© EuroFootball.com
On Tuesday, European teams played seven friendly matches on World football fields. Ukraine, preparing for the final tournament of the World Cup that will take place in Germany this summer, unexpectedly failed to beat Azerbaijan away, while in the international tournament in Cyprus, Greece, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, and Romania celebrated victories.
Ukraine, the future opponent of Lithuania in the 2008 European Championship qualifying matches, met Azerbaijan away. In the first match after the break for the World Cup draw that took place in December, Ukrainian leader Andriy Shevchenko's team in the city of Baku failed to defeat the hosts and the match ended goalless.
Bosnia and Herzegovina played against future World Championship participant Japan away and a lively match ended in a 2-2 draw. Just before the break, Naohiro Takahara put the Japanese ahead, but in the middle of the second half Zvjezdan Misimovic equalized from the penalty spot, and Emir Spahic scored the second Bosnian goal soon after. However, the hosts managed to snatch a draw in the last minute with team captain Hidetoshi Nakata.
At London's Loftus Road Stadium, another participant of the 2006 World Cup Trinidad and Tobago forced Iceland to suffer a defeat for the fifth consecutive match. Veteran Dwight Yorke scored both goals for the winning team.
A friendly tournament with eight teams started in Cyprus: in the first group, the only debutant Giorgios Samaras scored a goal as former European champion Greece defeated Belarus. Kazakhstan won against Finland after a penalty shootout, while Romania overcame Armenia with a two-goal advantage in the second group. Slovenia celebrated a late victory against Cyprus.
On Wednesday, all remaining 13 European teams participating in the World Cup will play friendly matches. One of the most interesting games will take place in Florence, where Italy will play against the German team. World champions Brazil, without their main star Ronaldinho, will play against Russia in Moscow, England will meet Uruguay, Argentina will face Croatia, and Spain's opponent will be Ivory Coast.
Results of Tuesday's friendly matches:
Azerbaijan 0 - 0 Ukraine
Japan 2 - 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina
45` [1 - 0] Naohiro Takahara
56` [1 - 1] Zvjezdan Misimovic (pen.)
64` [1 - 2] Emir Spahic
90` [2 - 2] Hidetoshi Nakata
Cyprus 0 - 1 Slovenia
85` [0 - 1] Zlatan Ljubljankic
Finland 0 - 0 Kazakhstan
(penalty shootout 1-3)
78` Jonatan Johansson (Finland) sent off
Romania 2 - 0 Armenia
72` [1 - 0] Vasile Maftei
87` [2 - 0] Razvan Cocis
Greece 1 - 0 Belarus
15` [1 - 0] Giorgios Samaras
Trinidad and Tobago 2 - 0 Iceland
10` [1 - 0] Dwight Yorke
52` [2 - 0] Dwight Yorke (pen.)
