Aussies Stun Germany, Italy Win

Australia stunned Germany by claiming a 2-1 friendly win in Dortmund on Tuesday evening, while Italy won and France were held to a draw.

Australia earned some measure of revenge for their World Cup thrashing at the hands of Germany with an unlikely victory in their international friendly in Dortmund tonight.

Germany looked on course to replicate their 4-0 win in Durban last summer when Mario Gomez scored a 26th-minute opener in a dominant first half for the world’s number three ranked side.

But the Socceroos stunned their hosts with two goals in four second-half minutes, first through David Carney and then a Luke Wilkshire penalty, to claim their first ever win over the Europeans.

Italy overcame being reduced to 10 men as goals by Giuseppe Rossi and Alessandro Matri saw them seal a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in their friendly clash in Kiev.

Rossi put the Italians ahead in the 27th minute when he slotted home Domenico Criscito’s cross from close range.

Ukraine pushed for an equaliser and their task appeared a little easier when Davide Astori was sent off following a second booking with a quarter of an hour remaining.

However, it was Italy who claimed the second goal when Matri scored with nine minutes left to confirm the win.

France failed to convert their numerous chances as their friendly against Croatia petered out to a 0-0 draw at the Stade de France.

Russia were held to a shock 1-1 draw by Qatar in a friendly in Doha.

The 2022 World Cup hosts, 77 places below their opponents in the FIFA rankings, took the lead in the fourth minute through Mohamed Kasoula, but Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko levelled in the 34th minute.

The draw continued Russia’s run of poor results after their 2012 qualifying draw in Armenia last week and friendly defeats to Iran and Belgium.

Andre Hainault’s 58th-minute effort earned Canada a surprise 1-0 win over Belarus in Antalya in Turkey.

China beat Honduras 3-0 and Peru shared a goalless draw with Ecuador.

Micael scored twice, in the 10th and 71st minutes, as Portugal beat Finland 2-0 in Aveiro.

Slovakia, who top qualifying Group B, went down to a 2-1 home defeat to Denmark.

A Kornel Salata own goal put Denmark in front after three minutes, but Filip Holosko equalised just after the half-hour mark.

Brondby winger Michael Krohn-Dehli fired in the winner in the 72nd minute.

First-half goals from Matias Fernandez and Jean Beausejour earned Chile a 2-0 win over Colombia in a friendly played in The Hague in Holland.

Martin Petrov’s first-half goal earned Bulgaria a 1-0 win over Cyprus, while Greece and Poland drew 0-0.