.. ten-man France grab important draw in Serbia
BERNE, (Reuters) – Spain and England reached the 2010 World Cup football finals in South Africa yesterday with the sort of commanding home victories their fans have become accustomed to in qualifying.

European champions Spain maintained their perfect record with a 3-0 victory over Estonia in sweltering Merida, while England got their eighth win from eight games, 5-1 against Croatia, to join the Netherlands as qualifiers from Europe.

France had to show grit to stay in contention, holding Serbia 1-1 away despite playing for more than 80 minutes with 10 men, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s chances of playing in South Africa were boosted by a 1-0 win for Portugal in Hungary.

World champions Italy need one more point after beating Bulgaria, while Scotland and Belgium were among the countries eliminated.

The winners of the nine European groups qualify directly for South Africa and the best eight runners-up play off among themselves for four more places.

England were eliminated from Euro 2008 qualifying after a 3-2 defeat by Croatia at Wembley almost two years ago but under Fabio Capello they look a different side and they had little trouble maintaining their 100 percent record in Group Six.

Two goals each from Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and one from Wayne Rooney saw them through at Wembley, while Eduardo da Silva scored a second-half consolation for the visitors, who stayed second.

Spain have swept all before them since their win at Euro 2008 and they secured progress from Group Five with their customary elan and goals from Cesc Fabregas, Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata.

The Dutch were the first nation to qualify but they were in no mood to take it easy against Scotland, a late goal from Eljero Elia sealing the fate of the Scots.

Serbia, needing a win in Belgrade to qualify for their first World Cup as an independent nation, were gifted a goal and one-man advantage after only 10 minutes against France but they could not get the win they needed to secure qualification.

French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was given his marching orders after appearing to make little contact with Serbia striker Nikola Zigic in the penalty area before Nenad Milijas drilled in the penalty.

France regained their composure and Thierry Henry equalised in the 31st minute. The hosts had Danko Lazovic sent off in the 90th minute for dissent.

Serbia stayed four points clear of their opponents at the top of Group Seven with two games each left. France are second with a four-point advantage over Austria and so stand a good chance of making the play-offs.

ENTERTAINING ITALY

Superb goals from Fabio Grosso and Vincenzo Iaquinta gave a much-improved Italy a 2-0 win over Bulgaria in Turin and sent them four points clear of Ireland at the top of Group Eight. A draw in Ireland next month would be enough for them to qualify.

“In the first half it was a spectacle and it was entertainment,” said coach Marcello Lippi, under fire for the team’s recent lacklustre performances.

Germany stayed one point clear of Russia at the top of Group Four after both won to set up a Moscow showdown next month.

Miroslav Klose came on as a second-half striker for Germany and scored twice in 10 minutes in their 4-0 win over Azerbaijan after captain Michael Ballack had converted a penalty.

Lukas Podolski added a fourth while Azerbaijan had Samir Abasov sent off. Russia beat Wales 3-1 away.

Norway took advantage of Scotland’s defeat in Group Nine to beat Macedonia 2-1 and sneak into second place.

Group One leaders Denmark were held 1-1 in Albania and had their lead cut to three points by Sweden, who won 1-0 in Malta.

Portugal revived their hopes with a 1-0 win in Hungary after Brazilian-born Pepe scored with a 10th minute header. That took them above their opponents on goal difference and into third place, two behind the Swedes.

“This result re-launches our campaign for the World Cup,” said Pepe.

Group Two leaders Switzerland were held 2-2 in Latvia but stayed three points clear when Greece were held 1-1 by table-propping Moldova.

The Faroe Islands won their first World Cup qualifier for eight years when they beat Lithuania 2-1.