Daily Archives: September 4, 2010

England 4-0 Bulgaria: Hattrick for Defoe as England cruise to victory

Jermain Defoe
“A great start, a quiet first half and then a dominant end to the game, as England opened their qualification campaign with a much-needed high-scoring win. Fabio Capello chose to play Wayne Rooney with a partner, Jermain Defoe, rather than in the lone striker role he occupied in the recent friendly against Hungary. Theo Walcott and James Milner were the choices in wide positions, whilst the rest of the team was as anticipated.” (Zonal Marking)

Defoe hat-trick sinks Bulgaria
“Jermain Defoe gave the surgeon’s knife a swerve and instead carved up Bulgaria with his first England hat-trick to bring a smile back to Fabio Capello’s face. Defoe put off a groin operation that threatened to rule him out of England’s opening Euro 2012 opener and gained perfect reward in a deserved win that eased some of the pressure that has been building around Capello.” (ESPN)

England 4-0 Bulgaria – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Euro 2012 Qualifying
“England began their Euro 2012 qualifying with a home match against Bulgaria on Friday, September 3, 2010. The match was important with England’s disappointing run in the 2010 World Cup and failure to qualify for Euro 2008. The match highlights can be found here at Free Soccer Highlights.” (The 90th Minute)

Belarus beat France, England cruise

“England opened their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a 4-0 win over Bulgaria, but Laurent Blanc’s first competitive game as France manager ended in a shock 1-0 defeat to Belarus and Portugal were held by Cyprus in an eight-goal thriller. Meanwhile, Spain cruised to a 4-0 win in Liechtenstein and Italy came from behind to beat Estonia.” (ESPN)

Torres grabs brace for Spain

“World champions Spain began the defence of their European Championship title with a thumping 4-0 win over outclassed Liechtenstein in Vaduz. Fernando Torres struck twice while David Villa and substitute David Silva were also on the scoresheet as the world’s top-ranked side, who this summer added the World Cup to the European crown they won two years ago in Austria and Switzerland, kicked off their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign in impressive style.” (ESPN)

Liechtenstein 0-4 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Euro 2012 Qualifying
“The defending Euro champions, Spain, begin their qualification for Euro 2012 with a match against Liechtenstein. Spain were heavily favored heading into the match and anything less than a win would be very surprising.” (The 90th Minute)