Paris - England was among a number of fancied sides which began the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with handsome wins, but its trip to Switzerland on Monday came amid a tabloid storm surrounding Wayne Rooney.
The Manchester United striker played a key role in England’s 4-0 win at home to Bulgaria on Friday, but damaging newspaper revelations on Sunday alleged he frequented a prostitute while his wife, Coleen, was pregnant.
It comes at an inopportune time for coach Fabio Capello, who is trying to right the England ship after a disappointing World Cup, but James Milner says Rooney will not be affected by the scandal.
“I think you want the best players out on the field and he’s obviously one of them. He showed that the other night,” said the Manchester City midfielder. “He’s a top, top player and you want to put out the strongest team possible.”
England looked close to its impressive pre-World Cup form as it picked apart Bulgaria, but in Switzerland Capello and company face a team that has qualified for the last four major tournaments in succession.
There were few hiccups for the continent’s heavyweights, as the qualifying competition for the tournament to be jointly hosted by Ukraine and Poland began in earnest on Friday.
Spain won 4-0 in Liechtenstein, beaten World Cup finalist the Netherlands put five unanswered goals past San Marino, and Italy came from a goal down to defeat Estonia 2-1 in Tallinn.
Italy will expect to take maximum points from its game with habitual minnow the Faroe Islands in Florence. The 2006 world champion was not at its best against Estonia, but new coach Cesare Prandelli says he saw plenty of encouraging signs.
“Without a good footing you can’t go very far but it was more than just [Andrea] Pirlo and [Antonio] Cassano that pleased me — we’re becoming a team,” he said. “We’ve rediscovered the ability to play football with courage.”
The Netherlands, for whom new Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a hat-trick against San Marino, takes on Finland in Rotterdam in Group E.
One high-profile side that failed to impress in its opening qualifying fixture was France, which fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Belarus in the absence of several key players through injury and suspension.
Les Bleus, European champions in 2000, now face a daunting trip to face Bosnia-Herzegovina and coach Laurent Blanc says his young side must not shirk the physical battles that are sure to await them in Sarajevo.
“We’ll have to increase our physical play,” Blanc said. “We’re still a bit tender, the Bosnians will intimidate us and we’ll need to have weapons to respond.”
Belarus has never qualified for a major tournament but it could go clear at the top of Group D if its defeats Romania, which was held to a 1-1 draw in Albania in their group opener. Portugal, which fell to Spain in the last 16 at the World Cup, visits Norway.
The Euro 2004 finalists shipped four goals in an extraordinary 4-4 draw at home to Cyprus on Friday, prompting center-back Ricardo Carvalho to urge his team to tighten up defensively for the trip to Oslo. “We have to be more compact, especially at the back,” the Real Madrid defender told the UEFA Web site.
With reigning world and European champion Spain playing Argentina in a friendly in Buenos Aires, Scotland can go top of Group I if it beats Liechtenstein in Glasgow and Lithuania fails to win in the Czech Republic. (Tom Williams)
Agence France-Presse
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