World Cup finalists France romped to a 3-0 win over hosts Georgia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers on Saturday. Florent Malouda put France ahead after just seven minutes when he fired a 20-metre low drive past Georgia keeper Grigol Chanturia. The visitors doubled the lead eight minutes later after Louis Saha latched on to Thierry Henry's pass on the edge of the area before blasting the ball into the side netting. Georgia fullback Malkhaz Asatiani made it 3-0 for France when he volleyed Henry's long ball into his own net. Meanwhile, World champions Italy were held to a 1-1 draw by Lithuania in the same group. Tomas Danilevicius put Lithuania ahead in the 21st minute before Filippo Inzaghi equalized nine minutes later. France will host Italy in Group B on Wednesday in a repeat to the World Cup final in July when they lost to the Azzurri on penalties. In the same group, Scotland produced a 6-0 drubbing of Faroe Islands.
Italy In Group E, England kicked-off the qualifiers campaign with a thrashing 5-0 home victory over Andorra. Peter Crouch opened the score after just five minutes before Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard added the second goal eight minutes later. Jermain Defoe struck twice in the 38th and 47th minutes and Crouch completed the rout six minutes past the hour mark. Argentine-born Roberto Colautti scored in the seventh minute as Israel edged Estonia 1-0. In Group D, David Lafata scored twice to lead The Czech Republic to a 2-1 victory over Wales. Germany also grabbed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Ireland thanks to a deflected free-kick from Lukas Podolski while Slovakia produced a 6-1 drubbing of Cyprus. In Group G, defender Joris Mathijsen poked home on the rebound to give Holland a 1-0 triumph over Luxembourg. Belarus and Romania were held to 2-2 draws by Albania and Bulgaria respectively in the other matches of the group.
