Wayne Rooney shook off his private life problems as he scored in England’s second win in Euro 2012 qualifying, and France finally also had something to smile on the night.
England got their second win in as many games when Rooney opened the scoring in a 3-1 victory in Switzerland. The important win for Rooney, and manager Fabio Capello, came amid newspaper allegations since Sunday against the Manchester United hero.
“Wayne Rooney still has serious domestic issues to address but at least he returns home with the admiration of England’s players and supporters for a pedigree display of discipline and dynamism capped by a hugely significant goal,” said The Daily Telegraph .
France won 2-0 in Bosnia-Herzegovina to restore some morale after a winless World Cup exit and a 1-0 humbling by Belarus in the first qualifier last Friday.
While France redeemed themselves, Portugal must be concerned after a 4-4 draw with minnows Cyprus was followed by a 1-0 defeat in Norway in the absence of star Cristiano Ronaldo (injured) and coach Carlos Queiroz (suspension).
One point from two matches is bad news for the Portuguese as only the group winners qualify directly for the 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine. They find themselves in an early must-win situation when they play Denmark and Iceland next month.
“We have six games left and we can still qualify,” insisted caretaker coach Agostinho Oliveira.
The Euro 2008 semifinalists Russia were also licking their wounds after losing 1-0 at home to Slovakia and the Czech Republic had definitely hoped to start their campaign in a better than losing 1-0 at home against Lithuania.
The so-called minnows are further catching up with the more established powers, with Scotland for instance only holding off tiny Liechtenstein 2-1 in the last minute.
But Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, Slovakia, Montenegro, Ireland and Norway joined England on a maximum six points from two games.
Elsewhere, Germany destroyed Azerbaijan 6-1, which will make it even more difficult for captain Michael Ballack to get back into the team from injury.
“Ballack, you really missed something,” said the Bild daily in the direction of the veteran who did not attend the game in Cologne. “It won’t be easy for Ballack to fight his way into the team again.”
