England captain John Terry’s header six minutes from time sealed a 2-1 win over Germany in Wednesday’s friendly at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium as Fabio Capello’s weakened team beat the Euro 2008 runners-up.
A first-half goal by West Ham’s Matthew Upson was canceled out by Bayer Leverkusen Patrick Helmes’ second-half equalizer following a mix-up in the England defense before Terry headed the winner in the closing stages.
Chelsea star Terry had been doubtful coming into the game after injuring his foot last weekend against West Brom, but the 27-year-old led from the front and scored the vital goal for his country.
“It was a good performance and the youngsters in the team have really given the manager some problems,” said Terry, whose goal inflicted Germany’s first defeat in Berlin since 1973.
The skipper also took the blame for Germany’s equalizer, which came after an embarrassing mix-up between him and substitute goalkeeper Scott Carson.
“I hold my hands up. I should have cleared it up. It wasn’t Scotty’s fault,” Terry said.
On a busy night of international soccer, world champions Italy had to come from behind to draw 1-1 with Greece, France’s stuttering form continued with a 0-0 draw in Paris against Uruguay, while European champions Spain signed off their memorable year with a 3-0 home success over Chile.
In Glasgow, Diego Maradona’s first match as head coach of Argentina resulted in a 1-0 win against Scotland.
The Netherlands were impressive 3-1 winners over Sweden in Amsterdam, with Arsenal star Robin van Persie scoring twice before Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt headed in the third goal in the second minute of injury time.
Middlesbrough’s Tuncay Sanli grabbed a hat-trick as Turkey beat Austria 4-2 in Vienna.
Craig Bellamy gave Wales a 1-0 win in Denmark, but both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland suffered home defeats to Hungary and Poland respectively.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later