LONDON, Sept 3, (Agencies): England handed under-fire manager Fabio Capello some badly needed breathing space here Friday as a Jermain Defoe hat-trick saw them romp to a 4-0 victory over Bulgaria in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier.
Defoe’s first hat-trick for England and a late strike from Manchester City youngster Adam Johnson sealed the Group G points for Capello’s side, desperate to bounce back from a traumatic World Cup campaign.
Capello, who had been mercilessly lampooned by sections of the English media in the build-up to the match, kept faith with seven of the side who started the disastrous 4-1 defeat against Germany which ended their South African campaign.
The Italian supremo’s trust was largely rewarded on an evening at Wembley where the pluses more than outweighed the minuses, with a revitalised Wayne Rooney helping set up all four goals.
As well as the razor-sharp finishing of Defoe, Capello could also reflect with satisfaction on an authoritative performance in goal by Manchester City’s Joe Hart, who pulled off a string of key saves at crucial moments.
The emphatic win was just what Capello had been looking for as he prepares to take his side to Basle next Tuesday for a tricky away tie with Switzerland.

“It’s always special to score a hat-trick for your country and win,” said Defoe.
“People know what I’m good at. I always try to score goals, always try to hit the target.”
England had got off to a dream start after only three minutes, when a dreadful mistake by Bulgaria fullback Stanislav Manolev handed possession to the home side near the edge of the area.
A menacing chip from Rooney found Ashley Cole darting into the box, whose shot was well stopped by Nikolay Mihaylov at the near post.
Mihaylov was only able to divert the ball back to Cole however and the Chelsea left back steered the rebound back across the six-yard area for Defoe to hook into the roof of the net.
Capello’s men kept Bulgaria pegged back throughout the opening 45 minutes, closing down their jittery opponents with a vim and vigour that was rarely seen in South Africa.
Yet for all England’s dominance of possession they were unable to add to Defoe’s early goal, producing plenty of industry but little inspiration.

Belarus 1, France 0
In Staint-Denis, France, Sergei Kislyak scored in the 86th minute as Belaurs stunned France by winning 1-0 at Stade de France.
With new coach Laurent Blanc taking over from Raymond Domenech, France was facing its home fans on Friday for the first time since its World Cup debacle and struggled to create chances in front of a largely supportive crowd.
They were stunned when Vyacheslav Hleb skillfully weaved his way into the right of the penalty area and pulled the ball back for Kislyak, who beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a powerful shot into the top right corner.
Substitute Kevin Gameiro shot just over with the last kick as the French were jeered at the final whistle.
Blanc is already under pressure heading into Tuesday’s match away to Bosnia.
After crashing out of the World Cup without winning a game, and shocking its fans and politicians by going on strike during a training session, France badly needed a win to boost morale.
Chelsea winger Florent Malouda, who was chosen as France captain, had the ball in the net in the 63rd minute but his effort was ruled offside Things then went from mediocre to poor for the French.

Spain 4, Liechtenstein 0
In Vaduz, Liverpool forward Fernando Torres scored a brace as world champions Spain began their European title defence with a convincing 4-0 win over Liechtenstein.
It was Spain’s first competitive match since lifting the World Cup in South Africa on July 11 and the Euro 2008 winners were far too strong for hapless Liechtenstein.
After failing to score at the World Cup finals, Torres rediscovered his goalscoring touch on 18 minutes with a beautiful chip to open the scoring before new Barcelona man David Villa thundered in a shot from outside the box on 54 minutes.

Villa, top-scorer at the World Cup with five goals, now has 43 goals in 66 internationals, just one goal from equalling the all-time national record of former Real Madrid star Raul Gonzalez who netted 44 in 102 games.
Torres, 26, smashed in a second on 54 minutes and his replacement David Silva added a fourth after 62 minutes as Liechtenstein were put to the sword.
Spain national coach Vicente del Bosque started Torres despite a plea from Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson to give the striker a break to recover match sharpness after a knee injury that hindered him at the World Cup.
Torres started alongside Villa in attack as Del Bosque made just two changes to the team that began the World Cup final win over the Netherlands.
As expected, Spain started on the front foot and had two clear-cut chances in the opening minutes.

