Euro 2012 qualifying campaign: New coach, same story for France but Spain shine

France received chilling notice that the road to post-World Cup redemption will be long and hard when they lost 1-0 to Belarus in Paris on Friday, while Portugal threw away two points in a frantic 4-4 draw at home to Cyprus.
-- Portugal held at home to Cyprus in 4-4 thriller
-- Spain brush aside Liechtenstein
-- England, Italy on road to redemption
England and Italy were able to start repairing their reputations with contrasting wins in their first Euro 2012 qualifiers and Spain swatted away Liechtenstein 4-0 with an ease befitting their status as world and European champions. England played with the quick passing and invention that eluded them in South Africa as they beat Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley, Jermain Defoe netting a smartly taken hat-trick and Adam Johnson getting the fourth in the Group G clash. Italy were almost embarrassed but were ultimately able to celebrate a 2-1 victory after coming from a goal down away to Estonia in Group C.
There were wins too for Germany, Russia and the Netherlands - who provided a heartwarming moment with the goalscoring return of Ruud van Nistelrooy - but the night's compelling story was in Paris, where it became abundantly clear that a change of coach alone will not change French fortunes. Laurent Blanc's first competitive match since replacing Raymond Domenech after a World Cup campaign that veered between farce and fiasco offered few positives as a late goal from Sergei Kislyak consigned them to a Group D defeat.
Portugal were among the other heavyweight teams to flop in South Africa and missing the injured Cristiano Ronaldo and suspended coach Carlos Queiroz they flirted with disaster against Cyprus in Guimaraes. The home side twice fell behind before hauling themselves 4-3 ahead only to concede an equaliser to Andreas Avraam two minutes from time.
While Europe's first big night of competitive international action since the World Cup was a chance for atonement for some, it was a celebration for the three big success stories of a tournament dominated by the continent. Spain led the way as two goals from Fernando Torres and one from World Cup hero David Villa - who moved to within one goal of equalling Raul's scoring record for the country - helped them brush past Liechtenstein in a Group I match in Vaduz.
The Netherlands, beaten by the Spanish in the Johannesburg final, saw off San Marino 5-0 in Group E. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a hat-trick but it was the returning Van Nistelrooy who stole Dutch hearts, scoring in injury-time after being recalled to the squad for the first time in two years. Germany, third at the World Cup, had a tougher night against more serious opponents in Group A but came through 1-0 against Belgium with a goal from the ever reliable Miroslav Klose.
In the night's other David and Goliath clash, Russia grabbed a workmanlike 2-0 win away to Andorra in Group B thanks to two goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak. Ireland, who felt themselves cheated out of a place at the World Cup when Thierry Henry's handball set up the winner for France in their play-off, joined Russia at the top of the group after escaping with a 1-0 win away to Armenia.