London: A thrilling Scandinavian derby between Denmark and Sweden was abandoned a minute before full-time on Saturday after a fan attacked referee Herbert Fandel who immediately blew his whistle and walked off.

Denmark had fought back from 0-3 down to level their Euro 2008 group F qualifier at 3-3 when Denmark’s Christian Poulsen was shown the red card just before the end for striking Markus Rosenberg.

Fandel awarded Sweden a penalty but before the kick was taken, a fan lunged at the German — who officiated at last week’s Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool — and he abandoned the match.

The result of the group F tie, however, will not be confirmed until an investigation by Uefa’s disciplinary committee is over. The Danish Football Association said it would not protest if Uefa awarded Sweden victory.

While Denmark and Sweden shared six goals, Germany cracked six of their own without reply against San Marino in Nuremberg to pull two points clear of the Czech Republic at the top of group D.

In group A, there were important wins for Poland, Portugal and Serbia who occupy the top three positions with Finland edged out to fourth place and Belgium’s hopes dashed. France displaced Ukraine at the top of group B after beating them 2-0 in Paris with second half goals from Franck Ribery and Nicolas Anelka .

Italy moved up from fourth to second place with a 2-1 win in the Faroe Islands with Filippo Inzaghi, who scored both of Milan’s goals in the Champions League final, getting both of Italy’s as they laboured to a nervous win in the blustery North Atlantic conditions. Reigning European champions Greece also kept on course for the finals with a 2-0 win over Hungary.

The top three teams in group E all won with Croatia winning 1-0 in Estonia, Israel 2-1 in Macedonia and Russia beating Andorra 4-0 in St Petersburg. Those results have put greater pressure on England to win in Estonia on Wednesday.       (Reuters)