Netherlands, France seal wins but Italy stumbles
Source: Agencies |
September 9, 2012, Sunday
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ENGLAND, Germany, France and the Netherlands all started the long road to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil with victories but Italy stumbled out of the blocks when the European qualifying campaign began on Friday.
World champion Spain does not begin its bid to reach the finals until Tuesday, but apart from the Italians, held to a 2-2 draw in Group B in Bulgaria, there were no major problems for the continent's big guns.
England won its opening Group H match 5-0 in Moldova, while Germany strolled to a relatively modest 3-0 Group C win over the Faroe Islands.
A first-half goal from Abou Diaby gave France a winning 1-0 start in its Group I campaign against Finland in Helsinki, while the Netherlands beat Turkey 2-0 in Amsterdam in Group D with Robin van Persie and Luciano Narsingh, who hit the second in stoppage time, scoring for the Dutch.
Italy, which has been world champion four times, had a topsy-turvy start in Sofia before drawing 2-2 with Bulgaria with Pablo Osvaldo scoring both goals to put the visitors 2-1 up after they conceded first.
Georgi Milanov equalized for the home side with 24 minutes to play and Italy could not find a winner.
Two Italians who had better nights than their national team were Fabio Capello and Giovanni Trapattoni, the managers of Russia and Ireland, respectively.
Netted a penalty
Ireland's bid to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2002 began with a dramatic win as two goals in the final two minutes from Robbie Keane, who netted a penalty, and a volley from Kevin Doyle gave Trapattoni's men a 2-1 win in Kazakhstan in Group C.
Capello's Russia also started with a win, with goals from Viktor Faizulin and Roman Shirokov, who scored from the spot, giving it a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Moscow.
The highest scorer of the night was Bosnia, which began its quest for a first appearance in the finals by thrashing Liechtenstein 8-1 in Vaduz in Group G.
Edin Dzeko, who scored a hat-trick, became Bosnia's all-time leading scorer with 25 goals.
England was also among the goals, snubbing out any chance of a Moldovan upset with Frank Lampard scoring twice in the opening 29 minutes, the first after three minutes from England's 100th all-time penalty, as he took his England tally to 25.
Jermain Defoe marked his 50th appearance for England with a trademark strike after 32 minutes with James Milner and Leighton Baines scoring their first England goals in the second half.
Mesut Ozil scored twice in the second half following Mario Goetze's opener as Germany beat the Faroes 3-0 in Hanover.
World champion Spain does not begin its bid to reach the finals until Tuesday, but apart from the Italians, held to a 2-2 draw in Group B in Bulgaria, there were no major problems for the continent's big guns.
England won its opening Group H match 5-0 in Moldova, while Germany strolled to a relatively modest 3-0 Group C win over the Faroe Islands.
A first-half goal from Abou Diaby gave France a winning 1-0 start in its Group I campaign against Finland in Helsinki, while the Netherlands beat Turkey 2-0 in Amsterdam in Group D with Robin van Persie and Luciano Narsingh, who hit the second in stoppage time, scoring for the Dutch.
Italy, which has been world champion four times, had a topsy-turvy start in Sofia before drawing 2-2 with Bulgaria with Pablo Osvaldo scoring both goals to put the visitors 2-1 up after they conceded first.
Georgi Milanov equalized for the home side with 24 minutes to play and Italy could not find a winner.
Two Italians who had better nights than their national team were Fabio Capello and Giovanni Trapattoni, the managers of Russia and Ireland, respectively.
Netted a penalty
Ireland's bid to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2002 began with a dramatic win as two goals in the final two minutes from Robbie Keane, who netted a penalty, and a volley from Kevin Doyle gave Trapattoni's men a 2-1 win in Kazakhstan in Group C.
Capello's Russia also started with a win, with goals from Viktor Faizulin and Roman Shirokov, who scored from the spot, giving it a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Moscow.
The highest scorer of the night was Bosnia, which began its quest for a first appearance in the finals by thrashing Liechtenstein 8-1 in Vaduz in Group G.
Edin Dzeko, who scored a hat-trick, became Bosnia's all-time leading scorer with 25 goals.
England was also among the goals, snubbing out any chance of a Moldovan upset with Frank Lampard scoring twice in the opening 29 minutes, the first after three minutes from England's 100th all-time penalty, as he took his England tally to 25.
Jermain Defoe marked his 50th appearance for England with a trademark strike after 32 minutes with James Milner and Leighton Baines scoring their first England goals in the second half.
Mesut Ozil scored twice in the second half following Mario Goetze's opener as Germany beat the Faroes 3-0 in Hanover.
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