International Football 10 October 2009

Ukraine end England run

Ukraine 1 England 0 (Dnepropetrovsk 10 October 2009)
England tasted defeat for the first time in a competitive match under Capello as Green saw red in Ukraine. A lapse of concentration by Rio Ferdinand in the 13th minute allowed the ball to bounce over his head and expose Robert Green who brought Milevskiy down in the box. David James came on to face Andriy Shevchenko who sent him the wrong way but struck the outside of the post. In the 29th minute the ball fell to Sergiy Nazarenko who found the England net from 20 yards with the aid of a deflection. England responded immediately with Rooney finding Lampard whose shot across the face of the goal was narrowly wide, but Ukraine came even closer 2 minutes later when a thunderous shot from Milevskiy came off the top of the England post. The match was held up several times in the first half to clear the goalmouth of flares. James showed agility to keep out Rakytskyy's 53rd minute strike and blocked Yarmolenko's effort with his foot 11 minutes from time, but England almost escaped defeat when Rooney was inches wide with a last minute from outside the box. A win for Ukraine in Andorra on Wednesday will secure them a place in the play-offs.

Robert Green concedes penalty

In other matches:

Denmark qualified for the World Cup after Christian Poulsen struck the only goal of the match at home to Sweden, while Germany enjoyed the same result and outcome in Russia. Serbia celebrated their qualification in style, destroying Romania 5-0 in Belgrade and Italy booked their place in the finals with a 2-2 draw in Dublin. The Irish went ahead in the 8th minute when Lawrence took a free-kick from the by-line finding Glenn Whelan who curled it past Buffon into the top corner from outsider the area. Camoranesi headed in an equalizer in the 26th minute, but with 3 minutes of the match remaining Hunt delivered a free-kick onto the diving head of Sean St. Ledger who scored what seemed to be the winner only for Gilardino to spoil the party in the 90th minute wrong-footing Given to knock the ball past him from 12 yards. The Irish will now finish 2nd in their group after Bulgaria were taken apart 4-1 in Cyprus.
Philippe Senderos scored twice in the first 8 minutes as Switzerland won 3-0 in Luxembourg to move within a point of qualification. Slovakia missed the chance to qualify on the night as Slovenia stunned their hosts 2-0 to move within 2 points of them with a trip to San Marino to look forward to while the Slovaks travel to Poland on Wednesday with a point to prove.

Conor Casey scored twice and Landon Donovan grabbed another as the USA secured qualification with a 3-2 win in Honduras. Cuauhtemoc Blanco netted a brace as Mexico qualified infront of their home crowd with a 4-1 victory over El Salvador.

In Africa a 1-1 draw in Malawi was enough to give Ivory Coast a place in the finals along with Ghana. Gabon enjoyed a 3-1 win over Morocco while in the same group Cameroon defeated Togo 3-0 to remain a point ahead of their Gabonese rivals. Egypt gained 3 vital points with a 1-0 win in Zambia setting up a mouth-watering decider at home to Algeria who defeated Rwanda 3-1 on Sunday. Nigeria kept their hopes alive with a goal in the last minute at home to Mozambique, forcing Tunisia – who won by the same score line with a 1st minute goal at home to Kenya – wait another month.

Chile became the 3rd South American team to qualify winning a pulsating match 4-2 in Colombia. Diego Forlan scored a last minute penalty to give Uruguay a 2-1 win in Ecuador, and Argentina who had been pegged back to 1-1 in the 90th minute stole a winner against Peru with the last kick of the match in stormy Buenos Aires. Brazil who had already qualified lost 2-1 in Bolivia.
New Zealand held Bahrain to a goalless draw the first leg Asia/Oceania play-off in Manama.