Appels
03-02-2006, 12:48 AM
Italy crushes Germany; Brazil beats Russia; Argentina, France, Sweden lose
posted March 1 @ 18:30, EST
LONDON (AP) - Italy outplayed World Cup host Germany 4-1 and five-time champion Brazil warmed up for its defence by beating Russia 1-0 on Wednesday.
Two more former world champions began the buildup to Germany 2006 with losses. France, World Cup winner in 1998, lost 2-1 to visiting Slovakia, while two-time champion Argentina again conceded a last-minute goal, losing 3-2 loss to Croatia.
With Francesco Totti out of action until May with a broken ankle, Italy fielded a three-man strikeforce in Florence and all three scored.
AC Milan's Alberto Gilardino and Fiorentina's Luca Toni scored in the first seven minutes. After midfielder Daniele De Rossi made it 3-0 before halftime, Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero added a fourth before defender Robert Huth replied for Germany.
Playing in temperatures as low as -10 C in Moscow, Ronaldo deflected a shot from Real Madrid teammate Roberto Carlos as the Brazilians overcame the absence of the injured Ronaldinho.
"My hands are frozen, my feet are frozen. I've never played in cold like this," Brazil goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni said in an interview with Brazilian television.
Real Madrid right back Cicinho, starting in place of Cafu, said the cold made Brazil almost unrecognizable.
"You can't judge anything by this game," he told Pele's website. "You try to run and you feel the cold. You try to talk to teammate, but your mouth freezes. It was very difficult."
France fell behind at home to Slovakia when Szilard Nemeth gave the visitor the lead. Although Lyon striker Sylvain Wiltord levelled at the Stade de France, Jozef Valachovic for the non-qualified Slovaks with 10 minutes to go.
Argentina is considered another of Brazil's biggest title rivals. Returning to Switzerland three months after its 3-2 loss to England, it again threw away a 2-1 lead and lost to Croatia in Basel.
After Werder Bremen's Ivan Klasnic had given Croatia a third-minute lead, strikes by Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi appeared to put the South Americans in charge. But Darijo Srna equalized in the 52nd minute and Dario Simic scored the winner in the second minute of injury time.
Pekerman's team had led England 2-1 with four minutes to go but lost 3-2.
England again left it late to score another come from behind victory over South American opposition, beating non-qualifier Uruguay 2-1 at Anfield.
After Omar Pouso had fired Uruguay ahead with a spectacular 30-yard shot, Peter Crouch scored his first England goal in front of his Liverpool fans and Joe Cole's first-time angled shot provided the winner in injury time.
Clint Dempsey scored the winner as the United States edged Poland in a snowstorm in the Germany city of Kaiserslautern, and Mateja Kezman's 11th-minute strike gave Serbia-Montenegro a 1-0 victory over Tunisia in another meeting of two more World Cup teams.
Portugal cruised to a 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in Duesseldorf with Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice while the Netherlands edged Ecuador 1-0 in Amsterdam through Dirk Kuyt's goal.
But Sweden was outplayed 3-0 by non-qualifier Ireland in Steve Staunton's first game in charge. New Ireland captain Robbie Keane was one of the scorers in Dublin.
"We did nothing well today," Sweden captain Olof Mellberg said. "It's another friendly in which we don't reach our normal level. Hopefully, we can pull ourselves together and step up our game when it really matters."
The Czech Republic threw away a two-goal lead through veteran Karel Poborsky's penalty and Jiri Stajner, and was held 2-2 by Turkey. Semifinalist four years ago but a non-qualifier this time, the Turks hit back with two late strikes by substitute Umit Karan.
In a meeting of two more teams headed for the World Cup, Iran raced into a three-goal lead before edging Costa Rica 3-2 in Tehran.
Ali Karimi opened the scoring in the 10th minute. Veteran captain Ali Daei scored from close range in 16th and Vahid Hashemian made it 3-0 in the 34th. Costa Rica replied through Carlos Hernandez and Danny Fonseca but wasted several more chances to equalize.
South Korea's Park Chu-young scored against visiting Angola in another matchup of World Cup teams.
The Koreans reached the semifinal on home turf in 2002. Angola will make its debut.
