Former champions England, France and Italy all avoided potentially dangerous away-day traps to keep their World Cup campaigns firmly on track on Wednesday with narrow victories.
England defeated Poland 2-1, France saw off the Faroes 2-0 while Italy came away from Moldova with a 1-0 victory on a packed night of qualifiers across Europe.
In Chorzow, Jermain Defoe celebrated his first international start with a superbly taken goal as England hauled their World Cup qualifying campaign out of the mire with a gritty 2-1 win over Poland.
Lambasted after throwing away a two-goal lead against Austria in their opening Group Six match on Saturday, England went into the match knowing another shambolic display could cost Sven-Goran Eriksson his job as head coach.
Mature performance
Their response was a mature performance, Eriksson's men declining to panic when Maciej Zurawski cancelled out Defoe's first half effort shortly after the break.
They went on to clinch a deserved victory courtesy of Akradiusz Glowacki knocking the ball past his own goalkeeper, Jerzy Dudek.
"Defoe couldn't have done much better," said Eriksson. "He created chances and played very well. He's a great talent and he will always score goals."
Goalkeeper David James was left on the bench to reflect on the blunder that had gifted Austria their equalizer on Saturday to be replaced by Paul Robinson.
However, whether or not the England players enjoyed their victory will remain unknown as they boycotted a scheduled post-match press conference in protest at their treatment in the media since Saturday.
Austria's 2-0 home win over Azerbaijan puts them top of the table with only the eight group winners in Europe guaranteed places in the finals in Germany in 2006.
France coach Raymond Domenech said his team had to show more commitment after their 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands in Torshavn which was marred by the expulsion of captain Patrick Vieria for diving.
Goals either side of half-time from Ludovic Giuly and Djibril Cisse handed France the vital three points to keep the wheels on their campaign after a 0-0 draw with Israel on Saturday.
But Domenech was far from happy.
"In future we have to show more determination in these type of games," said the coach.
"To progress in this type of competition we have to be more committed in attack, in defense. This is different to a league match or a Champions League game."
Italy's campaign gathered momentum despite a scrappy 1-0 win away to Group Five rivals Moldova.
The Italians wasted a hatful of chances and in the end were thankful to captain Alessandro Del Piero's clinical first-half finish and some superb goalkeeping by Gianluigi Buffon.
Del Piero, recalled to the starting line-up after his surprise omission from the squad for last month's friendly away to Iceland, led the front line superbly, the perfect response to those critics who had written off the inconsistent 29-year-old star.
Del Piero back
Moldova were always in with a chance of snatching a point until the 77th minute when Serguei Dadu was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi said the goal would work wonders for Del Piero's flagging confidence.
"It was a great goal, important for Italy and for him -- he needed a boost," said the former Juventus coach.
Pierre van Hooijdonk ensured Marco van Basten enjoyed his first competitive match as coach of the Netherlands, producing both goals in their 2-0 win over the Czech Republic in Amsterdam.
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