Ghana warm up for England friendly with convincing victory over Congo
• The Black Stars top Group I of Africa Cup of Nations
• Ivory Coast beat Benin with two goals from Didier Drogba
Agencies
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 March 2011 23.34 BST <li class="history">Article history
Sunderland's Sulley Muntari was on the scoresheet as Ghana beat Congo in Brazzaville. Photograph: Michael Mayhew England's next opponents, Ghana, recorded a convincing 3–0 away win over Congo in their Africa Cup of Nations Group I fixture in Brazzaville.
Goals from Prince Tagoe, Dominic Adiyiah and Sulley Muntari mean the Black Stars now top their group thanks to a superior goal difference over Sudan, who beat Swaziland by the same scoreline.
Tagoe struck for Ghana after five minutes and his Partizan Belgrade team-mate Adiyiah doubled the lead after 26. Muntari, who is on loan at Sunderland from Internazionale, came off the bench in the second half to seal victory for Africa's top-ranked team.
It was a second win in three qualifying games for the visitors, who face England at Wembley on Tuesday night.
In Group H Didier Drogba scored twice as Ivory Coast beat Benin 2-1 in Accra. The The Chelsea striker cancelled out Séïdah Tchomogo's opener for the visitors, then grabbed the winner after latching on to a pass from Kader Keïta as the Elephants maintained their 100% record after three games.
The win means that Ivory Coast are now five points clear of Benin at the top of the group.
Ghana warm up for England friendly with convincing victory over Congo
The Black Stars top Group I of Africa Cup of Nations
Ivory Coast beat Benin with two goals from Didier Drogba
Agencies
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 March 2011 23.34 BST <li class="history">Article history
Sunderland's Sulley Muntari was on the scoresheet as Ghana beat Congo in Brazzaville. Photograph: Michael Mayhew England's next opponents, Ghana, recorded a convincing 30 away win over Congo in their Africa Cup of Nations Group I fixture in Brazzaville.
Goals from Prince Tagoe, Dominic Adiyiah and Sulley Muntari mean the Black Stars now top their group thanks to a superior goal difference over Sudan, who beat Swaziland by the same scoreline.
Tagoe struck for Ghana after five minutes and his Partizan Belgrade team-mate Adiyiah doubled the lead after 26. Muntari, who is on loan at Sunderland from Internazionale, came off the bench in the second half to seal victory for Africa's top-ranked team.
It was a second win in three qualifying games for the visitors, who face England at Wembley on Tuesday night.
In Group H Didier Drogba scored twice as Ivory Coast beat Benin 2-1 in Accra. The The Chelsea striker cancelled out Séïdah Tchomogo's opener for the visitors, then grabbed the winner after latching on to a pass from Kader Keïta as the Elephants maintained their 100% record after three games.
The win means that Ivory Coast are now five points clear of Benin at the top of the group.
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 March 2011 22.30 BST <li class="history">Article history
Gareth Bale is expected to fit for Tottenham's Champions League game against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu next month. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images Raymond Verheijen has warned Tottenham Hotspur that Wales will not be a "pushover" when it comes to their handling of Gareth Bale. The Wales assistant manager said the hamstring injury that ruled Bale out of Saturday's game against England was picked up while the player was with Spurs and suggested that when players report for international duty they could undergo scans, in order to avoid disputes with clubs.
Verheijen, who was optimistic that Bale would be fit to face Real Madrid in Tottenham's Champions League quarter-final first leg, in Spain a week on Tuesday, said Wales had to be prepared to "show our teeth", to prevent clubs from trying to claim compensation for injuries that were present before they turned up.
Although there is no suggestion that Spurs are demanding compensation from the Football Association of Wales in relation to Bale's injury, their manager, Harry Redknapp, did claim last week that the 21-year-old had sustained the injury on international duty. Wales say that is not the case.
Asked about the possible necessity of scanning players, Verheijen said: "This is it exactly, especially as we had a few situations where clubs claimed compensation from the national team [in the past]."
Verheijen caused controversy last week when he was forced to clarify that he was not referring to Tottenham's treatment of Bale when he wrote "the incompetent amateurs struck again" on his Twitter page.
He said: "This week has [taught] us that, ideally and theoretically, we should scan all the players before they come here. This week has proven that, as some of the claims have been really big in the past."
Verheijen believes Wales did the right thing by issuing a statement confirming that a scan showed Bale had the injury at Spurs.
