Liverpool stars hit the headlines across Europe this week thanks to their dazzling performances for their countries.
Friday night saw Steven Gerrard named Man of the Match in the first ever England international at the new Wembley Stadium. Gerrard played phenomenally in the centre of the park as England were held to a 1-1 draw by Brazil. Jamie Carragher started at right-back for Steve McLaren’s side, but yet again on the international stage, failed to impress. Nothing to do with him being played out of position, surely??
Craig Bellamy couldn’t find the back of the net for Wales as they said goodbye to captain Ryan Giggs in a goalless draw with the Czech Republic at the Millennium Stadium. Bellamy will now take over as Wales captain following Giggs’ retirement from international football.
In Oslo, John Arne Riise scored Norway’s fourth in a 4-0 demolition of Malta in their Euro 2008 qualifier.
After falling 3-0 behind at home to Sweden within the first 30 minutes of their Euro 2008 qualifier, Daniel Agger scored on 34minutes began a remarkable comeback for the Danes. The match ended in controversy though when, after Denmark had pulled it back to 3-3, referee Herbert Fandel sent off Danish defender Christian Poulson. Fandel was then attacked by a fan on the pitch and subsequently abandoned to match prematurely. A UEFA investigation will be launched to decide the outcome of the game. Sweden could be awarded a 3-0 victory.
Dirk Kuyt played a part in Holland’s 2-0 victory in a friendly against South Korea in Seoul. Hamburg’s Rafael van der Vaart was on target with both goal for the Dutch.
There was disappointment for Sami Hyypia as Finland suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Serbia.
And Javier Mascherano played in Argentina’s 1-1 friendly draw with Switzerland. Reported Reds target Carlos Tevez scored Argentina’s goal.
This Wednesday sees more action from the Euro 2008 qualifiers with England in action away to Estonia. The full fixture list is:
Andorra v Israel
Armenia v Poland
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Malta
Bulgaria v Belarus
Croatia v Russia
Estonia v England
Faroe Islands v Scotland
Finland v Belgium
France v Georgia
Germany v Slovakia
Greece v Moldova
Kazakhstan v Azerbaijan
Latvia v Denmark
Liechtenstein v Spain
Lithuania v Italy
Luxembourg v Albania
Norway v Hungary
Romania v Slovenia
Sweden v Iceland
Ecuador v Peru
Mexico v Paraguay
Thailand v Netherlands
Ukraine v New Zealand
This Is Anfield would also like to take this opportunity to send our condolences out to the families of the twelve fans who died following Zambia’s 3-0 victory over Congo this weekend. You’ll Never Walk Alone.
