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The Euro 2012 Qualifiers kicked off in earnest on Friday night, as all of Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France & Netherlands looked to book their place for Poland/Ukraine. Spain began their defence of their Euro 2008 crown with a comfortable 4-0 away victory over Liechtenstein, while the most notable shock of the night came as France lost 1-0 at home to Belarus. Netherlands and England began their qualifying campaigns in style, with the Dutch running out 5-0 winners away to San Marino while England trounced Bulgaria 4-0 at home. It nearly went pear-shaped for Italy as they came from behind to win 2-1 away to Estonia, while Germany also claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Belgium away from home. Portugal were surprised at home as they drew 4-4 against Cyprus, in the highest-scoring fixture of the night.

Belgium 0-1 Germany (Group A)
Germany narrowly edged out Belgium as Miroslav Klose scored the only goal of the game, as Die Mannschaft began their qualifying campaign on a positive note. The game began with Belgium exploding of the blocks quickly, Romelu Lukaku and Moussa Dembele drawing fine saves from German custodian Manuel Neuer. Germany gradually got into the mix after the half-hour mark, but the pivotal point of the game occurred in the 51st minute, Daniel van Buyten was careless with possession on the edge of the box and his Bayern Munich teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger pounced, passing the ball to Thomas Muller who turned and slid through an unmarked Klose to finish with typical efficiency. The goal was enough for Germany to overcome Belgium, claiming a crucial three points as they host Azerbaijan next at home. Belgium ought to be greatly encouraged with their performance and will fancy their chances when they meet with Turkey in Instanbul.

England 4-0 Bulgaria (Group G)
A fine hat-trick from Jermain Defoe along with an Adam Johnson strike propelled England to a 4-0 win over Bulgaria, with Wayne Rooney being involved in all four goals. England were off the mark in the 3rd minute itself, Rooney chipped a ball into marauding left-back Ashley Cole's path - who having seen his first effort on goal saved, laid it off to Defoe to spectacularly volley home from close range. The game meandered, as England raised their foot of the pedal. Valeri Bojinov and Ivelin Popov were able to trouble the new centre-back pairing of Michael Dawson & Phil Jagielka at the start of the second half, before Dawson was stretchered off with a knee injury. The game came to life in the 61st minute, Stanislav Angelov had a gilt edged chance to draw his side equal but shot straight at Joe Hart who punched the ball to begin a counter attack that saw Rooney slide Defoe through for the Tottenham striker to finish coolly between the keeper's legs and take England 2-0 up. Rooney repeated the trick in the 83rd minute, teeing up Adam Johnson who shot low past Nikolay Mihaylov for his first England goal to take the scoreline to 3-0. Defoe grabbed his hat-trick in the 86th minute, producing a stunning finish from a narrowing angle to put England 4-0 up. The celebrations were tempered as Defoe pulled up with a troublesome groin problem, but that wasn't enough to dampen the cheers that rang out in Wembley at the final whistle for Fabio Capello's men.

Estonia 1-2 Italy (Group C)
Two second half goals in quick succession were enough for Italy as they claimed a narrow 2-1 victory away to Estonia. Estonia troubled Italy throughout and were rewarded in the 31st minute - Sergey Zenjov pounced after Italy goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu palmed the ball back into his path. Italy were level in the 60th minute, Antonio Cassano was left unmarked in the box from an Andrea Pirlo corner and powered home a header to Cesare Prandelli's relief. Cassano was involved three minutes later, producing an instinctive back-heel from another Pirlo corner for Leonardo Bonucci to stab home in the 63rd minute and spare Italy the blushes, providing the first win of Cesare Prandelli's tenure.

Liechtenstein 0-4 Spain (Group I)
World Cup winners Spain began their campaign with a marvellous 4-0 win against Liechtenstein in the first round of the European qualifiers. Fernando Torres has finally found his scoring boots, netting a brace while the Davids -Villa and Silva - scored a goal each. With just 18 minutes gone, Fernando Torres played a delightful lob over the keeper's head which nestled into the far corner. Within a few minutes of the first goal David Villa doubled the score with his right foot; scoring the 43rd goal of his international career, just one less than Spanish legend Raul Gonzalez. The second half saw Torres score his second of the match thus marking the end of his goal drought. His replacement David Silva netted in another goal just five minutes after coming onto the pitch. Apart from the Liechtensteiner keeper who made a couple of impressive saves, the rest of the team were unable to come back with a reply. With 3 points already in the bag, the Spaniards are off to South America where they will play Argentina in an international friendly on the 7th of September.

Portugal 4-4 Cyprus (Group H)
The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo failed to have much impact on Portugal's scoring boots, although a poor defensive performance saw them allow Cyprus to leave Portugal with a point. Cyprus began in stunning fashion, Efstathios Aloneftis lobbed Portuguese custodian Eduardo in the 3rd minute to send Cyprus 1-0 up. Portugal provided a swift response, an eight minute stooping header by Hugo Almeida brought them level. They were soon behind though, as Liverpool new-boy Raul Meireles comically passed it back into the path of Michalis Konstantinou, the Cypriot putting his nation 2-1 up in the 11th minute. Meireles made amends in the 29th minute though, powering in a left-footed shot into the bottom corner, to send the sides level into the break. A 50th minute header from Danny put Portugal in the lead for the first time in the game, although that was soon squandered when Cyprus substitute Yiannis Okkas ran onto a through ball from Constantinos Charalambides and finished with aplomb to level the sores at 3-3 in the 57th minute. A thunderous shot from range on the hour mark gave Portugal the lead, Manuel Fernandes's effort putting Portugal 4-3 up. Portugal though they had secured the points, but a goal from Andreas Avraam in the 89th minute that came about after Eduardo parried it into his path sent the Cypriots wild. Portugal will look on this fixture as two points dropped and will hope to make it up when they travel to Norway on Tuesday.

France 0-1 Belarus ( Group D)
Laurent Blanc's reign as France manager began on a sour note as his side were wasteful and paid the price against Belarus, who grabbed a late winner. Despite dominating proceedings for much of the match, France were disjointed in the final third, only working Yuri Zhevnov late into the first half. The second half saw France trouble Zhevnov a lot more, substitute Mathieu Valbuena in particular drawing fine saves from the inspired Zhevnov. Belarus had a couple of gilt-edged chances as well but squandered them in what was becoming the theme of the match. As France were preparing themselves for accepting a point, they were stunned in the 86th minute when Vyacheslav Hleb combined with his brother Alexander to produce a cross despite being offside, which Sergei Kislyak did well to strike home and break French hearts. This is the fourth loss on the trot for Les Blues and they will hope to break the pattern when they visit Bosnia and Herzegovina next Tuesday. Bosnia and Herzegovina were 3-0 victors tonight against Luxembourg.

San Marino 0-5 Netherlands (Group E)
Meanwhile, World Cup runners-up Holland cooked up a storm of goals at the Stadio Olimpico where they won 5-0 against San Marino with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring a hat-trick. The game began with a 16th minute penalty awarded to the Netherlands for a foul committed on Huntelaar which was successfully taken by Dirk Kuyt. This was followed by a goal fest from 'The Hunter' where he put three unanswered strikes past Aldo Simoncini in the San Marino goal. But the party for the Dutch carried on into the 90th minute when Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who has recently come out of retirement, fired in a fifth. The Dutch will be looking forward to play their next qualifier which will be held at the Feijenoord Stadion against Finland, while San Marino will be a worried lot ahead of their trip to Sweden.

File Photograph Copyright: Ryu Voelkel