England, the Netherlands and Italy posted comfortable wins in World Cup qualifying on Saturday, but 1998 champion France was held to a 0-0 draw by Switzerland.
France could have a hard time guaranteeing itself a berth in the next year's World Cup finals. It is tied at the top of Group 4 with Israel and Ireland, which drew 1-1. All three teams have nine points.
England scored four goals in 15 minutes in a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland, the Dutch got goals from Philip Cocu and Ryan Babel to beat Romania 2-0, and Italy beat Scotland 2-0 off two free kicks from Andrea Pirlo.
PHOTO: AP
Also, Freddie Ljungberg scored two goals for Sweden in a 3-0 win over Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic needed an 87th-minute winner from Vratislav Lokvenc to edge Finland 4-3. World Cup host Germany, which qualifies automatically, beat Slovenia 1-0 in a friendly.
France labored to a 0-0 draw with Switzerland at Stade de France, with striker David Trezuguet, Patrick Vieira and Sylvain Wiltord all missing chances. Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez made several key stops.
France has drawn its last six home games, scoring only two goals, since coach Raymond Domenech took charge in July.
In Tel Aviv, substitute Abas Suan scored in injury time with a powerful 25m shot through the box to give Israel the draw. Ireland took a fourth-minute lead through Clinton Morrison.
After Ireland, France and Israel, Switzerland has six points, with Cyprus and Faeroe Islands one point each.
Italy was the only team in Group 5 to play and its 2-0 win over Scotland increased its lead to 12 points, five more than second-place Norway.
In Manchester, England, Joe Cole celebrated his first competitive start with England's opening goal in the 46th minute.
Michael Owen scored his 29th international goal and Frank Lampard added another. England's fourth was through a Chris Baird own-goal.
England leads Group 6 with 13 points, one more than Poland, which crushed Azerbaijan 8-0. Austria, which topped Wales 2-0, is third with eight points. Northern Ireland is next with three points, followed by Wales and Azerbaijan with two each.
Tomas Frankowski scored a hat trick for Poland, and Marek Saganowski added two more. Kamil Kosowski and Jacek Krzynowek also scored, and Azerbaijan's Aftandil Hadzhiev put in an own-goal.
Austria got late goals from Ivica Vastic and Martin Stranzl.
Milan Baros, Tomas Rosicky and Jan Polak all scored for the Czech Republic in its Group 1 win.
Finland got three goals off three shots in the second half, the first from veteran striker Jari Litmanen. Aki Riihilahti also scored, while Jonatan Johansson got the final goal a minute after coming off the bench.
"It was a wild game," Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner said.
The Netherlands increased its lead in Group 1 with its win in Bucharest. Cocu scored after 45 seconds and Babel added another in the 85th.
"We were lucky with the early goal," Netherlands coach Marco Van Basten said.
Also in the group, Armenia beat Andorra 2-1 off goals from Ara Hakobian and Romik Khachtrian. The Netherlands leads with 13 points, followed by Czechs with 12, Romania with 10, Finland with nine, Macedonia with five and Andorra and Armenia with four.
Sweden extended its lead in Group 8 with its win in Sofia. Ljungberg scored a goal in each half, while Erik Edman added the other. The Bulgarians lost Georgi Markov to a red card in the 59th minute.
Second-place Croatia beat Iceland 4-0 in another Group 8 match. Niko Kovac scored two goals, and Joe Simunic and Dado Prso added the others.
Michalis Kapsis, Zissis Vryzas, and Stelios Giannakopoulos scored a goal each to lead European champion Greece over Georgia 3-1. Shota Arveladze scored for Georgia.
Greece won its third straight Group 2 qualifier after starting the campaign with a loss and two draws.
Also in the group, Emre Belozoglu and an own-goal from Elvin Bequiri gave Turkey a 2-0 win over Albania.
Denmark won its first match in three qualifiers with a 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan. Peter Moeller scored twice and Christian Poulsen got the other.
Ukraine leads the group with 14 points, followed by Greece with 11, Denmark and Turkey with nine, Albania with six, Georgia with five and Kazakhstan with zero.
In Group 7, Emile Mpenza scored twice and Koen Daerden and Thomas Buffel added a goal each to give Belgium a 4-1 win over Bosnia-Herzogovina. It was Belgium's first win in four European World Cup qualifying matches, but it trails group leader Serbia-Montenegro by six points.
Argentina rallied from a goal down to overcome Bolivia 2-1, and Colombia left Venezuela with a fifth draw in South American World Cup qualifying on Saturday.
In a late game, Chile tied with Uruguay in a match played in the Chilean capital, Santiago.
Argentina scored twice in seven minutes of the second half to erase Bolivia's opening goal four minutes after halftime.
Bolivia stunned the competition leader when Jose Alfredo Castillo connected with Danner Pachi's left cross in the 49th minute for the home side's first goal in three qualifiers.
But Luciano Figueroa equalized, also on a header, in the 57th, and moments later Luciano Galetti got the winning goal on a low shot to the right of goalkeeper Leo Fernandez.
Argentina's lead stretched to 25 points from 12 games, while Bolivia remained last with 10 points.
In Maracaibo, Colombia conceded a fifth draw in 12 games and improved only one spot in the standings to a provisional fifth, while Venezuela rose to sixth, trailing only on goal differential.
Both teams had numerous scoring opportunities, particularly in the final minutes when Colombia goalkeeper Miguel Calero held off a flurry of shots before 35,000 at Jose Encarnacion Romero Stadium.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Manchester City FC halved Arsenal FC’s lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home defeat of Fulham FC, and Aston Villa FC stayed in the frame with a late 1-0 victory at home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC on Wednesday. Nottingham Forest FC squandered a chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three as they drew 0-0 at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Second-from-bottom Burnley FC pulled off a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace FC to boost their slender survival hopes. City have little margin for error in their pursuit
RSS