Tranquillo Barnetta, Daniel Gygax and Ricardo Cabanas scored Switzerland's goals in a 3-1 victory at non-qualifier Scotland. Paraguay, which faces England in its World Cup group, was held 0-0 by Wales in Cardiff.
posted March 1 @ 18:30, EST
LONDON (AP) - Italy outplayed World Cup host Germany 4-1 and five-time champion Brazil warmed up for its defence by beating Russia 1-0 on Wednesday.
Two more former world champions began the buildup to Germany 2006 with losses. France, World Cup winner in 1998, lost 2-1 to visiting Slovakia, while two-time champion Argentina again conceded a last-minute goal, losing 3-2 loss to Croatia.
With Francesco Totti out of action until May with a broken ankle, Italy fielded a three-man strikeforce in Florence and all three scored.
AC Milan's Alberto Gilardino and Fiorentina's Luca Toni scored in the first seven minutes. After midfielder Daniele De Rossi made it 3-0 before halftime, Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero added a fourth before defender Robert Huth replied for Germany.
Playing in temperatures as low as -10 C in Moscow, Ronaldo deflected a shot from Real Madrid teammate Roberto Carlos as the Brazilians overcame the absence of the injured Ronaldinho.
"My hands are frozen, my feet are frozen. I've never played in cold like this," Brazil goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni said in an interview with Brazilian television.
Real Madrid right back Cicinho, starting in place of Cafu, said the cold made Brazil almost unrecognizable.
"You can't judge anything by this game," he told Pele's website. "You try to run and you feel the cold. You try to talk to teammate, but your mouth freezes. It was very difficult."
France fell behind at home to Slovakia when Szilard Nemeth gave the visitor the lead. Although Lyon striker Sylvain Wiltord levelled at the Stade de France, Jozef Valachovic for the non-qualified Slovaks with 10 minutes to go.
Argentina is considered another of Brazil's biggest title rivals. Returning to Switzerland three months after its 3-2 loss to England, it again threw away a 2-1 lead and lost to Croatia in Basel.
After Werder Bremen's Ivan Klasnic had given Croatia a third-minute lead, strikes by Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi appeared to put the South Americans in charge. But Darijo Srna equalized in the 52nd minute and Dario Simic scored the winner in the second minute of injury time.
Pekerman's team had led England 2-1 with four minutes to go but lost 3-2.
England again left it late to score another come from behind victory over South American opposition, beating non-qualifier Uruguay 2-1 at Anfield.
After Omar Pouso had fired Uruguay ahead with a spectacular 30-yard shot, Peter Crouch scored his first England goal in front of his Liverpool fans and Joe Cole's first-time angled shot provided the winner in injury time.
Clint Dempsey scored the winner as the United States edged Poland in a snowstorm in the Germany city of Kaiserslautern, and Mateja Kezman's 11th-minute strike gave Serbia-Montenegro a 1-0 victory over Tunisia in another meeting of two more World Cup teams.
Portugal cruised to a 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in Duesseldorf with Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice while the Netherlands edged Ecuador 1-0 in Amsterdam through Dirk Kuyt's goal.
But Sweden was outplayed 3-0 by non-qualifier Ireland in Steve Staunton's first game in charge. New Ireland captain Robbie Keane was one of the scorers in Dublin.
"We did nothing well today," Sweden captain Olof Mellberg said. "It's another friendly in which we don't reach our normal level. Hopefully, we can pull ourselves together and step up our game when it really matters."
The Czech Republic threw away a two-goal lead through veteran Karel Poborsky's penalty and Jiri Stajner, and was held 2-2 by Turkey. Semifinalist four years ago but a non-qualifier this time, the Turks hit back with two late strikes by substitute Umit Karan.
In a meeting of two more teams headed for the World Cup, Iran raced into a three-goal lead before edging Costa Rica 3-2 in Tehran.
Ali Karimi opened the scoring in the 10th minute. Veteran captain Ali Daei scored from close range in 16th and Vahid Hashemian made it 3-0 in the 34th. Costa Rica replied through Carlos Hernandez and Danny Fonseca but wasted several more chances to equalize.
South Korea's Park Chu-young scored against visiting Angola in another matchup of World Cup teams.
The Koreans reached the semifinal on home turf in 2002. Angola will make its debut.
Tranquillo Barnetta, Daniel Gygax and Ricardo Cabanas scored Switzerland's goals in a 3-1 victory at non-qualifier Scotland. Paraguay, which faces England in its World Cup group, was held 0-0 by Wales in Cardiff.