Euro 2012 Qualifying Review

England, Spain and Holland all kicked off their Euro 2012 campaigns with impressive victories.

Jermain Defoe relieved some of the gloom after England's dismal World Cup by netting a hat-trick in the 4-0 victory over Bulgaria in the opening Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley. The Tottenham striker lifted the 73,000 crowd by netting after only three minutes and added a second just after the hour mark. Substitute Adam Johnson made sure of the points in the 83rd minute before Defoe completed his treble four minutes from time.

Wayne Rooney helped to set up all four goals, and Defoe paid tribute to his strike partner after the game.

Belarus made it a dismal night for France as new coach Laurent Blanc saw his team slump to a 1-0 defeat in Paris. It was a grim night for France at the outset of the Euro 2012 qualification campaign, after a woeful World Cup effort earlier in the summer. They failed to take their chances and then saw substitute Sergey Kisliak seize a match-winning opportunity in the 86th minute.

Striker Louis Saha made his return to national team favour as a second-half substitute in the Group D clash but had to be replaced himself after just 10 minutes on the pitch, due to injury. A Stade de France crowd of 76,395 jeered Blanc's players as they left the pitch.

Bosnia-Herzegovina joined Belarus on three points with a 3-0 win over Luxembourg.All the goals came early, with Senijad Ibricic scoring a sixth-minute opener, Miralem Pjanic adding a second six minutes later and Edin Dzeko making quite sure of the points on the quarter-hour mark.

The other group game surprisingly finished in a draw, with Romania held 1-1 at home by Albania. Substitute Bogdan Stancu ended Romania's wait for a goal in the 80th minute, only for Gjergj Muzaka, who came off the Albania bench with nine minutes remaining, to grab an 88th-minute equaliser.

Group H favourites Portugal were held to a 4-4 draw by Cyprus in Guimaraes. First-half goals from Efstathios Aloneftis and Michael Constantinou for Cyprus were cancelled out by Portugal's Hugo Almeida and Raul Meireles, the new Liverpool midfielder. The home team then led through Danny and Manuel Fernandes in the second period, but Yiannis Okkas and Andreas Avraam, who scored the eighth goal of the match in the 88th minute, drew Cyprus level and earned them an unexpected point.

In the same group, Norway staged a fine second-half comeback to beat Iceland 2-1. Egil Olsen's side went behind shortly before half-time in Reykjavik when veteran QPR striker Heidar Helguson scored for Iceland. But captain Brede Hangeland showed his team the way with a headed equaliser after 58 minutes, and Mohammed Abdellaoue hit the winner 17 minutes later.

World champions Spain began the defence of their title with a thumping 4-0 win over outclassed Liechtenstein in Vaduz. Fernando Torres struck twice while David Villa and substitute David Silva were also on the scoresheet as the world's top-ranked side, who this summer added the World Cup to the European crown they won two years ago, kicked off their latest qualifying campaign in impressive style.

Vicente del Bosque's side, who have now won 52 of 57 matches since 2006, scored two brilliant goals in the first half through Torres and Villa but could have had many more after cutting open the home defence time and again.

Elsewhere, Italy came from behind with two second-half goals to snatch a 2-1 away win at Estonia in Group C. Antonio Cassano equalised on the hour mark before setting up Leonardo Bonucci three minutes later for Italy's second. Sergei Zenjov had put Estonia into a 31st-minute lead and the home side were unlucky not to add to their advantage when Sander Puri's right-footed strike beat Italy goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu but hit the crossbar and stayed out. The result marks Italy's first win in 2010 and gives new coach Cesare Prandelli his maiden victory with the Azzurri since replacing Marcello Lippi.

Also in Group C, Serbia kicked off with a routine 3-0 victory over the Faroe Islands. Danko Lazovic set the visitors on their way after 13 minutes and when captain Dejan Stankovic doubled their advantage five minutes later it looked like Brian Kerr's hosts could be in for a torrid evening. But Gunnar Nielsen, on loan at Tranmere from Manchester City, was beaten just once more - by Birmingham new boy Nikola Zigic in the 90th minute.

