• England axe fired up Wright-Phillips

    Being dropped from the England squad can be a soul-destroying experience but if any player is equipped to return stronger than ever then it is Shaun Wright-Phillips. When the winger, fresh from his move back to Manchester City, discovered that England coach Fabio Capello had left him out of the squad for Sept's World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia, he could have been forgiven for feeling slighted. After all, he scored in Fabio Capello's first match in charge against Switzerland ...
    2008-11-10 17:02:12
  • Andorra open to foreign takeovers

    The tiny Pyrenees principality will ease controls on several company sectors as part of efforts to modernise the economy and shake off its image as a shady financial centre
    2008-11-10 08:30:19
  • Hamburg, Oct 16 DPA England, Spain and the Netherlands all maintained their perfect records in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with away wins, while Russia got their campaign back on track with a victory against Finland.

    SPO4SportsEngland, Netherlands win; Portugal disappoint againHamburg, Oct 16 DPA England, Spain and the Netherlands all maintained their perfect records in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with away wins, while Russia got their campaign back on track with a victory against Finland. There was disappointment for Portugal, though, as they failed to beat a 10-man Albania at home, being held to a goalless draw in Braga that leaves them struggling with five points in Group 1. Portugal dominated throughout the game but failed to take the lead against a compact Albanian side that was well prepared by Dutch coach Arie Haan. The visitors were weakened midway through the first half when Elvin Beqiri had to be substituted for Admir Teli. The Turkish-based defender was booked 12 minutes after coming on. Just six minutes later, three minutes from the break, Teli received a second yellow card, and German referee Knut Kircher had to send off the 27-year-old. Playing against just 10 players for the entire second half, the home side had plenty of opportunities but failed to find a winning goal. England's Steven Gerrard gave Fabio Capello's side an early lead against Belarus in Minsk, and though Pavel Sitko levelled for the home side, a second-half brace from Wayne Rooney sealed a deserved 3-1 win. "I think it was really good," Rooney said. "We had to work really hard tonight. They were a really good footballing side, probably the same style as Arsenal, but we worked hard and deserved the points tonight." The victory moves England to 12 points from four matches in Group 6, the first time they have ever won their opening four games of a World Cup campaign, putting them five points clear of Ukraine and Croatia, who thumped Andorra 4-0. The Dutch made it three wins out of three in Group 9 with a 1-0 win over Norway in Oslo, where Mark van Bommel scored the winner after 62 minutes. Iceland beat Macedonia by the same scoreline in Reykjavik through an effort from Veigar Gunnarsson to move joint second in the group alongside Scotland with four points. Two own goals by Finland helped Russia to a 3-0 victory in Group 4. Petri Pasanen and Veli Lampi were the unfortunate players to put into their own net for Finland, while Andrei Arshavin scored the third late for Guus Hiddink's Russia side. Russia now sit joint second in the group, level with Wales and four points behind Germany, who struggled to a 1-0 victory over the Welsh until Piotr Trochowski finally broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute with a well-taken shot from just outside the area for his first international goal. Slovakia moved atop Group 3 after coming from behind to beat Poland 2- 1, while the Czech Republic got their first win of the campaign with Libor Sionko netting a second-half goal for a 1-0 win at home to Slovenia. Northern Ireland beat San Marino 4-0 in the other group game. In Group 2, Israel played out a 1-1 draw at Latvia, who salvaged a point thanks to Vladimirs Kolesnichenko's late equalizer, while group leaders Greece were stunned 2-1 at home to Switzerland, and Luxembourg and Moldova played out a scoreless draw. A brace from Alberto Aquilani helped Italy beat Montenegro 2-1 in Lecce. The world champions now have 10 points from four games and lead Group 8 ahead of Ireland, who trail on seven points after beating Cyprus 1-0 in their third game, thanks to an early close-range header from Robbie Keane. Bulgaria registered a third draw in succession after the other game in the group against Georgia finished scoreless. Serbia sit joint top in Group 7 with nine points after beating Austria 3-1, level with Lithuania, who struggled to a 1-0 victory against the Faroe Islands. In Group 5, David Villa kept Spain on course for qualification by heading in the late winner in the 2-1 win at dogged Belgium. The European champions had to dig deep to win in rainy Brussels, because Belgium took an early lead, then battled manfully until the bitter end. The late win leaves Spain top of the group with 12 points from four games, four points ahead of Turkey - who were held to a 0-0 draw at Estonia - and five ahead of luckless Belgium. Bosnia-Herzegovina enjoyed a resounding 4-1 win over Armenia.--DPAabr/jg793 Words16101215
    2008-10-16 03:00:00
  • Fabio Capello forging new England

    One of the simplest and best reasons for believing in Fabio Capello’s regime is his readiness to become more animated over mistakes made by his players than about goals scored by them. He was hired as a man who wouldn’t be easy to please, a healthily harsh antidote to the cosy, damaging indulgence England’s footballers received from his immediate predecessors, Steve McClaren and Sven-Göran Eriksson. So those of us who welcomed the change in attitude as desperately overdue had to be reassured to find him reacting passionately to on-field inadequacies during a defeat of Andorra a week ago that was never seriously in doubt, if unstylishly achieved, but responding with consistent restraint while the worrying opposition of Croatia was dismembered in Zagreb on Wednesday.
    2008-09-14 02:17:12
  • France slumps, England, Italy struggle

    PARIS: France, the 1998 world champion, suffered an embarrassing 3-1 defeat to lowly Austria on Saturday to endure a nightmare start to its 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign. On a night when reputations counted for little, defending champion Italy needed a last-minute goal to beat Cyprus 2-1 while England could only defeat little Andorra, the 186th team in the world rankings, 2-0. Elsewhere, European champion Spain managed a 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina but former champion Germany went ...
    2008-09-00 00:00:00
  • Andorra's sour grapes at England loss

    Andorra's players and manager have dismissed England's chances of beating Croatia delivering an angry response to Fabio Capello's criticism of their style.
    2008-09-08 00:29:11
  • England players give their verdict on victory against Andorra

    David James John Terry Frank Lampard David Beckham and Theo Walcott share their thoughts.
    2008-09-08 00:25:11
  • England fans' fury over Setanta's Andorra World Cup qualifier switchoff

    England fans have called on the FA to "sort out'' the impasse between Setanta and terrestrial broadcasters that prevented freetoair highlights being shown of the World Cup qualifier with Andorra.
    2008-09-08 00:28:11
  • Andorra 0 England 2

    WAYNE ROONEY says he has no problem with just two England goals in four years
    2008-09-07 22:34:09
  • Lamps: Fans for your help

    FRANK LAMPARD has praised England fans for sticking with the team against Andorra.
    2008-09-07 22:34:09
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