Goal-king Crouch does it again
Healy hat-trick means pain for Spain
Scots go top on the double
—– A year ago, he was in the midst of a goal famine for his new club Liverpool, but now Peter Crouch can do no wrong as his 11th goal in ten international appearances in 2006 clinches victory for England in Macedonia.
With two wins from their first two games, the tall centre-forward’s strike straight after half-time continues the perfect start to Steve McClaren’s reign as the Three Lions top their Euro 2008 qualifying group.
It’s hardly the most polished performance but England show their character to grind a result from a potentially tricky tie.
Thankfully, the game is played out in a far more pleasant atmosphere than England’s previous to Skopje three years ago.
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—– On the eve of the first anniversary of their famous win against England, Northern Ireland do it again to record an even more remarkable victory against Spain to revive memories of their greatest-ever success at the 1982 World Cup finals.
On the back of Saturday’s disappointing defeat by Iceland, they come from behind twice with a glorious hat-trick from Leeds United’s David Healy.
The scorer of the winner against England nets Northern Ireland’s first hat-trick since Colin Clarke in the Faroe Islands in September 1991.
The last NI hat-trick scorer at Windsor Park was the legendary George Best against Cyprus in April 1971.
It’s not all good news though as coach Lawrie Sanchez’s future is in doubt. After excessive criticism following the Iceland set-back, he refuses to give any post-match interviews.
—– Scotland continue on their upward trend with a 2-1 win in Lithuania to go top of Group B.
Goals from Christian Daily and Kenny Miller extends their unbeaten away run to seven games.
With France beating Italy 3-1 in the same group, the Scots have an unlikely five-point advantage over the World champions after two games.
—– Further proof that there are easy games in international football as Germany create a new European Championship record with a 13-0 win in San Marino.
Lukas Podolski heads the list of seven different goalscorers with four goals.
The previous record win was Spain’s 12-1 humiliation of Malta in Seville on 21 December 1983.
—– Needing a win to reach the Play-Offs for next year’s European Under-21 Championship finals, Newcastle United’s James Milner nets a last minute winner as Peter Taylor’s England Under-21s snatch a dramatic 3-2 victory in Switzerland.
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