Impressive Italy edge out England

Italy and Spain got the better of England and Germany respectively in hard-fought Under-21 friendly contests tonight.

Precise header
David Platt's England team, especially goalkeeper Matt Murray, kept hosts Italy at bay until the 75th minute in Carrara but were powerless to stop Marco Borriello from finally finding the net. The Empoli FC forward, on loan from AC Milan, scored with a precise header after an excellent left-wing cross from Giuseppe Sculli.

Goal at last
Borriello was delighted to be the hero, after being given a chance in the starting lineup by coach Claudio Gentile. "It's good to score because I haven't in a long time. We fought hard tonight and deserved the victory. I am sure that we can achieve great results in the future."

Constant threat
Despite going a goal behind early on, the Spanish finished 3-1 winners against the Germans in Sa Pobla, Mallorca. Benjamin Auer headed the visitors into an early lead but it was not long before Spain were back on terms. They looked particularly dangerous going forward with the partnership of Fernando Torres and José Reyes a constant threat.

Victory complete
Sevilla FC forward Reyes equalised in the eleventh minute before turning provider four minutes later to set up local favourite Alberto Riera. Victory was completed by a Julio Alvarez penalty before half-time and Germany were unable to find a way back past an organised home defence.

Repeat of final
France regained some lost pride with a 1-0 victory against the Czech Republic in Caen. The match was a repeat of last May's UEFA European Under-21 Championship final when the Czechs won on penalties after a goalless match. This time around, Le Havre AC's promising forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle scored the only goal after 24 minutes.

Scots happy
Another closely-fought contest saw Scotland beat the Republic of Ireland 2-0, with a goal in each half from Celtic FC's Shaun Maloney and Simon Lynch. Northern Ireland were 3-1 winners at home against Finland but it was a dramatic finish. The Finns equalised in the 87th minute only for the Northern Irish to add another two goals before full time through Lee McEvilly and Terry McFlynn.

Yurin double
Other U21 action tonight saw Malta suffer a surprise 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan. The visitors took full advantage of an early injury to home goalkeepr Justin Haber and showed some good technical play. Rinat Abdulin gave them the lead just before half-time before a second-half double from Igor Yurin.

Happy hosts
Turkey's youngsters will be particularly delighted with a 4-2 home win against their counterparts from Ukraine, especially after trailing as early as the eighth minute, while Portugal were another happy home side after seeing off a strong Switzerland side with a 2-1 win in Faro.