World Cup runners-up Holland began their campaign with a comprehensive 5-0 rout of Group E minnows San Marino. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted a hat-trick and Ruud van Nistelrooy was on target on his international return after Dirk Kuyt had opened the scoring. Kuyt converted a 16th-minute penalty after Huntelaar had been brought down in the box. Huntelaar, who joined Schalke from AC Milan last week, added a second after 38 minutes as the Dutch, who suffered a 1-0 extra-time defeat to Spain in July's World Cup final in Johannesburg, took a 2-0 half-time lead. Huntelaar netted again after 48 minutes and completed his treble after 67 minutes before substitute Van Nistelrooy struck in stoppage time at the Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle.

Elsewhere in the group, Pontus Wernbloom's first international goals helped Sweden to a comfortable 2-0 home win over Hungary. The 24-year-old was a regular scorer for IFK Gothenburg before departing to join Dutch outfit AZ 15 months ago, but he had not showcased that form in the Sweden shirt until tonight. On his ninth appearance for his country, Wernbloom put Sweden in front after 51 minutes and then guaranteed three points in Solna by netting again after 73.

Moldova took full advantage of Finland captain Sami Hyypia's first-half dismissal to complete a 2-0 victory. Bayer Leverkusen defender Hyypia was sent off after 36 minutes and Moldova made their visitors pay for their numerical disadvantage in the second half. Substitute Alexandru Suvorov struck the opener after 69 minutes before Anatolie Doros added a second after 74 minutes to complete the victory.

Miroslav Klose's goal was enough to give Germany a winning start in Brussels. The Bayern Munich striker scored six minutes into the second half as Joachim Low's side edged out Belgium 1-0 in Group A. In a tight game there were chances for both teams early on, but Belgium could not find a way past Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and paid the price. Germany scored with the first attack of the second half as Thomas Muller's ball found Klose for a simple finish.

Turkey cruised to a 3-0 victory in their qualifier in Kazakhstan. Two goals in three minutes from Arda Turan and Hamit Altintop had them in control midway through the first half, and Nihat Kahveci made sure of the three points 14 minutes from time. With Guus Hiddink in charge for the first time, Turkey looked assured as they overpowered their hosts. Turkey needed little time to take control of the game, and had already gone close a couple of times before Turan put them in front in the 24th minute with a close-range strike. Two minutes later, Altintop all but ended the game as a contest as he volleyed home. Were it not for wayward shooting, Turkey might have added more but they would get a third late on when Turan's long pass found Kahveci and he rounded the goalkeeper before slotting home.

Russia were indebted to Pavel Pogrebniak as the striker's double got their Group B campaign off to a 2-0 winning start in Andorra. A strong start saw the eastern Europeans take a 14th-minute lead with a well-worked goal. However, Andorra succeeded in roughing their opponents up at the Estadi Comunal and it was not until the 64th minute that Russia secured some breathing space through Pogrebniak's penalty.

Filip Holosko's stoppage-time strike ensured Slovakia a winning start at the expense of 10-man FYR Macedonia. Vladimir Weiss' side had the better of the chances but could not make the breakthrough until the 91st minute. Slaven Bilic saw his Croatia side cruise to a comfortable 3-0 win over Latvia as they opened their Group F campaign in Riga. Hamburg striker Mladen Petric opened the scoring shortly before half-time and Bayern Munich's Ivica Olic doubled the lead six minutes after the break before Shakhtar Donetsk's Darijo Srna completed the scoring. Croatia dominated from the off and had several chances before finally taking the lead two minutes before half-time. Tottenham midfielder Niko Kranjcar had several opportunities before Petric netted just before the break. Bayern Munich's Olic added the second goal after 51 minutes and Srna also netted with eight minutes remaining to wrap up the three points for the visitors.

Elsewhere in the section, Greece drew 1-1 with Georgia after Nikos Spyropoulos earned them a point with a second half equaliser. Alexander Iashvili had given the visitors the lead after three minutes but Spyropoulos levelled with 18 minutes remaining.