Cypriot cheer for England, France and Netherlands

England and France made winning starts to their Cyprus Women's Cup campaigns in Larnaca on Thursday, with the Netherlands also securing victory against fellow UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ finalists Russia. uefa.com rounds up the first-day action; fixtures continue on Saturday and Tuesday with the two group winners meeting in the final next Thursday.

Group A
England 6-0 South Africa
England recorded a comfortable win against opponents playing for the first time outside Africa. England manager Hope Powell named an attacking lineup and her side broke the deadlock in the 18th minute when Fara Williams, captain in Faye White's injury absence, turned in a Karen Carney free-kick that had been headed back by Jill Scott. Lianne Sanderson swiftly converted an Alex Scott cross for the second and Kelly Smith made it three after rounding goalkeeper Mukondi Mulaudzi. Rachel Yankey was one of several half-time substitutes and her corner was nodded in by Stephanie Houghton for the fourth, before that pair combined to help another replacement, Katie Chapman, score the fifth. Chapman completed the rout from long range, by which stage Jess Clarke had come off the bench for her debut.

France 2-0 Scotland
France were made to work for victory by a Scotland team who only just missed out on EURO qualification in the play-offs. Delphine Blanc broke the deadlock on the counterattack on 69 minutes and Eugénie Le Sommer notched her first international goal on her second appearance with seven minutes left. France coach Bruno Bini said: "It's always important to start a tournament like this successfully. We lacked pace in the first half but things improved in the second as we created opportunities and found the net. England should be tougher in the next game."

Group B
Netherlands 2-1 Russia
Manon Melis returned to the Netherlands lineup having recovered from a broken jaw and netted both goals in an impressive win. Her first came on 34 minutes and although Natalia Mokshanova levelled from the penalty spot after Tatiana Skotnikova was fouled, Melis struck the winner in first-half injury time. Other chances were missed, though, and Netherlands coach Vera Pauw said: "We had seven clear opportunities from which we failed to score. That has to improve."

Canada 1-1 New Zealand
There was a slight setback for former Italy coach Carolina Morace in her first game at the Canada helm. Christina Julien gave the Cyprus Cup holders an eleventh-minute lead but New Zealand equalised through Betsy Hassett just past the half-hour. On Friday, Canada form the Netherlands' opposition and New Zealand will play Russia.