Spain made to work for win

David Villa saved his own blushes with a clinical second-half goal as European Champion Spain began its World Cup qualifying campaign in Group Five with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Murcia.

Villa made amends for a missed first-half penalty with a pinpoint finish just before the hour mark as Spain picked up a three-point haul in Vicente del Bosque's first competitive match in charge.

Turkey also strolled to victory in Group Five with a 2-0 win over neighbour Armenia.

Armenia shot itself in the foot when it allowed Tuncay Sanli to score from close range before a defensive mistake let in Semih Senturk 12 minutes from time.

Belgium and Estonia might be odds on to finish at the bottom of the pile but they played out a thrilling encounter which resulted in a 3-2 victory for Belgium.

Wesley Sonck put the hosts ahead five minutes from half-time before Sergei Zeniov equalised for Estonia, which has never reached a World Cup finals, 12 minutes after the break.

But Steven Defour restored Belgium's advantage in the 75th minute and Sonck's second of the game four minutes later all but secured the points for the hosts.

Andres Oper's last-minute effort for Estonia set up a tense finale but Belgium clung on to give it hope of making its first major finals since 2002.

In Group Six, Croatia shook off speculation about the future of coach Slaven Bilic to get its World Cup qualifying campaign up and running with a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan.

Goals from Niko Kovac, Luka Modric and substitute Mladen Petric did the trick for Croatia, who will now be full of confidence heading into Wednesday's (UK time) clash with England.

In Barcelona, Joe Cole came off the bench to spare Fabio Capello's blushes as England finally overcame minnow Andorra 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium.

Two goals from the former West Ham player in the space of six minutes early in the second half eased the frustration of the players and supporters after an uninspiring first 45 minutes.

Earlier, Ukraine laboured to a last-gasp 1-0 win over neighbour Belarus in Lviv courtesy of a stoppage-time penalty from striker Andriy Shevchenko.

Ottmar Hitzfeld's first competitive game in charge of Switzerland ended in a 2-2 draw with Israel after late strikes from Yossi Benayoun and Ben Sahar completed a remarkable comeback by the host at the Ramat Gan stadium in Group Two.

Goals from Hakan Yakin and Blaise N'Kufo looked to have sealed victory for the Swiss but Benayoun gave Israel hope in the 73rd minute before substitute Sahar fired the equaliser in stoppage time.

Greece bounced back from its own Euro 2008 embarrassment to ease past Luxembourg 3-0.

Goals from Vassilios Torosidis, Tehofanis Gekas and Angelos Charisteas completed a simple win from Otto Rehhagel's men at the Josy-Barthel Stadium.

Latvia was the other victor in Group Two as early strikes from Girt Karlsons and Vitalijs Astafjevs gave it a 2-1 win over Moldova at the Sheriff Sports Complex.

Substitute Serghei Alexeev netted in the 76th minute to ensure a tense finish, but Aleksandrs Starkovs' men held on to record a valuable win.

Antonio di Natale struck a last-gasp winner to help world champion Italy sink unlucky Cyprus 2-1 in its opening Group Eight qualifier in Larnaca.

The Udinese striker put Marcello Lippi's team ahead in the eighth minute but the Cypriots restored parity on the half-hour mark through Stathis Aloneftis.

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