1, Denmark 1
At Split, Davor Suker slipped through the hands of goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel to put Croatia ahead in the 50th, but Brian Laudrup tied the score in the 83rd. Greece (2-1-1) and Denmark (2-0-1) share the group lead, while Croatia (1-0-2) is third, two points back.
Group Four
Scotland 2, Estonia 0
At Kilmarnock, Tommy Boyd scored in the 25th and Estonia's Janek Meet volleyed a cross past his own goalkeeper, Mart Poom, in the 52nd. Scotland (3-0-2) has a five-point lead, while Estonia (1-2-1) is tied for fourth.
Group Five
Cyprus 1, Russia 1
At Limassol, Cyprus (1-2-1) went ahead on Sinica Gogic's header in the 31st minute, but Igor Simutenkov tied the score one minute later for Russia (2-0-2), the group leader.
Group Seven
Netherlands 4, San Marino 0
At Amsterdam, Patrick Kluivert scored in the 45th, Frank de Boer in the 59th and 90th, and Pierre van Hooijdonk in the 81st for the Dutch (4-0), who have a three-point lead. San Marino (0-5), which fields an amateur team, had been outscored 25-0.
Wales 1, Belgium 2
At Cariff, Bertrand Crasson scored in the 24th and Lorenzo Staelens in the 44th for Belgium (3-1). Gary Speed scored in the 67th for Wales.
Group Nine
Northern Ireland 0, Portugal 0
At Belfast, Northern Ireland goalkeeper Tommy Wright made a stunning blocking save to keep out Sergio Conceicao's shot and also fisted a shot from Luis Figo over the top.
Albania 0, Ukraine 1
At Granada, Spain, Serguei Rebrov scored just before the end of the first half for Ukraine (3-1), tied for the Group Nine lead with Portugal (2-1-3). Northern Ireland (1-1-3) is third, followed by Germany (1-0-2).
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