David Beckham shrugged off his poor Real Madrid form with a spectacular long-range strike as England outplayed Wales 2-0 in World Cup qualifying action on Saturday.
However, it wasn't a perfect day for the England captain, who wound up with a suspension and a broken rib.
PHOTO: AFP
Beckham scored his team's second goal at Old Trafford, but suffered a hairline rib fracture after on a tackle by Welsh defender Ben Thatcher. He's certain to miss Wednesday's Group 6 game at Baku, Azerbaijan, and will be examined next week by Real Madrid.
"He scored a great goal, not many players can strike the ball like that but he is one of them," England striker Wayne Rooney said. "He's our captain, our leader and a great player, but whoever comes in to will do a good job."
Beckham drew a yellow card minutes after the injury for a tackle on Thatcher. It was his second yellow card of the qualifying tournament, which also disqualified him from the Azerbaijan match.
England leads Group 6 with seven points. Poland moved into second place with six points, winning 3-1 over Austria in Vienna. The Poles have scored six goals in their last two games, both away from home.
In key results: Slovenia upset Italy 1-0 in Group 5, France and Ireland drew 0-0 in Group 4, tiny Liechtenstein drew 2-2 with Euro 2004 runner-up Portugal in Group 3, and Spain defeated Belgium 2-0 in Group 7.
Among the 23 European qualifying games for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Czech Republic bounced back from a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands by beating Romania 1-0 to slow the Romanians' quick start in Group 1. Finland beat Armenia 3-1 to draw even on nine points with Romania.
Borussia Dortmund striker Jan Koller scored the Czech's lone goal, ending a three-game winless streak.
"Nothing but victory would've worked for us, and we got it," Czech coach Karel Bruckner said.
In the other group game, the Netherlands was held to a 2-2 draw at Macedonia. Both teams have four points.
In Group 2, Turkey and Ukraine share the lead with five points. Ukraine drew with European champion Greece 1-1, and Turkey hammered Kazakhstan 4-0. Denmark moved in a point behind the leaders with a 2-0 victory at Albania.
One of the day's shocks came in Group 3 where tiny Liechtenstein drew 2-2 with Portugal, which was the runner-up three months ago in Euro 2004. Slovakia leads the group with 10 points after a 4-1 win over Latvia. Portugal is second with seven.
Thomas Beck netted the 76th-minute equalizer for Liechtenstein after Franz Burgmeier scored earlier. It was Liechtenstein's first points ever against Portugal. Paulo Pauleta scored for Portugal with the other coming on an own-goal by Daniel Hasler.
In another group game, Russia's Dmitri Sychev scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory at Luxembourg.
In Group 4, France and Ireland played a 0-0 draw in Saint-Denis with both clubs improving to five points. Switzerland also improved to five with a 2-2 draw at Israel.
Italy, after winning its first two games in Group 5, was upset 1-0 on Saturday at Slovenia on Bostjan Cesar's goal in the 82nd. Slovenia leads the group with seven points, one ahead of Italy.
Norway and Belarus each picked up wins to reach four points. Belarus defeated Moldova 4-0, and Norway won 1-0 at Scotland on Steffen Iversen's penalty.
Scotland is winless after two home games with German coach Berti Vogts on the ropes. The German, who led his homeland to a Euro '96 triumph at Wembley, said he didn't expect to be fired.
"Ask the question to my president (Scottish Football Association president John McBeth) not me," he said. "My only target is the 2006 finals and I do not expect to be sacked."
In Group 7, Spain defeated Belgium 2-0 on second-half goals by Raul and Alberto Luque. The victory moves Spain on top with Lithuania. The two play Wednesday in Lithuania. In a group game between bitter Balkan rivals, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro played a 0-0 draw under intense security in Sarajevo.
In Group 8, Croatia settled for a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria but still kept the lead with seven points. Sweden improved to six points, beating Hungary 3-0 on goals by Fredrik Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson and Anders Svensson. Tail-end teams Malta and Iceland drew 0-0.
In friendly action, World Cup 2006 host Germany, which doesn't need to qualify, scored a 2-0 victory at Iran in front of 100,000 fans in Tehran with goals by Fabian Ernst and Thomas Brdaric.
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