Published: 2 April, 2009, 11:55
Edited: 2 April, 2009, 11:55
Russia's World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign continued Wednesday night with a narrow 1-0 win over Liechtenstein in Vaduz.
Konstantin Zyryanov eventually scored seven minutes before the final whistle and it stayed that way till the end of the match. Earlier on, Roman Pavluchenko also fired home, but the offside flag went up.
 AFP Photo / Oliver Lang |
The win improved Guus Hiddink's team's position in the group. The Russian squad retains their second spot behind Germany.
Meanwhile, Russia's group leaders Germany had little trouble in Wales, coming out winners 2-0.
In Group 6, England had to rely on a late strike from captain John Terry, narrowly beating Ukraine 2-1 in their clash at Wembley.
The home side broke the deadlock 28 minutes in. Frank Lampard began with a corner kick; John Terry assisted Peter Crouch, and the Portsmouth Hitman found the net with a controlled volley.
Ukraine equalized midway through the second half after England failed to clear a free kick. It fell to former Chelsea striker Andrey Shevchenko to make it 1-1.
 AFP Photo / Ian Kington |
With just five minutes left David Beckham, on as a substitute, found Steven Gerrard with a free kick, and he headed back across goal for Terry to knock in the winner.
In Group 7, France scored a late goal to beat Lithuania 1-0 at home. Frank Ribery tapped in a cross from substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac for the win. The Bayern Munich winger netted his second goal in as many matches.
Elsewhere, Turkey came close to Spain's unbeaten run in qualifying, but the European champions fought back, with Spain scoring two second-half goals for the 2-1 win.
Italy unexpectedly drew their match with Ireland, 1-1.
Amazingly, Poland hammered San Marino 10-0 to stay in contention for qualifying in the evenly-matched Group 3.
In South America, Brazil moved to second place in their group after a 3-0 win over Peru.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 16th minute after Kaka was taken down in the box and Luis Fabiano calmly slotted in the ensuing penalty.
Eleven minutes later Daniel Alves chipped a well weighted ball into the box for Fabiano, who beat the offside trap and skillfully scored a second.
Felipe Melo scored the third goal from the sidelines in the 65th minute after bursting through the centre.
 AFP Photo / Antonio Scorza |
Brazil’s rivals Argentina suffered a big blow against Bolivia, being thrashed 6-1 in La Pas. Joaquin Botero grabbed a hat trick for the home side. The match was Diego Maradona's charges worst ever loss in qualifying.
In the Asian qualifiers, Australia almost made it to the World Cup finals, following their win over Uzbekistan. A draw between their group rivals, Bahrain and Qatar, would've sent them through, but that match ended 1-0 to Bahrain, delaying Australia's qualification.
Also in the Asian division, South Korea clinched an important win over their Northern Korean rivals .A late goal from substitute Kim Chi-Woo gave them the vital victory in Seoul.