Spain sparkle, defeat for France in Euro qualifiers

Sep 05, 2010 |

Paris, Sept. 4: Spain made an impressive start to their quest for an historic treble in the opening salvoes in Euro 2012 qualifying on Friday, which saw wins for England, Holland and Germany but defeat for France.

Spain are seeking to become the first country in history to annex a World Cup and two European titles. And del Bosque’s men swept aside little Liechtenstein 4-0 in Vaduz.

Fernando Torres rediscovered his touch with a double, the rout completed by the two Davids, Villa and Silva.

Holland were also quick out of the blocks on the long road to Ukraine and Poland, Bert van Marwijk’s Oranje dishing out a 5-0 beating to minnows San Marino.

At Wembley, England went some way on the road to redemption with a sparkling 4-0 rout of Bulgaria.

Germany, who so cruelly exposed England at the World Cup, where they finished third, eked out a 1-0 win over Belgium in Brussels. World Cup flops France entered their post-Raymond Domenech era in the same way they had left it, with a defeat — new manager Laurent Blanc’s competitive debut resulting in a 0-1 home loss to Belarus.

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