England completed their preparations for Euro 2012 with a 1-0 friendly win over Belgium at Wembley on Saturday, while the Netherlands romped to a 6-0 success over Northern Ireland in Amsterdam.
Portugal, however, saw Cristiano Ronaldo fail to convert a penalty in a 3-1 loss at home to Turkey that left them without a win in three matches.
England secured victory through a 36th-minute goal by Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck, his first for his country, to register a second consecutive 1-0 success following an earlier win over Norway in Oslo in Roy Hodgson’s first game in charge.
Photo: AFP
England open their Euro 2012 campaign against France in Donetsk on Monday next week, but although they showcased plenty of defensive resilience against an enterprising Belgium team, they will face a much stiffer examination from Laurent Blanc’s men.
Indeed, Marc Wilmots’ side could even have returned home with a draw, but fullback Guillaume Gillet’s rasping 78th-minute drive hit the post.
The hosts also struck the woodwork late on, through substitute Jermain Defoe, while Wayne Rooney’s assured late cameo underlined just how much he will be missed when he sits out England’s first two games due to suspension.
Having lost Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry to injury last week, Hodgson also saw both his first-choice centerbacks, Gary Cahill (jaw) and John Terry (hamstring), depart the fray early at England’s national stadium.
“We’ve got another few injury concerns. Gary Cahill is slightly more of a concern because it’s a jaw injury,” Hodgson said. “We hope that the scan doesn’t show any fracture and that he can still play in the tournament. John Terry felt his hamstring. It wasn’t major, but we still need to scan it to be 100 percent sure.”
Beaten finalists at the last FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands proved that they would once again be a force to be reckoned with in Poland and Ukraine by trouncing Northern Ireland 6-0 in their final warmup match.
A brace from in-form Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, one a penalty, coupled with goals from Wesley Sneijder — a 25 yard free-kick — and Ibrahim Afellay, put the Netherlands 4-0 up at the break.
Further goals in the second half from Barcelona forward Afellay and centerback Ron Vlaar added extra gloss to a one-sided victory.
The Netherlands start the Euro against Denmark in Kharkiv on Saturday and Denmark also enjoyed victory on Saturday, prevailing 2-0 against Australia thanks to a penalty by Liverpool defender Daniel Agger and a close-range Andreas Bjelland effort.
Portugal, who make up Group B along with Germany, wrapped up their preparations in disappointing fashion by losing to Turkey in Lisbon, having previously recorded a pair of goalless draws against Poland and Macedonia.
Umut Bulut exploited hesitant home defending to put Turkey ahead in the 35th minute and the Toulouse striker had another mix-up at the back to thank for his second goal early in the second half.
Nani pulled a goal back shortly after, but Ronaldo then saw his penalty pushed away by Volkan Demirel and the night ended in farce for Paulo Bento’s side as Ricardo Costa’s attempted clearance struck Pepe and trickled in for an 88th-minute own goal.
Euro co-hosts Poland completed their preparations in style, crushing minnows Andorra 4-0 to extend their unbeaten run to four games — a run during which they have not conceded a goal.
Elsewhere, Croatia were denied victory by a close-range 92nd-minute header from Tarik Elyounoussi in a 1-1 draw against Norway.
Shakhtar Donetsk striker Eduardo had broken the deadlock in the 79th minute for Croatia, who will face Italy, the Republic of Ireland and holders Spain in Group C.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Monday notched up their first win in the doubles group stage of the WTA Finals in Riyadh to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova were aiming to record their first victory after press time last night. Third seeds Hsieh and Mertens came back from a disheartening opening-day loss to Australia’s Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez to defeat top seeds Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the women’s doubles world No. 3 and 4 respectively. The 6-1, 6-3 victory at King Saud University Indoor Arena
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
Atalanta BC brought Serie A leaders SSC Napoli down to earth with a bump with a 3-0 victory on Sunday as Ademola Lookman grabbed two goals. Napoli were hoping to open up a substantial lead at the top before, but Atalanta stunned the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium as they decisively ended the home side’s unbeaten run that stretched back to Aug. 18. Inter then closed the gap with a 1-0 victory over Venezia to end the weekend just a point behind Napoli. Lookman pounced first in the 10th minute when Marten de Roon’s header fell for the London-born Nigerian international