World Cup flop France finally wins in Euro qualifying
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France's recovery from a humiliating World Cup finally began with a first win in European Championship qualifying yesterday, while Germany and the Netherlands earned second straight victories.
The French had begun with a shock loss in Group D to Belarus on Friday, but Karim Benzema and Florent Malouda fired them to a 2-0 victory at Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Italy and England also put miserable World Cup campaigns behind them by making it two wins out of two on the road to Euro 2012.
Amid a sex-scandal, Wayne Rooney ended his yearlong goal drought for England in a 3-1 victory over Switzerland, while Italy cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Faeroe Islands.
Miroslav Klose's double helped Germany beat Azerbaijan 6-1, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar also netted twice for the Dutch in a 2-1 victory over Finland.
Meanwhile, newly crowned world champion Spain was beaten for the first time since South Africa in a 4-1 friendly loss against Argentina.
Spain, which hadn't conceded four goals for a decade, was 3-0 down by halftime after goals from Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez.
Sergio Aguero added Argentina's fourth in injury time after Fernando Llorente pulled one back for Spain, giving interim coach Sergio Batista his second win.
Having lost its last four games, France had no room for error in Bosnia. But it took until the 72nd minute for Benzema, who had recovered from a sore ankle, to put the visitors ahead with a left-footed strike after turning a defender.
Malouda doubled the French lead six minutes later to give Laurent Blanc his first win since taking over from former coach Raymond Domenech after the fist-round exit in South Africa.
"This match summarized all the good things I saw during our preparations but that we failed to put in place against Belarus," Blanc said. "It could be the start of something good."
France is third in Group D behind Albania and Belarus, which both have four points. Hamdi Salihi's goal led Albania to a 1-0 win over Luxembourg, while Belarus was held 0-0 by Romania.
Italy looked a shadow of the side that struggled to beat Estonia 2-1 on Friday.
At his home ground, Fiorentina's Alberto Gilardino headed Italy ahead after 11 minutes against the Faeroe Islands after 11 minutes.
Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Cassano added further goals before halftime, while substitute Fabio Quagliarella netted from close range in the 81st and Pirlo completed the rout in the 90th.
Italy has a two-point lead in Group C over Serbia, which was held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia.
The buildup to England's match had been overshadowed by tabloid allegations that Rooney cheated on his then-pregnant wife with a prostitute.
But the Manchester United striker shrugged off his personal crisis to score his first England goal since last September, slotting home in the 10th after meeting Glen Johnson's cross unmarked.
Adam Johnson added another in the 69th, four minutes after Swiss right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner was shown a red card for fouling James Milner.
Xherdan Shaqiri pulled one back for Switzerland, but Darren Bent sealed England's win with his first international goal.
England tops Group G on goal difference ahead of Montenegro, which beat Bulgaria 1-0 thanks to Elsad Zverotic's long-range shot.
Unlike their European rivals, the Portuguese are still not over their World Cup woes. With coach Carlos Queiroz suspended for six months for insulting anti-doping officials, the team lost 1-0 to Norway, having only managed a 4-4 draw with Cyprus last week.
Norway tops Group H, while Denmark moved up to second by beating Iceland 1-0 in its first qualifier after Thomas Kahlenberg's injury-time goal.
Germany's 6-1 victory over Azerbaijan keeps it ahead of Turkey in Group A on goal difference. Turkey beat 10-man Belgium 3-2 after defender Vincent Kompany was sent off for a second booking.
