Germany crushed by rampant Romanians

Germany suffered their heaviest defeat since losing 5-1 to England three years ago as Romania thrashed them by the same scoreline tonight.

Rudi Voller’s under-strength side were outclassed in Bucharest as Ionel Danciulescu grabbed a brace and Mihaita Plesan, Razvan Rat and Gabriel Caramarin also struck.

Stuttgart’s Philip Lahm netted a late consolation for the Germans.

Elsewhere on a busy night of international friendlies, Holland ran out comfortable 4-0 winners over Greece in Eindhoven.

Roy Makaay, Bolo Zenden, Johnny Heitinga and Pierre van Hooijdonk were all on target in the second half.

Gokdeniz Karadeniz scored a later winner in Brussels as Turkey beat Belgium 3-2.

Gregory Dufer looked to have saved a draw for the hosts when he struck an 85th-minute equaliser.

Yildiray Basturk and Tolga Seyhan had given Turkey a 2-1 lead after Wesley Sonck opened the scoring for Belgium.

Norway withstood a late fightback from Russia to claim a 3-2 victory in an entertaining encounter in Oslo.

Martin Andresen, Sigurd Rushfeldt and Jan Gunnar Solli swept the Norwegians into a comfortable lead but Russia staged a fightback in the last 24 minutes.

Vladislav Radimov pulled one back with a deflected shot and Dmitri Kirichenko set up a frantic finish but Norway held on.

England and France were not in action but the two sides they will face in Group B at Euro 2004, Switzerland and Croatia, both enjoyed victories.

Fabio Celestini and Hakan Yakin helped Switzerland to a 2-1 success over Slovenia while Ivica Klasnic’s header ensured Croatia overcame Macedonia 1-0.

After losing their 20-game unbeaten run to the Republic of Ireland, the Czech Republic suffered another surprising defeat at the hands of Japan.

The Czechs were beaten 1-0 in Prague, with Tatsuhiko Kubo scoring the only goal of the game.

Roberto Baggio failed to inspire Italy to victory on his return to the side after five years as Spain claimed a 1-1 draw in Genoa.

Fernando Torres put Spain in front but Christain Vieri ensured a share of the spoils.

Luis Fabiano struck twice in Budapest as Brazil beat Hungary 4-1. Kaka and Ronaldinho also scored.

Austria, who England will face in their World Cup qualifying group, crushed Luxembourg 4-1 while another of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s future opponents, Azerbaijan, beat Kazakhstan 3-2.