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During the break of international matches, most European countries played friendly matches to prepare for the World Championship qualifying matches in September. Only four national teams that participated in V. Lobanovsky's tournament played two matches each, while other teams played a total of 24 matches.
In the tournament held in Ukraine and named in honor of former coach V. Lobanovsky, on the first day, Poland defeated Serbia and Montenegro after a beautiful and fluctuating battle, while the host team lost to Israel after an 11-meter penalty shootout. In the final on Wednesday, Poland defeated Israel by the same result of 3-2 as the day before, while Ukraine forced their future Lithuanian opponents, Serbia, to accept a second consecutive defeat.
Another Lithuanian opponent in Group 7 of the qualifiers, Bosnia and Herzegovina, suffered a painful defeat to Estonia with a minimal advantage in an away match. Another opponent of ours, Spain, defeated Uruguay 2-0 at home, while Belgium also won against Greece with the same score.
The English national team suffered a painful defeat in Denmark, losing 4-1 to the home team after a tragically played last hour, experiencing their biggest failure since the 1980s. Goals were scored by D. Rommedahl, J.D. Tomasson, M. Gravgaard, and S. Larsen for the Danish team, while W. Rooney scored a consolation goal for the visitors.
The intriguing match between eternal rivals from Western Europe ended in a draw - playing at home, the Netherlands led 2-0 thanks to A. Robben's two goals, but the difference was softened by M. Ballack. Later, with nine minutes left in the match, G. Asamoah scored to level the score.
World champion Brazil played a 1-1 draw with Croatia thanks to a great penalty kick by Ricardinho, Ireland lost 1-2 at home to Italy, Hungary had to admit defeat to Argentina with the same result, and inspired by Z. Zidane's return, France crushed Ivory Coast 3-0. Sweden defeated the Czech Republic 2-1, Bulgaria defeated Turkey, and Portugal forced Egypt to surrender.
Friendly match results
Tuesday Poland 3 - 2 Serbia and Montenegro Ukraine 0 - 0 Israel (11m. penalties 3-5)
Wednesday Lithuania 1 - 0 Belarus Ukraine 2 - 1 Serbia and Montenegro Hungary 1 - 2 Argentina Estonia 1 - 0 Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania 2 - 1 Azerbaijan Bulgaria 3 - 1 Turkey Norway 0 - 2 Switzerland Poland 3 - 2 Israel Denmark 4 - 1 England Malta 1 - 1 Northern Ireland Belgium 2 - 0 Greece Sweden 2 - 1 Czech Republic Wales 0 - 0 Slovenia Austria 2 - 2 Scotland Netherlands 2 - 2 Germany Ireland 1 - 2 Italy France 3 - 0 Ivory Coast Croatia 1 - 1 Brazil Jordan 0 - 0 Armenia Spain 2 - 0 Uruguay Iceland 4 - 1 South Africa Portugal 2 - 0 Egypt
