England salvage Czech draw
England 2 Czech Republic 2 (Wembley 20 August 2008 )
A late goal from Joe Cole denied the Czech Republic a win against England at Wembley. The visitors took the lead midway through the first half when Milan Baros turned in the box and struck the ball in off Ashley Cole. Pert Cech kept out England's tame efforts until Wes Brown equalised with a thumping header from a corner-kick just before the break, but 3 minutes into the 2nd half Marek Jankulovski curled a stunning free-kick into the top corner to restore the Czech lead. Joe Cole scrammed the ball in as the Czechs failed the clear a corner in stoppage time.
In other friendly matches Xabi Alonso scored twice as newly crowned European champions Spain triumphed 3-0 in Denmark, and Ivan Rakitic also scored a brace to give Croatia a 3-2 win in Slovenia while France enjoyed the same scoreline in Sweden thanks to 2 goals from Sidney Govou. Theofanis Gekas scored both goals for Greece who won 2-0 away to Slovakia and Dimitar Berbatov also scored both goals for his country as Bulgaria won 2-1 in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Germany defeated Belgium 2-0 but Italy could only manage a 2-2 draw against Austria in France, and Argentina were held to a 0-0 draw in Belarus. Freddy Eastwood scored for Wales who suffered a 2-1 home defeat in Georgia and Robbie Keane scored for Ireland as they drew 1-1 in Norway. Saudi Arabia and Paraguay drew 1-1 in Switzerland while Montenegro shared 6 goals with hosts Hungary. In Africa champions Egypt were humiliated 4-0 in Sudan.
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