David Beckham and David Villa produced outstanding individual performances to put England and Spain respectively firmly back in the hunt for places at Euro 2008 on Wednesday.
Beckham created two of England's goals as they beat pointless Estonia 3-0, easing the pressure on coach Steve McClaren and taking them to within three points of the top two in the group jointly led by Croatia -- held 0-0 by Russia -- and Israel, who beat Andorra 2-0 away.
Villa scored a brace as a less than convincing Spain edged Liechtenstein 2-0 in Vaduz but with their fourth victory in as many matches Luis Aragones' side are now in the second qualifying spot albeit having played one more game than third placed Northern Ireland.
PHOTO: AP
Last year's World Cup final duo Italy and France look set for a battle to the end in their group, though, if France play as sloppily as they did in their 1-0 win over Georgia.
That would give third placed Scotland a chance to pull off a surprise.
The Scots got a monkey off their backs with a 2-0 win away in the Faroe Islands -- an opponent they had drawn with on the last two occasions at their Toftir stadium.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Beckham created goals for Peter Crouch and Michael Owen -- his first goal for England since last June though he has spent most of that time out injured -- and professed that he was looking for a longer run in the side.
"Was I on trial? I'm not sure about that," Beckham told Sky Sports. "I would love to be in the next squad and Steve [McClaren the England boss] has made it clear that I would retain my place if my form is good."
The 32-year-old -- dropped unceremoniously by McClaren after the World Cup last year -- said that he believed England were back on track.
"The game with Brazil [a 1-1 draw in a friendly last Friday] set us up for this," Beckham said. "We did the job tonight [Wednesday] and scored some goals. The confidence is coming back into the squad which it should do as not only do we have some of the best players in the British Isles but also in the world. This is how we should play and we are now in a better position."
McClaren refused to be drawn on whether he had made a mistake in dropping Beckham so quickly after the World Cup but was full of praise for what he termed his immense contribution to the match.
"David Beckham is a very, very good player, and he deserves to be in the team, as he's shown in last two games," McClaren said.
Villa gave the Spanish the perfect start with two goals in the first 15 minutes -- the second a splendid overhead kick -- and could well have had a hat-trick and his 13th international goal had a late penalty not struck the bar.
However victory, their second in the past week following the win over Latvia, left Aragones happy about the state of their qualifying chances.
"I guess we should have scored more goals but that can happen in football, the chances simply do not go in," sighed the veteran Spanish handler.
"However we have two wins from the last two matches and I cannot but be happy with that and what it means for our chances of qualifying," he said.
Italy also had a double scoring hero to thank for their 2-0 away win over Lithuania as Fabio Quagliarella repaid coach Roberto Donadoni's faith with two great strikes.
"Italy has always produced great talents and he [Quagliarella] is no exception," said Donadoni, who added he believed the side had grown since they opened their campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Lithuania.
France had Marseille duo Franck Ribery -- though he seems certain to join Bayern Munich -- and goalscorer Samir Nasri to thank as they saved French blushes in their narrow escape against a weak Georgia side.
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