England's hopes of reaching the Euro 2008 finals received a major blow after they surrendered their lead to lose to Russia 2-1 away in the competition's qualifiers on Wednesday. Wayne Rooney put the visitors in front in the 29th minute when he chested Michael Owen's flick-on before unleashing a superb shot into the roof of the net. The Manchester United striker grabbed the lead but was to blame for Russia's equalizer nine minutes past the hour mark. The Russians were awarded a penalty after Rooney tugged Konstanin Zurianov's shirt. Roman Pavlyuchenko made no mistake from the spot. Pavlyuchenko was on target again four minutes later, scoring on the rebound after Paul Robinson palmed Alexei Berezutskiy's initial shot. England lie second in Group E with 23 points, three adrift of leaders Croatia and two ahead of third-placed Russia, who have a game in hand. The Three Lions' destiny slipped away from their hands as Russia would make it through to Euro 2008 if they beat Israel and Andorra next month. In Group A action, Portugal secured a late 2-1 away victory over Kazakhstan. Substitute Ariza Makukula broke the deadlock six minutes from time before Cristiano Ronaldo added the second one minute into stoppage time. Dmitriy Byakov scored the consolation for the hosts.
