England, Germany, Netherlands Win Opening World Cup Qualifiers

14:43, 9 September 2012

LONDON. September 9. KAZINFORM England beat Moldova 5-0, while Germany and the Netherlands both won at home, as European qualifying for the 2014 soccer World Cup began.

Frank Lampard scored twice as England won in Group 8. Germany beat the Faroe Islands 3-0 in Group 3 and the Netherlands defeated Turkey 2-0 in Group 4.

The top teams from each of the nine European groups qualify for the World Cup in Brazil, with the best eight runners-up going into a playoff for the remaining four slots, Kazinform has learnt from Bloomberg.

Lampard gave England a 2-0 lead after 29 minutes in Moldova and Jermain Defoe added a goal before halftime. James Milner and Leighton Baines scored after the break.

Poland and Montenegro drew 2-2 in the other group match, with each team having a player ejected.

Mesut Ozil scored twice to lead Germany over the Faroe Islands in Hannover. Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle scored in the final three minutes to give Ireland a 2-1 win in Kazakhstan in the other Group 3 game.

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