Soccer: Green out as England beaten

Australia's Lucas Neill, right, tussles with Stylianos Giannakopolous of Greece. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - England suffered a double blow in their build-up to the World Cup finals yesterday when goalkeeper Robert Green, playing for England B, suffered a serious thigh injury during a 2-1 defeat by 10-man Belarus at Reading.

Jermaine Jenas, of Tottenham Hotspur, put England ahead in the 35th minute but Vitaly Kutuzov struck a freak equaliser five minutes after the break when Green, England's third-choice keeper, collapsed with a suspected groin tear as he took a goal-kick. The miscued kick went straight to the Belarus forward who, with Green on the floor, sent the ball into an empty net.

Green, a second-half substitute for David James, was carried off.

England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, who will today hear whether Wayne Rooney will be fit enough to play in the finals, confirmed Green would almost certainly miss the tournament, with Liverpool's Scott Carson stepping in.

Belarus were reduced to 10 men in the 73rd minute after Sergei Omelyanchuk was sent off - but Sergei Kornilenko scored an 80th-minute winner for the visitors.

Eriksson played up the positives. He was pleased by Michael Owen's return to first-team action after a five-month metatarsal injury.

He was also delighted that others coming back from injury, such as defenders Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell, played the full 90 minutes.

Untried Arsenal striker Theo Walcott had a patchy debut, coming off the bench for the last half hour. But 19-year-old winger Aaron Lennon stole the show with his searing pace. His marker was substituted at half time and replacement Omelyanchuk sent off for a poor tackle on the Tottenham youngster.

Australia beat European champions Greece 1-0 in front of a record 95,000 crowd for a soccer match at the MCG in a rousing send-off to their first World Cup finals for 32 years.

Josip Skoko's stunning 15th-minute volley was the difference between the sides, cheered on by a huge contingent from Melbourne's large Greek community.

Coach Guus Hiddink said there was still much work to be done if Australia were to be competitive in a group containing world champions Brazil, Croatia and Japan.

"The first half was good but in the second we lost focus, which is a worry," he said.

In Gothenburg, Sweden, without several first-choice players, were held to a goalless draw by Finland in their penultimate warm-up match.

It was yet another lacklustre show by the Swedes, drawn in England's opening group.

Germany captain Michael Ballack is struggling for fitness. The new Chelsea midfielder was forced out of another warm-up encounter after sustaining an ankle injury. Ballack, who will hopefully lead the hosts in the opening match against Costa Rica on June 10, was hurt in a practice match against Germany's under-18 team.

France coach Raymond Domenech said tempers had flared in his team's camp on Thursday, with reserve goalkeeper Gregory Coupet storming out after a dispute over rival Fabien Barthez. "There was indeed a problem," said Domenech, who made veteran Barthez his first choice ahead of Coupet.

Coupet initially packed his bags before returning to the camp in the French Alpine resort of Tignes.

Spain coach Luis Aragones held a training session behind closed doors after loud criticism from dissatisfied fans. Aragones has been under fire for leaving out striker Fernando Morientes, who yesterday left Liverpool to join Spanish club Valencia for an undisclosed fee.

To add to Aragones' woes, Chelsea defender Asier del Horno's chances of playing in Germany hung in the balance after he picked up an ankle injury.

The Czech Republic suffered a setback when it was revealed that there was a delay in midfielder Vladimir Smicer's recovery from a leg injury.

The former Liverpool player had a blood clot in his thigh and team doctor Jiri Fousek was quoted as saying: "lasers, draining, special bandages - we're trying everything possible to get Vladimir fit".

- REUTERS