Italy shine as Wales make waves

Italy 2-1 France
Italy's victory against France at the Alberto Picco stadium came largely as a result of a fine first-half display with the Azzurrini taking the lead on 37 minutes when Daniele Dessena converted Sebastian Giovinco's pinpoint left-wing cross. Giuseppe Rossi then doubled home advantage within three minutes with a left-foot volley after the French defence failed to deal with a Giovinco corner. The visitors reacted well in the second half and scored through Julien Quercia nine minutes after the interval but despite a concerted effort to draw level it was Italy who came the closest to scoring again when Gabriele Paonessa hit the post with a powerful right-footed shot in added time.

Scotland 1-0 Czech Republic
Scotland completed an impressive win against a strong Czech Republic side at the Falkirk Stadium on Tuesday night. Kilmarnock FC striker Stevie Naismith was the hero for the Scots scoring the only goal of the game after just four minutes when he latched on to a misplaced pass from Luboš Kalouda before unleashing a stunning 25-metre shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Sweden 3-4 Wales
Despite a first-half hat-trick by Ola Toivonen Sweden lost this seven-goal thriller at Örjans Vall after Wales rallied from 3-1 down. Toivonen's first two goals both came from penalties (19, 31), which sandwiched David Cotterill's 28th-minute strike and Toivonen completed his treble a minute before the break. However, David Edwards kept the visitors in it on the stroke of half-time and second-half efforts in the space of three minutes by Sam Vokes (58) and Joe Allen (61) completed the comeback for the visitors.

England 1-1 Romania
England were held to an entertaining draw which saw Romania reduced to ten men on 72 minutes. Stuart Pearce's side took the lead eight minutes in when Matt Derbyshire connected with Gabriel Agbonlahor's low cross from the right from close range. The visitors equalised when Bogdan Stancu's free-kick cannoned off the bar and goalkeeper Jo Hart's back before crossing the line (25) and Cristian Scutaru was then dismissed for his second bookable offence after hauling back Agbonlahor.

Germany 2-2 Northern Ireland
Germany warmed up for their forthcoming 2009 UEFA European championship qualifier against Northern Ireland with a 2-2 draw against Northern Ireland. Rouwen Hennings broke the deadlock for Germany, pouncing on a rebound from close range after 18 minutes only for Stephen Gleeson to equalise (39) after capitalising on a mistake by the German rearguard. Although the hosts enjoyed more possession after the break, Gleeson scored again for the visitors (64) before Andreas Beck spared Germany a home defeat with a header six minutes from time.

Portugal 3-0 Malta
Rui Caçador's tenure as Portugal U21s coach began promisingly with a comfortable home win against Malta. His side took the lead on 12 minutes when João Moreira headed in a fine cross from the right by Vieirinha. Manchester United FC forward Nani came close with a header of his own that rattled the bar two minutes before half-time but it wasn't until the 54th-minute that the dominant hosts scored again via the right foot of substitute João Coimbra. Nuno Coelho rounded off the scoring (69) with a well-executed free-kick.

Ukraine 1-1 Israel (Israel win 5-4 on penalties)
Israel moved into the final of the Valeriy Lobanovskiy Memorial tournament in Kiev after beating hosts Ukraine on penalties. The Israelis, who were knocked out of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the summer in the group stage without picking up a point, took the lead through Etey Schechter in only the third minute before Mykola Morozyuk on target to equalise for the hosts with 77 minutes on the clock. Israel then proved more precise in the shootout to triumph 5-4 and set up a meeting with Serbia.

Serbia 1-1 Moldova (Serbia win 7-6 on penalties)
Serbia booked their place in the final on Thursday in similar fashion to Israel as they overcame a gritty Moldovan outfit. The Serbian U21s, losing finalists in the Netherlands in June, were in front on the half-hour when Nikola Petković found the net. However, Moldova claimed a late equaliser when Daniel Pisla scored just two minutes from time to force penalties but they would just fall short as the Balkan team progressed.