Hamman spoils England’s Wembley farewell party

The Liverpool-based Hamann struck a low, skidding free kick from 32 metres out, which keeper David Seaman could only barely get a hand to as the sold-out crowd of 76,377 was left stunned after just 14 minutes.

The Wembley rematch of the 1966 World Cup final and the 1996 European Championship semi-final gave Germany a maximum six points from two Group IX matches.

Greece pulled even with Finland on three points in Group IX after defeating the Scandanavians 1-0 in Athens on Nikolaos Liberopoulos’s goal on the hour mark. England have zero points after their qualification campaign opener.

Italy grabbed the lead in Group XIII with four points thanks to a fast and aggressive first half, as they earned their first victory under coach Giovanni Trapattoni with a 3-0 win over Romania. Filippo Inzaghi (12) Marco Delvecchio (16) and Francesco Totti (41) all tallied in the first half.

Georgia cruised to a 4-0 victory against Lithuania to earn their first three points in Group VIII.

Spain cruised to the top of Group VII by beating a dull Israel 2-0 on goals by Gerard Lopez (22) and Fernando Hierro (53) in front of 80,000 fans at Bernabeu, where Spain have not played since 1988. Elsewhere in Group VII, Liechtenstein lost 1-0 at home to Austria, who won their first qualifier.

Polish striker Kaluzny’s hat-trick (24, 62, 73) proved too much for Belarus as the Poles won 3-1 to retain their lead in Group V with a perfect six points.

Ukraine earned their first victory in Group V by storming back from a 2-0 deficit with three goals in 15 minutes including a double by Andriy Shevchenko (45, 59). In Group V’s other match, Norway and Wales drew 1-1 in Cardiff.

Estonia took over the lead in Group II with six points from three matches after they defeated 10-man Andorra 2-1 in La Vella.

Holland crushed Cyprus 4-0 in Nicosia to earn their first victory (4 points) in Group II, while Portugal drew 1-1 at home against Ireland to drop to third, behind the Dutch on goal difference.