SPAIN striker Fernando Torres lasted less than 16 minutes of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Belgium after the Liverpool striker appeared to tweak a muscle in the back of his left leg during his country's 2-1 win in Brussels.
Torres left the field with his side already trailing to Wesley Sonck's header on seven minutes, but after Andres Iniesta equalised later in the first half, David Villa struck with two minutes remaining to extend Spain's unbeaten run to 27 matches.
Spain team doctor Oscar Celada said of Torres: "He has intense pain in the back part of the thigh. It is difficult to diagnose now exactly the extent, if it is a question of a strain or a small tear. If it is a strain then he could be out for about a week."
Liverpool will be hoping it is not a serious problem as they face Wigan and Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League next week, as well as a Champions League trip to Torres' former club Atletico Madrid.
Spain lead Group 5 by four points from Turkey, who were held to a goalless draw in Estonia.
Alberto Aquilani hit his first two international goals to lead an injury-hit Italy team to a 2-1 win over Montenegro that kept the defending champions top of their Group 8, three points clear of the Republic of Ireland.
The midfielder hit his goals in the eighth and 29th minutes in Lecce, with Montenegro captain Mirko Vucinic – Aquilani's team-mate at Roma – briefly making it 1-1 in the 19th.
Lithuania remain on course for a first ever appearance in the World Cup finals after Tomas Danilevicius struck the only goal against the Faroe Islands in Kaunas. That result keeps the Lithuanians level at the top of Group 7 with Serbia, who eased to a 3-1 win over Austria in Vienna. Milos Krasic, Milan Jovanovic and Ivan Obradovic each struck before Marc Janko pulled one back for Austria.
Former Rangers midfielder Libor Sionko scored in the second half to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in their World Cup Group 3 qualifier last night.
The Czechs, looking to revive their campaign after securing just one point from their opening two matches, made sure of a first victory after September's draw in Northern Ireland and Saturday's loss in Poland.
Sionko, now with FC Copenhagen, put the Czechs ahead in the 62nd minute, heading in Marek Jankulovski's centre from close range.
Slovakia move to the top of the group after two late goals from Stanislav Sestak gave them a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over previous leaders Poland in Bratislava.
In Group 4, Finland shot themselves in the foot against Russia as two own goals handed the hosts a 3-0 victory in Moscow. Defender Petri Pasanen turned into his own net in the 23rd minute, Veli Lampi did the same shortly after the hour mark and one-time Tottenham target Andrei Arshavin added a third right at the death.
A Portugal side led by Cristiano Ronaldo were held to a home draw by Albania, leaving the fourth-placed team at the 2006 World Cup in danger of missing the 2010 finals in South Africa. In the other match in Group 1, a first-half header from Sandor Torghelle was enough for Hungary to defeat Malta and move level on points with leaders Denmark, who were idle.
Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura could not inspire Japan to beat Uzbekistan in Asian qualifying Group 1, Keiji Tamada replying to Maksim Shatskikh's opener for the visitors in a 1-1 draw. Australia top the group after Tim Cahill, Josh Kennedy and a Brett Emerton double defeated Qatar 4-0.
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Watch highlights of last night's World Cup qualifiers - including Norway v Netherlands - hereThe full article contains 644 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
