Spain crush Belarus ahead of showdown

World and European champions Spain warmed up for their Group I showdown with France next Tuesday as Pedro Rodriguez fired a hat-trick in a convincing 4-0 victory over Belarus last night.

The win moved Spain alongside France on six points after two matches of their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Elsewhere, Russia maintained their perfect start while Sweden had to dig deep to prevent a major upset in the Faroe Islands.

Italy came away from their trip to Yerevan with a 3-1 win over a spirited Armenia and Germany trounced Ireland 6-1 in Dublin.

At Wembley, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck scored twice as England laboured to a 5-0 victory over whipping-boys San Marino to go top of Group H.

A cagey start to the encounter in Belarus was soon broken open as Spain struck twice in eight minutes thanks to Jordi Alba and Pedro who eased early nerves and set the defending champions on their way to a rousing win.

Belarus had little to offer and wilted after the break when Pedro struck again following another brilliant pass from Xavi and then doused any hopes of a comeback as he completed his hat-trick three minutes later when the home defence collapsed.

Fabio Capello’s Russia earned their first ever win over Portugal in the post-Soviet era courtesy of Alexander Kerzhakov’s first-half goal in Moscow to put them on nine points after their opening three qualifiers.

The 2018 World Cup hosts, who missed out on the 2010 finals on away goals to Slovenia in the play-offs, took sole possession at the top of Group F, with Portugal now placed second, three points behind.

Zenit SP’s free-scoring striker Kerzhakov ensured the win when he beat Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio from the edge of the box in the sixth minute.

“Today I saw exactly that team which I saw in training over the last week,” former England boss Capello said.

“My players came on to the pitch filled with fighting spirit and gave 100 per cent for this win.

“I’m really happy with my team’s performance. I’d like to thank our fans for their support in this tough match.”

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain notched his first international goal as England found the net three times in the last 20 minutes after San Marino had frustrated them for most of the match.

England, camped in the opposition half from the kick-off, took 35 minutes to make the breakthrough with skipper Rooney converting a penalty after goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini had clattered into Welbeck.

Welbeck quickly made it 2-0 but England had to wait until the 70th minute for Rooney to grab the third.

Manchester United striker Welbeck added the fourth from close range before Oxlade-Chamberlain curled in the fifth goal.

Cesare Prandelli’s Italy were living dangerously for a time in Yerevan when Henrikh Mkhitaryan cancelled out Andrea Pirlo’s penalty but second-half goals from Daniele de Rossi and Pablo Osvaldo earned Italy the win to give them a seven-point haul from a possible nine in Group B.

Marco Reus and Toni Kroos scored twice apiece as Germany turned on the style to hammer Ireland.

Booked for diving when he probably should have had a penalty, Reus popped up two minutes later to break the deadlock.

He struck again shortly before half-time, finishing a sweeping counter-attack with an unstop-pable left-footed shot.

Mesut Ozil converted a second-half penalty won by Miroslav Klose who then scored himself in the 58th minute.

Substitute Kroos made it 5-0 with a thumping volley before grabbing his second goal seven minutes from time as the Germans claimed their third win in three qualifiers.

Faroes’ resistance

In Torshavn, the Faroe Islands went into a shock lead over Sweden, a massive 131 rungs above their humble hosts in FIFA’s world rankings.

Rogvi Baldvinsson, who had a fleeting two-week spell with Bristol Rovers this year before cutting short his stay with the League Two outfit citing personal reasons, set up the possibility of a major shock in the 57th minute.

But Sweden’s nerves held, with winger Alex Kacaniklic levelling eight minutes later and Zlatan Ibrahimovic saving Sweden’s blushes to bag the nervy 2-1 win with quarter of an hour to go.

Wales midfielder Gareth Bale scored with a penalty and a scorching drive in the last 10 minutes to earn a 2-1 home win over Scotland and re-energise his side’s outside hopes of a rare World Cup finals appearance.

Scotland midfielder James Morrison coolly slotted in the opener after 27 minutes of the Group A qualifying clash after early ex-changes characterised by some highly-robust challenges from the British rivals.

The win gave Wales their first points of the campaign after three games as they seek a first World Cup appearance since 1958.

Other Results

Uefa U-21 Play-Offs

First Legs – Czech Republic Vs Russia 0-2; Germany Vs Switzerland 1-1; France Vs Norway 1-0; England Vs Serbia 1-0; Italy Vs Sweden 1-0.

Friendly International

France Vs Japan 0-1.