D Thursday, March 4, 2010 SPORT 27 GOLF(until Sunday) EuropeanTour:MaybankMalaysian Open(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) USPGATour:TheHondaClassic: (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. US) HORSERACING Ludlow, Taunton, Southwell, Wolverhampton, Clonmel FIXTURES INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIEs Albania.............1 NIreland.......... 0 Skela 26 England............3 Egypt............... 1 Crouch 56, 80 Zidan 23 Wright-Phillips 75 Scotland..........1 CzechRep...... 0 Brown 62 Wales...............0 Sweden........... 1 Elmander 44 EuROpEAN uNDER-21 chAmpIONshIp quALIFyINg gROup 2 RepofIre.........? Armenia........... ? Daly 80 Hayrapetyan 34 Ghazaryan 40 Georgia............2 Estonia............ 0 P W D L F A Pts Switzerland 7 5 1 1 14 6 16 Turkey 6 3 1 2 10 9 10 Estonia 7 2 3 2 6 8 9 Georgia 6 2 2 2 8 5 8 Armenia 7 2 1 4 11 14 7 Rep of Ireland 7 0 4 3 6 13 4 RESULTS Worthington woes mount Ervin SkElaS magnificent first -half free-kick handed albania a deserved victory home over northern ireland in Tirana. Skela fired home the only goal after 25 minutes to leave nigel Worthingtons side without a win in their last seven matches. ALBANIA 1 NIRELAND 0 Crouch to rescue for England PETEr CrouCh stepped up his claims for a major role in Fabio Capellos World Cup plans with two goals as England came from behind to defeat Egypt 3-1 at Wembley. The Tottenham striker took his goal tally for his country to 20 in 37 games after replacing club-mate Jermaine Defoe at half-time when England trailed to Mohamed Zidans opener. Shaun Wright- Phillips also hit the target as England recovered from a poor first-half performance to run out comfortable winners. anyone who plays for England is going to feel under pressure, certainly in a World Cup year, Crouch said. You can only try to do your best. its up to the manager. ive given him something to think about tonight. ENgLAND3 Egypt1 SOCCER international Armenia leave hosts at rock bottom Clash:IrelandsCillianSheridan battlesArmeniasArturYuspash DON GIVENS Republic of Ireland Under-21s side are marooned at the foot of their European Championships qualifying group after suffering a home defeat at the hands of ten-man Armenia. First-half goals from Levon Hayrapetyan and Gevorg Ghazaryan at Tallaght Stadium were enough for the visitors to complete a double over Ireland despite substitute Ian Dalys 80th-minute strike. The Republic are now three points adrift at the bottom of Group 2 and without a win in their seven games to date. In a lively start, Hovannes Goharyan and Sean Scannell traded efforts on goal. Cillian Sheridan and Scannell also threatened while Darren Dennehy and Goharyan were both shown yellow cards in quick succession in a feisty contest. However, it was the visitors who took the lead when Hayrapetyan struck 11 minutes before the break and Ghazaryan made it 2-0 six minutes later. Given introduced Daly at the break and Sheridan and Alan Judge both went close as the half got under way. Armenia were reduced to ten men with 12 minutes remaining but held out to claim all three points. REpofIRELANDU-211 ARmENIAU-212 UEFA UndER-21 ChAmpIOnShIp Trap delighted as Ireland deliver promising display GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI believes his Re- public of Ireland side are beginning to grow as a team despite their 2-0 defeat by Brazil at the Emirates Stadium. The Irish missed out on a place at this sum- mers World Cup finals following their contro- versial play-off defeat by France, but produced a determined display against the five-time world champions to provide Trapattoni with many positives as they prepare for the European Championship campaign. An own goal from Blackburn midfielder Keith Andrews and a second-half strike from Man- chester City striker Robinho, now on loan at Santos, sealed victory for coach Dungas side. This team is growing very well, said Trapat- toni. In the first half or maybe one hour, I had that confirmed because we played well. We had confidence and had more possibili- ties to shoot on goal. They finished the first half 1-0 in front and it gave them the opportunity to play for the result. They had the advantage and it gave them strength about their quality. The Brazil team is great technically and in the second half we made it too easy. I saw many positives in individual performances and we have built a good team. In the last 30 minutes Brazil dominated the game and it was not possible for us to get a draw. We made a couple of mistakes and I saw the team lose confidence. We gave them space and it was not easy for us. Trapattoni insisted Newcastle striker Leon Best must not be too disappointed that he was relegated to the bench, despite being named in the side on Monday. Best was selected after Robbie Keane pulled out with a knee injury on Sunday, but Keane reported for duty after telling Trapattoni he was fit enough to join the squad the following day. The day before, Keane had a problem with his knee, explained the Italian. But he called me on Monday and said the knee was better. Growing pains: Irelands Kevin Doylefeels theeffects ofa challenge onLucio, butboss Giovanni Trapattoni believes the2-0 defeatin London showedhis sideare movingin theright direction Picture: AP By David Kennedy Gilberto: irish were perfect test ahead of World Cup ForMEr arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva believes the republic of ireland provided the perfect test as Brazil continued their preparations for the World Cup with a 2-0 friendly win at the Emirates Stadium. it was very hard and ireland gave us a lot of difficulties, said Gilberto. They marked us very tight and high up. however, in the second half we had some more space and could pass the ball with more fluency, which was how we scored the second goal. Gilberto, 33, added: it will be hard in South africa, but we will do our best. Coach Dungas squad kick off their 2010 campaign against north korea.Test:Gilberto REPUBLIC of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given never thought he would win three caps, let alone more than 100 but still holds on to the dream of eventually bowing out at another major tournament. The 33-year-old, along with veteran defender Kevin Kilbane, broke Steve Stauntons international appearance record when they featured against Brazil at Emirates Stadium in what was the first match since the controversial World Cup play-off defeat by France. While time may not be on his side to repeat the World Cup experience of 2002 in the Far East, Given believes the current squad have what it takes to put the disappointment behind them and reach the next European Championships. I never thought I would make three caps, no matter 103, said the Manchester City stopper, who made his first international appearance in 1996 against Russia. You can only go on how you are feeling at the time, and at the moment, I am feeling great. I would like to see another campaign through, and well see after that. Given said: I was just happy to get one [cap] to be honest, and I have to thank Mick McCarthy for giving me my debut. It was a great honour for myself and Kevin to have broken Steve Stauntons record... Paris was a real kick in the teeth, but you have got to bounce back. But we both think we can give something to the team to help qualify for the European Championships, he added. Given still dreaming of major finale Shay:Stillhaslotstogive index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html