Normalcy returns to WC qualifiers but Greece continue to flummox

But Portugal, who hosted Euro 2004 and lost in the final to Greece, maintained their excellent start to the qualifiers with a 4-0 drubbing of Estonia in Leiria – with all four goals coming in the last 15 minutes. Neighbours Spain, starting their qualifying campaign, looked out of sorts though, only managing a 1-1 draw in Bosnia.

Slovakia were the biggest winners of the night, beating Liechtenstein 7-0 while Romania maintained their perfect start in Group One by taking another positive step on the way to the finals in Germany in 2006 with a 5-1 win over little Andorra – their third win in three matches.

However, the Netherlands, in the same group and playing their first competitive match under new coach Marco van Basten, served notice of their intentions with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic in Amsterdam – with Pierre van Hooijdonk scoring both goals.

France, held to a 0-0 draw by Israel in their opening Group Four match in Paris on Saturday, did not play that well but had enough guile to beat Faroe Islands 2-0 in Torshavn thanks to goals from Ludovic Giuly and Djibril Cisse, a ninth minute substitute for the injured Louis Saha.

England bounced back with a 2-1 win over Poland in Chorzow. Jermain Defoe scored a delightful goal to set them on their way after 37 minutes – his first for his country. Maciej Zurawski equalised with an unstoppable shot three minutes into the second half before England regained the lead when Arkadiusz Glowacki put through his own goal under pressure from Michael Owen after 58 minutes.

Italy also won away to make it six points out of six, after a 1-0 victory in Moldova. Alessandro Del Piero scored the only goal after 32 minutes – his first for Italy in over a year. (Reuters)