"We have good and experienced staff and we dealt with the situation [with Bale] very well because we felt that something was wrong – we sensed it," he said. "What happened was us protecting ourselves, as if you wake up and see on the television that Bale got injured with us in training, when he did not even train, then you have to act quickly and protect yourself as otherwise these things will be used against you.
"Also, if you want to be successful as a team both on and off the pitch, you have to show your teeth sometimes. You have to show the world and show everyone that you are not a pushover. Wales is a small country and it does not necessarily mean that we are a pushover. We have to show our teeth and make sure that everyone outside Wales takes us seriously. That is what we did this week."
Having stayed in Cardiff in the lead-up to the England match, Bale has returned to Spurs for treatment ahead of Saturday's Premier League fixture at Wigan and the Champions League tie at the Bernabéu. Although Verheijen refused to divulge details about the severity of Bale's injury, the Dutchman said he had a chance of featuring in both games.
"I know exactly about Bale's injury. But I am not going to tell you [the press] as it is none of our business. But for us it is clear. We assessed the situation and sent him for a scan and decided not to get him involved. It is in the hands of Spurs [now]. I think that he will be playing in the next seven or 10 days."
guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 March 2011 22.09 GMT <li class="history">Article history
Gareth McAuley, who opened the scoring for Northern Ireland is challenged by Serbia's Marko Pantelic, left. Photograph: Ivan Milutinovic/Reuters Northern Ireland's Euro 2012 qualification hopes took a heavy blow in Belgrade as they conceded twice in the second half to surrender a hard-earned lead against their Group C rivals Serbia.
Only some brave last-ditch defending stopped them going behind but when Gareth McAuley rose to head home Chris Brunt's cross in the 40th minute, a famous victory looked on the cards. But Serbia, playing in a near-deserted stadium as a result of crowd trouble during their away match against Italy, hit back through Marko Pantelic before Zoran Tosic drilled in the winner via a slight deflection.
With just four minutes gone Brunt attempted something spectacular, lashing an ambitious looping shot at goal from just inside the Serbia half. It was directed well enough to cause goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic a moment's hesitation but it continued harmlessly over.
Brkic twice flapped at set-pieces in the space of a minute, first Sammy Clingan's curling free-kick then Brunt's corner.
The West Brom man next tried his luck from 20 yards but, after showing good control, his low drive flew wide.
Serbia almost took the lead after 15 minutes, McAuley's last-gasp slide steering what looked a certain goal over the bar. Milos Krasic and Dejan Stankovic started the move on the right wing before the ball was cut back for Milan Bisevac, whose goalbound effort was brilliantly diverted by McAuley.
Northern Ireland somehow managed to get out of jail again after 22 minutes, Tosic jinking into the box before teeing up Adem Ljajic. With the goal again gaping, a combination of Aaron Hughes and McAuley smothered the danger. Hughes was in some discomfort having gone down with an apparent shoulder injury but he remained on the pitch after treatment.
An innocuous foul earned Brunt the chance to deliver a free-kick from the right flank five minutes before the interval and he found McAuley eight yards from goal. The Ipswich defender timed his jump well and aimed for the top corner, beating Brkic to send the 265 travelling fans into raptures.
Northern Ireland were close to a second in the 49th minute, David Healy and Brunt linking well before Johnny Gorman whipped in a cross from the left. Brunt was waiting in the centre but Neven Subotic deflected the ball wide of the post.
Camp ensured the lead remained at 1-0 when Jovanovic met a Krasic corner, heading powerfully at goal. The former England Under-21 international stood firm to beat the ball away.
Healy, occasionally a little off the pace, picked up a needless yellow card to rule himself out of Tuesday's clash with Slovenia. Pantelic swept home from eight yards after a flowing move involving Ninkovic and Jovanovic. The Liverpool man almost put the hosts ahead seconds later after finding space in the penalty box but he hesitated to shoot and the chance fell away. Northern Ireland were now looking in trouble every time Serbia attacked, their swagger finally returning.
The second goal came after 73 minutes, Stankovic charging towards the danger area before laying the ball to Tosic. The CSKA Moscow midfielder took a touch before rifling his shot into the near corner via a slight deflection off Craig Cathcart.
Having taken the lead, Serbia eased off a little but Northern Ireland could not take advantage as substitutes Paddy McCourt and Warren Feeney struggled to make an impression. PA