Welbeck, who was let go of by Man U, scores both goals in English win
England forward Daniel Welbeck (left) scores his team's first goal against Switzerland's Granit Xhaka on during their Euro 2016 qualifying match at the St. Jakob-Park stadium in Basel on Monday. England won 2-0. (Photo: AFP)
Paris: A double by Danny Welbeck and Sergio Busquets’ first goal in 70 appearances helped England and Spain begin their respective Euro 2016 qualifying campaigns on a winning note and start putting behind them a forgettable World Cup finals.
The brace by Welbeck who was considered surplus to requirements by Louis van Gaal at Manchester United and offloaded to Arsenal last week saw England to a 2-0 win over Switzerland in Zurich while Busquets’ effort came in a 5-1 humbling of Macedonia.
There was however, not to be a memorable evening for Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he failed to mark his 100th appearance for his country with a goal in the 1-1 draw with Austria his only notable contribution a booking.
David Alaba opening the scoring for the hosts from the penalty spot his seventh goal for his country at the age of just 22 only for Turkish born forward Erkan Zengin to level. “I thought the way we approached the game from the first minute was exactly what we wanted, and we got our reward,” Hodgson told ITV.
Spain made short work of the Macedonians with aside from Busquets another notable scorer on the night being Paco Alcacer on his competitive international debut. It left their lugubrious coach Vicente del Bosque who survived the World Cup reverse licking his lips at the thought of a new beginning.
“We have started the competition with three points and the performance was very good. That is the most important thing. We have taken a step forward. We are starting a new era and hopefully there is much more to come,” said the 63-year-old, who coached the Spanish to the World Cup title in 2010 and the Euro 2012 trophy.
( Source : AFP )
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