Denmark beat Portugal in World Cup qualifier match
Denmark beat Portugal in World Cup qualifier match
Denmark scored two goals in the final minutes to beat Portugal.

London: Denmark scored two goals in the final minutes to come back and beat Portugal 3-2, Germany salvaged a 3-3 draw at Finland and both England and France produced victories to relieve the pressure on their coaches on Wednesday in World Cup qualifying.

Daniel Jensen headed in the winning goal in injury time to cap a late comeback for the Danes, who trailed 2-1 in the 86th minute.

Finland led three times against Germany, but the three-time World Cup champions got three goals from Miroslav Klose to secure the draw.

England teenager Theo Walcott also scored three goals in a 4-1 win over Croatia that came only four days after the team struggled to beat Andorra.

France's humiliating loss at Austria on Saturday put Raymond Domenech's future under scrutiny, but the World Cup runner-up overcame Serbia 2-1.

World Cup champion Italy, which squeezed past Cyprus in its Group 8 opener, beat Georgia 2-0, and European champion Spain defeated Armenia 4-0.

Nani gave Portugal the lead in the 42nd in Lisbon, but Nicklas Bendtner equalized for Denmark in the 84th. Deco restored the host team's lead two minutes later, but Christopher Poulsen scored in the 90th and Jensen added the other to complete the upset.

Also in Group 1, Albania beat Malta 3-0 and Sweden defeated Hungary 2-1.

In Helsinki, Klose equalized three times after goals from Jonathan Johansson, Petri Vayrynen and Daniel Sjolund.

Klose took advantage of some slack marking in the 38th, and then added another in the 45th and the last in the 83rd.

''All the time I have confidence for Klose,'' Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

''His qualities are known for us all, and I had the feeling that he was to be better. That was to be seen in practices lately. Our faith in him got rewarded.''

Germany leads Group 4 with four points. Russia is next after opening its campaign with a 2-1 victory over Wales.

Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein drew 0-0.

Wales squandered a chance to take the lead when Gareth Bale missed a penalty in the 16th. Roman Pavlyuchenko then converted from the spot for Russia in the 22nd.

Italy maintained its 100 percent record in Group 8 when Daniele De Rossi scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Georgia.

''It's great to win when you're struggling,'' Italy coach Marcello Lippi said. ''In a month we'll be back in better condition.''

Shay Given made several saves to give Ireland a 0-0 draw at Montenegro to remain second behind Italy.

England avenged its two losses to Croatia in Euro 2008 qualifying by winning easily in Zagreb.

Walcott scored his first goal in the 26th, taking advantage of a botched clearance from Danijel Pranjic that hit teammate Josip Simunic before falling to the Arsenal forward, who scored with a low shot from a tight angle.

Croatia defender Robert Kovac was sent off in the 54th for an aerial challenge on Joe Cole, which saw the Chelsea midfielder taken off on a stretcher with his head bleeding.

Walcott added his second in the 60th from a similar position after a perfect pass by Wayne Rooney, who then scored his first England goal since last October after latching onto a neat cross from Ashley Cole in the 63rd.

Croatia pulled one back on a counterattack in the 76th, but Walcott extended the lead in the 81st before being replaced by David Beckham.

''Tonight was a bit of revenge. It was a great performance and a great result,'' Rooney said. ''You always enjoy a 4-1 victory, especially after what Croatia did to us in the last qualifying campaign.''

England leads Group 6 on goal difference ahead of Ukraine, which beat Kazakhstan 3-1. Serhiy Nazarenko scored two goals and Andriy Shevchenko added the other. Belarus won 3-1 at Andorra.

Tomas Danilevicius scored twice as Lithuania took charge of Group 7 with a 2-0 victory over Austria that maintains its perfect record.

France and Romania achieved their first wins in the group.

Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka scored second-half goals in France's 2-1 win over Serbia.

Henry gave France the lead in the 54th minute, and Anelka added another 10 minutes later. Branislav Ivanovic headed a goal back for Serbia in the 76th after France again failed to properly defend a corner.

''I am relieved to know that this team could do what I expected of it,'' Domenech said. ''I think to have won is already not bad.

We confirmed we have a team that can play football well, show something, create and chase the opposition down.''

Razvan Cocis gave Romania a 1-0 win at the Faeroe Islands.

David Villa scored two goals for Spain, while Joan Capdevila and Marcos

Senna added the others to stretch the team's unbeaten streak to 25 games.

Zvjezdan Misimovic scored a hat trick in Bosnia's 7-0 victory over Estonia.

Spain leads the group with six points, two more than Turkey and Belgium, which drew 1-1.

In Group 3, Northern Ireland held the Czech Republic to a 0-0 draw, Slovenia beat Slovakia 2-1, and Poland won 2-0 at San Marino.

Greece maintained its Group 2 lead with a 2-0 victory at Latvia, and Israel rallied to beat Moldova 2-1. Luxembourg produced the shock of the night, earning a 2-1 win at Switzerland.

The Netherlands opened its Group 9 campaign with John Heitinga and Rafael van der Vaart scoring in a 2-1 win at Macedonia.

Kirk Broadfoot scored on his debut to lead 10-man Scotland to a 2-1 victory over Iceland. The Rangers fullback put the visitors ahead in the 18th minute, and Barry Robson added a second in the 59th.

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