England, Spain qualify for the World Cup
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They became the second and third European nations to qualify for soccer’s 2010 World Cup in South Africa on Wednesday and they achieved their aim by vastly different routes.
England brushed aside Croatia, 5-1, at Wembley Stadium in London, where Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard each scored twice and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney grabbed the fifth goal.
The Galaxy’s David Beckham came on for the final 10 minutes to add another cap to his already huge stack of headgear.
In Madrid, meanwhile, European champion Spain made hard work of defeating Estonia before prevailing, 3-0, at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on an early goal by Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas and two goals in the final 11 minutes by Villarreal’s Santi Cazorla and Valencia’s Juan Mata.
The English and Spanish thus joined the Dutch in the June 11-July 11 world championship. The Netherlands on Wednesday ended Scottish hopes of qualifying by winning, 1-0, at Hampden Park in Glasgow on a late goal by Hamburg SV’s Eljero Elia.
Elsewhere, Bahrain advanced to a home-and-home playoff against New Zealand by tying Saudi Arabia, 2-2, in Riyadh after a scoreless tie in Bahrain.
Group leaders Italy, Germany and Slovakia all won to stay on course for a World Cup berth, while Portugal and France stayed alive with a win and a tie, respectively.
-- Grahame L. Jones