Like father, like son as Smolarek secures shock Polish win over Portugal

TWO first-half goals from striker Ebi Smolarek gave Poland a shock 2-1 win over Group A favourites Portugal in Chorzow.

The win was Poland’s first against Portugal since Smolarek’s father Wlodzimierz scored the only goal in a group stage clash at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico. Portugal’s Nuno Gomes had a consolation strike a minute into injury time.

Serbia remain at the summit of Group A after a comfortable victory over 10-man Armenia in Belgrade.

Despite a first-half penalty miss by Marko Pantelic, the home side rallied in the second period and another spot-kick, this time converted by Dejan Stankovic, and headers from Danko Lazovic and Nikola Zigic wrapped up all three points. Finland beat Kazakhstan 2-0 while Belgium hammered Azerbaijan 3-0.

In Group B Italy eventually overpowered Georgia 3-1 to put their campaign firmly on track but they took charge only after the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the second half.

Daniele De Rossi opened the scoring in the 16th minute, but Giorgi Shashiashvili equalised for the home side eight minutes later, beating Gianluigi Buffon with a great curving shot.

When Jaba Kankava was sent off 15 minutes after half-time for a second yellow card, Italy took control. Mauro Camoranesi headed the visitors into a 2-1 lead within a minute of the red card and Simone Perrota added a third from close range shortly afterwards.

France crushed the Faroe Islands 5-0 with the recalled Nicolas Anelka on the scoresheet. David Trezeguet (two), Thierry Henry and Louis Saha were all on target.

European champions Greece maintained a perfect start to their qualifying campaign with a rampant victory over 10-man Bosnia-Herzegovina in Zenica’s Group C clash. Goals from Angelos Charisteas, Christos Patsatzoglou, Georgios Samaras and Kostas Katsouranis secured maximum points for Otto Rehaggel’s side for their third Group C match in succession.

Malta secured only the fourth competitive win in their history, and their first since 1993, as they saw off Hungary 2-1 in Ta’Qali. A goal in each half from Andre Schembri proved enough for the home side to claim a richly-deserved victory, despite a reply from Sandor Torghelle for Hungary. In the same group, four goals from Hakan Sukur — including a first-half hat-trick — ensured Turkey strolled to a 5-0 victory over Moldova.

In England’s Group E, two late goals gave Russia their first win of the competition, with a 2-0 victory over Estonia. They had to wait until the 78th minute to breakthrough when Pavel Pogrebnyak struck from close range. They wrapped up the victory in stoppage time through Dmitry Sycheva. The Republic of Macedonia won 3-0 away to Andorra.

In Group F, Northern Ireland’s group, Sweden maintained their 100% qualifying record, with Iceland the latest side to crumble against the table toppers. Despite falling behind to an early Arnar Vidarsson goal, strikes from Kim Kallstrom and Christian Wilhelmsson secured three points for the Swedes, who won 2-1. Denmark captain Jon Dahl Tomasson scored twice to lead his team to a 4-0 rout of Liechtenstein with Daniel Jensen and Michael Gravgaard also on target.

Holland stay top of Group G after an unimpressive 2-1 win at at home to Albania. Robin van Persie opened the scoring after 13 minutes, while his cross four minutes before the break was netted by Albania’s Nevil Dede to double the lead. But the minnows fought back with Debatik Curri on target in the second half.

Aleksandar Tunchev blasted a spectacular first-half winner as unbeaten Bulgaria kept the pressure on Holland with an unconvincing triumph over lowly Luxembourg. The goal, a 25-yard drive into the top corner after 26 minutes, takes Bulgaria’s tally to two wins and two draws from their opening four games this campaign, and sees them leapfrog Romania in the standings, just two points adrift of Holland. Sergei Kornilenko scored twice as Belarus came from behind to beat Slovenia 4-2 for an impressive first win in the group’s other game.