POLAND handed Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni his first taste of defeat after a dramatic finish at Croke Park.
The visitors looked to be cruising to victory after Mariusz Lewandowski and substitute Roger Guerreiro had given them a 2-0 lead. But Ireland belatedly launched a fightback when subs Stephen Hunt from the penalty spot and Keith Andrews struck ei
ther side of Robert Lewandowski's effort inside an exciting last two minutes.
Northern Ireland, meanwhile, paid the price for some poor defending as they lost 2-0 to Hungary at Windsor Park. They were undone in the second half with Sandor Torghelle and Zoltan Gera both finding the target.
Of Scotland's World Cup opponents in action last night, Robin van Persie netted twice to steer the Netherlands to a 3-1 win over Sweden in Amsterdam. Dirk Kuyt headed a third in stoppage time to seal the win after Sweden pulled one back through Kim Kallstrom. Yevgen Seleznov scored a 26th-minute penalty as Ukraine beat Norway , who had John Arne Riise sent off, by a single goal. Heidar Helguson scored in the second half as Iceland scraped a 1-0 win in Malta, while Macedonia lost 2-1 in Montenegro.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi equalled the world record of 31 successive international games without defeat when his side drew 1-1 in a friendly with Greece in Athens. Luca Toni equalised five minutes after Fanis Gekas had put Greece ahead to take Lippi level with Spaniard Javier Clemente and former Argentina coach Alfio Basile. France failed to lift the pressure on manager Raymond Domenech as they were held to a goalless draw by Uruguay in Paris.
Spain ended a memorable year by beating Chile 3-0. David Villa, Fernando Torres and Santi Cazorla were the goalscorers.
The full article contains 305 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
