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Danes stun England with 4-1 drubbing

England's David Beckham, left, and Denmark's Martin Jorgensen contest a high ball during the international friendly soccer match at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Wednesday. Demark won the match 4-1. PHOTO: AP

England conceded four second-half goals on Wednesday to lose 4-1 at Denmark and suffer its worst defeat in 25 years.

Dennis Rommedahl and Jon Dahl Tomasson scored before Michael Gravgaard marked his debut in the 67th minute to complete a burst of three goals in seven minutes.

Wayne Rooney got a goal back for England with two minutes to go, but substitute Soeren Larsen added a fourth in the second minute of injury time.

That completed England's worst loss since 1980's loss at Wales by the same score. It was also Denmark's second consecutive win over England -- following November's 3-2 win at Old Trafford -- and first over England in eight home games.

"I am very sorry and angry about the second half. That was a disaster," Eriksson said.

"We were all over the place, not defending well, losing the ball. We did nothing right for 30-35 minutes. We came out in the second half and it seems like it's a holiday. I am very sorry for the fans. I told [the players] that if we are going to play football like this we can forget the World Cup," he said.

England captain David Beckham said his teammates were stunned by the blitz after their good first-half performance.

"The first half was very good but, the second half, I don't know what it was," the Real Madrid star said. "They got three quick goals and that was the end of it. We lost our shape and didn't do things we had been told to do by the manager."

Eriksson left Michael Owen on the bench but otherwise started with a full-strength team.

Jermain Defoe, Owen's replacement, almost gave England the lead in the 30th minute when Steven Gerrard's cross found him in front of goal. Goalkeeper Thomas Soerensen pushed his 12m shot round the post with an acrobatic save.

Rooney, who has had a standout start to the season with Manchester United, had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for a push.

The 19-year-old remonstrated with Norwegian referee Tom Ovrebo as he walked off at halftime because he felt he had his shirt tugged inside the penalty area by Christian Poulsen.

Owen, who is suspended for England's next World Cup game against Wales, went on for the second half but it was the Danes, with Real Madrid's Thomas Gravesen dictating play in midfield, who took the lead in the 60th.

The defense cleared a Beckham free kick and Thomas Kahlenberg set up a counterattack with a crossfield pass.

Substitute goalkeeper David James missed the ball after he raced out of the area to meet Tomasson. The striker got clear of the goalkeeper and then beat Ashley Cole on the right before pulling the ball back for substitute Rommedahl to tap it into an empty net.

The second came three minutes later as Claus Jensen burst past Glen Johnson, another substitute, down the left and crossed into the middle. Ashley Cole cleared the cross but it went back to Tomasson to turn the ball home for his 36th international goal.

Gravgaard scored when he was given room to meet Jensen's corner at the near post, his header going in off Gerrard's head.

The game was already lost for England when Beckham did well to win the ball out on the right in his own half and put Rooney clear with three minutes to go. The striker steered the ball first time past Soerensen for a consolation.

Then Larsen, chasing a through ball, fended off an England defender before rolling the ball past James and into an empty net.

Asian Qualifying

Japan downed Iran 2-1 and Saudi Arabia beat South Korea 1-0 on Wednesday to wrap up their qualifying campaigns for the 2006 soccer World Cup on a high note.

The outcome of the matches only decided the top places in Groups A and B of Asian Qualifying after the four teams had already booked their berths for next year's finals in Germany.

Japan ended qualifying atop Group B with 15 points, two ahead of Iran, while Saudi Arabia claimed Group A with 14 points, ahead of South Korea on 10.

Uzbekistan rallied for a 3-2 win over Kuwait to take third place in Group A and a last chance at qualifying.

Uzbekistan will next play Bahrain, third in Group B, for the right to play off against the fourth-placed CONCACAF nation and a spot at Germany 2006.

Bahrain, upset 3-2 by North Korea in Manama late Wednesday, travels to Tashkent for the first leg on Sept. 3 and hosts Uzbekistan on Sept. 7.

Substitute Anvarjon Soliev scored the Uzbekistan's winner in the 76th minute Wednesday, pouncing on Dynamo Kiev striker Maxim Shatskih's heel pass off a cross from Mirdjalal Kasymov.

At Yokohama's Nissan Stadium, Akira Kaji opened the scoring for Japan in the 28th minute.

An unmarked Kaji picked up Keiji Tamada's centering pass and fired into the open goal to give Japan the lead.

The Japanese went ahead 2-0 in the 76th minute on an own-goal from Iran.

Veteran striker Ali Daei pulled one back for the visitors three minutes later when he was hauled down in the area by Japan defender Yuji Nakazawa and then beat goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi from the penalty spot.

"Iran is a very good team and we had to fight to the end," said Japan coach Zico. "This was a good win for us because we wrapped up first place."
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