Qatar's Alghim Abdulla (left) and Scott McDonald from Australia battle for the ball during their World Cup Qualifying football match at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. Australia won 3-0.
wembley, england (ap)
Shaun Wright-Phillips helped to give Fabio Capello a winning start as England coach yesterday by scoring in a 2-1 victory over Switzerland in a friendly.
The second-half substitute scored the final goal of the match in the 62nd minute. Steven Gerrard overlapped down the left and pulled the ball inside for Wright-Phillips, who arrived unmarked and pushed the ball into the net.
Jermaine Jenas also scored for England, giving the hosts the lead in the 40th minute, but Eren Derdiyok equalised in the 58th.
It was a deserved victory after a slow and nervous start at Wembley. Wayne Rooney had a standout game with his rampaging runs and tackles back in midfield and defence after Capello left Michael Owen on the bench.
ITALY 3 PORTUGAL 1
Fabio Quagliarella headed in a goal within 30 seconds of entering the game and helped Italy beat Portugal 3-1 in a friendly yesterday.
Italy dominated before a capacity crowd at Zurich's Letzigrund stadium, raising expectations for a strong showing at this year's European Championship in Switzerland and Austria.
Portugal pulled within 2-1 in the 77th minute when FC Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma capitalised on a gap in the Azzurri's defence converted a cross from Luis Nani.
But Quagliarella replaced Raffaele Palladino, playing in his second international, in the 80th minute and scored to seal the Azzurri's victory.
"We were taught another lesson," Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "I hope we learn from it."
GERMANY 3 AUSTRIA 0
Thomas Hitzlsperger, Miroslav Klose and substitute Mario Gomez each scored second-half goals yesterday to give Germany a 3-0 win over Austria in an international friendly.
Both teams will also meet at this year's European Championship, which is co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland.
Germany captain Michael Ballack returned to the team after two ankle operations kept him out for more than 10 months, but five other regular players - Christoph Metzelder, Torsten Frings, Arne Friedrich, Clemens Fritz and Marcell Jansen - were all injured.
Austria dominated the first half but missed several chances to score.
Martin Harnik, who was making his first start, came closest when his header hit the cross bar in the 23rd minute after Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann misjudged a corner kick by Austria captain Andreas Ivanschitz.
Christian Fuchs and Roland Linz also failed to convert after crosses by Ivanschitz.
BRAZIL 1 IRELAND 0
Brazil defeated Ireland 1-0 yesterday in a friendly that served as the beginning of the South Americans' preparations for their Beijing Olympics campaign.
Robinho scored the winner in the 66th minute when he side-footed a ball through the legs of Lee Carsley and past diving Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given.
Ireland had a chance to equalise in the 88th minute but, following a series of quick passes inside the box and a deft flick by Kevin Kilbane, Robbie Keane couldn't get a touch before Julio Cesar smothered the ball.
More than 7,000 Brazilians - mostly immigrants attracted by Ireland's long-thriving Celtic Tiger economy - danced and chanted among the capacity crowd of 80,000 inside Croke Park stadium. Many painted their faces with the national yellow and green or draped Brazilian flags over their shoulders, both for patriotic purposes and to shelter them from icy winds and heavy rain.
SPAIN 1 FRANCE 0
Joan Capdevila scored an 80th-minute goal yesterday to give Spain a 1-0 victory over France in a friendly.
The left back bundled the ball in after Lassana Diarra had headed a drive from Andres Iniesta off the goal line.
Spain's victory in a match seen as a test for the teams ahead of this year's European Championship extended their unbeaten run to 13 games.
"Beating France always gives you a good feeling. It doesn't matter who scores the goals," Capdevila told Spanish state TV. "This win is a real morale booster."
FC Barcelona's uncapped 17-year-old striker Bojan Krkic, who was expected to break a 72-year record and become his country's youngest player, pulled out through illness shortly before kick off.
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