Israel cranked up the pressure on England in European
Championship qualifying Group E by thrashing Estonia 4-0 in Tel Aviv.
After adopting a cautious approach in Saturday's goalless draw with Steve
McClaren's men, the home side changed tack against inferior opponents.
Two players returning from suspension got the ball rolling, Bolton's Idal Tal
netting in the 19th minute, with star striker Roberto Colautti heading in number
two before half-time.
That was the end of the scoring until Chelsea youngster Ben Sahar came off the
bench to score twice in three minutes.
Steven Gerrard spared woeful England's blushes with a two-goal salvo in
the European Championship qualifier with minnows Andorra in rainswept
Barcelona.
But it was the only bright spot as thousands of England fans called for the
sacking of coach Steve McClaren.
Gerrard broke the deadlock after a goalless first half in the 54th minute and
the Liverpool skipper added a second 15 minutes from time.
Substitute David Nugent scored his first international goal in injury time.
David Healy continued his remarkable one-man show to propel Northern Ireland
to the top of Group F in this dramatic Euro 2008 qualifier.
The last time the province enjoyed a similar taste of the high life in a major
tournament was almost 20 years ago.
Healy has the province in a state of disbelief again thanks to his scoring
exploits.
Wales strolled to a convincing victory in Euro 2008 qualifying group D to
re-establish confidence after the defeat at Dublin at the weekend.
The Irish, who inflicted Saturday's defeat on John Toshack's men, had
struggled badly to overcome San Marino last month.
But there was never a hint the minnows would repeat that valiant effort at
Cardiff's Millennium Stadium tonight.
Wales created countless chances but had to settle for first-half goals from
Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale before Jason Koumas' penalty in the second period.
The Leeds striker grabbed both goals to make it nine in the campaign and 29 in
56 international appearances.
Ukraine made hard
work of Lithuania in Odessa.
Oleh Gusev secured a 1-0 win when he turned in Maxym Kalynychenko's left-wing
cross two minutes after the interval.
Scotland's Euro 2008 qualification hopes suffered a blow as they lost to two
Luca Toni goals as Italy won 2-0 in Bari.
Confidence had been high after Saturday's 2-1 win over Georgia saw the Scots
remain at the top of Group B, along with France.
But a Toni double gave the world champions a much-needed victory after four
months out of action and just two previous wins in the group.
Georgia took out their frustrations from Saturday's heartbreaking defeat at
Hampden Park by beating the rock-bottom Faroe Islands 3-1.
David Siradze opened the scoring, with Aleksandr Iashvili doubling the lead on
the stroke of half-time.
Rogvi Jacobsen then shocked the home faithful by scoring the Islanders' first
goal of the qualifying campaign, but they then lost Frodi Benjaminsen to a
second yellow card midway through the half.
Iashvili then wrapped up Georgia's victory with a stoppage-time penalty.
Substitute Radoslav Kovac spared the Czech Republic's blushes as they moved
level with leaders Germany in Group D.
Kovac, who had replaced the injured Zdenek Grygera early on, sealed a 1-0 win
over Cyprus when he netted 22 minutes in.
In Group A, Finland blew their chance to leapfrog leaders Poland with a shock
defeat at rock-bottom Azerbaijan.
Emin Imamaliev came off the bench to volley home a corner that everyone else
missed seven minutes from time, sealing a 1-0 win that is Azerbaijan's first of
the campaign and only their third in Euro qualifying history.
Bulgaria also wasted the chance to go joint top of their group after playing
out a goalless draw with Albania in Group G.
There were no such mistakes from Romania, who were also three points behind
group leaders Holland going into their game with Luxembourg.
Goals from former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu, Cosmin Contra and substitute
Ciprian Marica sealed a comfortable 3-0 win over their last-placed opponents,
who have now lost all five qualifiers.
Hungary won the battle of the bottom two in Group C by beating Moldova 2-0,
goals from Watford's Tobias Priskin and West Brom's Zoltan Gera the difference
between the sides.
Poland opened up a five-point gap at the top of Group A, with Celtic's Maciej
Zurawski earning a 1-0 win over Armenia, who sink to the foot of the table.
A victory for either Portugal and Serbia in their match would have taken them
outright second but they played out a 1-1 draw in Belgrade.
Former Chelsea midfielder Tiago had put the World Cup semi-finalists ahead
just five minutes in but Bosko Jankovic headed in the equaliser before
half-time.
Holland maintained their three-point lead at the top of Group G thanks to a
1-0 success in Slovenia.
A rare goal from ex-Arsenal man Giovanni van Bronckhorst sealed victory in
Celje.
Andres Iniesta scored the
only goal of the game as Spain eased past Iceland at a rain-drenched Ono Estadi
in Mallorca on Wednesday night.
Iniesta struck 11 minutes from time as Spain, who looked set to be thwarted by
a brilliant display from visiting goalkeeper Arni Gautur Arason, made it
back-to-back wins in their home Euro 2008 qualifying double-header.
