LONDON - England crashed to a 0-2 defeat by the Netherlands yesterday as their World Cup qualifying rivals Germany swept to a 5-2 victory over Hungary during a hectic night of international soccer friendlies across Europe.
World Cup-holders France cruised to a 1-0 victory over Denmark in Nantes, with Arsenal's Robert
Pires scoring the winner with a superb 10th-minute strike from 20m that flashed in off the post.
Real Madrid's Luis Figo bagged a hat-trick, two of the goals coming from the penalty spot, as Euro 2000 semifinalists Portugal comfortably beat visiting Moldova 3-0.
The Dutch, who are aiming to move up from third place behind the Portuguese in group two, will have secured just the morale-booster they needed before facing leaders Ireland in Dublin on September 1.
Mick McCarthy's side drew 2-2 with Croatia at Lansdowne Rd, after squandering a 2-0 lead with less than 15m to go.
The omens are not good for England after Sven Goran Eriksson's run of five consecutive wins since being appointed coach last October came to a juddering halt at White Hart Lane.
Mark Van Bommel put the Netherlands ahead in the 38th minute with a stunning, outswinging shot from 35m that gave goalkeeper Nigel Martyn no chance. And it was 2-0 just a minute later when Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert found Boudewijn Zenden.
Martyn failed to hold the new Chelsea midfielder's shot and Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy reacted quickly to steer home the rebound. Van Nistelrooy also hit the crossbar.
Eriksson made eight changes for the second half, his rival Louis Van Gaal settling for five, but within a minute the England boss was forced into two more as goalkeeper David James and Martin Keown both went off injured.
With youngsters Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard together in central midfield and Michael Owen and Nick Barmby full of running, England looked more purposeful but were still unable to make any impression - although Owen blazed over the bar in injury time after a clean break.
England, who are six points behind the Germans, were using the match as preparation for their World Cup qualifying clash on September 1 in Munich, against the Euro 96 winners.
England need to win that game to have any chance of finishing top of the group to qualify automatically for next year's finals. They will need a huge improvement on yesterday's performance.
Germany's goals came from Jurgen Bohme, Sebastian Kehl, Carsten Jancker, Frank Baumann and Oliver Bierhoff as they cruised to victory in Budapest, ruining the Hungarian Football Association's centenary celebrations.
In the night's only World Cup qualifiers, group one hopefuls Yugoslavia beat Faroe Islands 2-0 in Belgrade.
Jevgeni Novikov's equaliser two minutes into injury time earned Estonia a 2-2 draw with visiting Cyprus in group two.
- AGENCIES
LONDON - England crashed to a 0-2 defeat by the Netherlands yesterday as their World Cup qualifying rivals Germany swept to a 5-2 victory over Hungary during a hectic night of international soccer friendlies across Europe.
World Cup-holders France cruised to a 1-0 victory over Denmark in Nantes, with Arsenal's Robert
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