Germany 1, Belgium 0
In Brussels, Evergreen striker Miroslav Klose backed up his wish to keep playing until the next World Cup with a second-half goal to seal Germany’s 1-0 win over Belgium.
Klose, 32, who has 14 World Cup goals to his credit and is just one away from matching Ronaldo’s all-time record, scored his 53rd goal for his country on his 102nd appearance.
Despite clinching three points, Joachim Loew’s Germany, who finished third at the World Cup, are second in Group A behind Turkey after Guus Hiddink’s side had earlier won their opening qualifier 3-0 in Kazakhstan.
The Germans were at virtually full-strength at the Stade Roi Baudouin here and were made to work hard for the victory as Belgium, led by Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen, battled hard throughout.

Italy 2, Estonia 1
In Tallin, Italy survived a scare as they came back from a goal down to escape from Tallinn with a 2-1 victory over Estonia in Euro 2012 qualifying Group C.
Sergei Zenjov had given Estonia a shock first half lead but second half strikes from Antonio Cassano and Leonardo Bonucci, thanks to some poor marking at corners, allowed coach Cesare Prandelli to begin his competitive reign at the Italy helm with a win.
It was Italy’s first win of 2010 and first success in eight matches.
Although his team struggled throughout, Prandelli said he was delighted and that they deserved the three points.
“It was a strong emotion particularly because the players were a bit down in the changing room (at half-time),” he said.
“But then we had a good reaction (in the second period) and we deserved to win.”
The former Fiorentina coach revealed he made some changes at the break to turn things around.
“I told them to keep playing but with more speed because otherwise our play was good.
“I said we could still play our game and win. But they surprised us several times on the counter-attack.”
Italy captain Andrea Pirlo insisted the team would improve.

Scotland 0, Lithuania 0
In Kaunas, Lithuania, Scotland’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign began with a 0-0 draw against Lithuania, but Craig Levein’s side will be disappointed with the result after carving out the best chances.
Chances fell for Scott Brown and Kenny Miller before Allan McGregor saved well from a shot by former Hearts winger Saulius Mikoliunas and Stephen McManus was inches from volleying Scotland into the lead.
The Scots continued to press in the second-half with attempts by Miller and Steven Naismith, but they never really worried goalkeeper Zydrunas Karcemarkas and they will be looking for better when their Group I campaign continues at home to Liechtenstein on Tuesday.
Levein, taking charge of his first competitive international, was left frustrated by the referee’s display.
“The biggest disappointment for me tonight was that we weren’t allowed to play,” Levein said.
“Every time we were on the ball there were crude challenges coming in. I expect my players to get more protection from the referee.

Russia 2, Andorra 0
In Andorra La Vela, Pavel Pogrebnyak scored twice as Russia opened their campaign with a low-key 2-0 win over Andorra in a Group B match.
Pogrebnyak fired the visitors ahead in the 14th minute, calmly slotting past Andorra keeper Josep Gomes from close range after a fine feed by Russia captain Andrei Arshavin.
The VfB Stuttgart striker added a second with a 65th-minute penalty after a foul on Russia substitute Alan Dzagoyev.
Russia beat Andorra 1-0 at the same stadium in November 2007 in their last Euro 2008 qualifier to clinch a place in the championship finals where they reached the semi-finals.

Turkey 3, Kazakhstan 0
In Asthana, Kazakhstan, Turkey made a perfect start to life under Guus Hiddink by confidently beating Kazakhstan 3-0 in their opening 2012 European Championship qualifying match here.
Galatasaray winger Arda Turan, Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop and Besiktas striker Nihat Kahveci all scored for Turkey, who recorded their third win in as many competitive meetings with Kazakhstan.Hiddink, the 63-year-old Dutchman who led Holland and South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals and guided Russia into the last four at Euro 2008, was taking the reins for his first competitive match at the Turkey helm.
The visitors started positively in their Group A opener, pinning Kazakhstan back inside their own half in the opening minutes and winning two corners that came to nothing.

Serbia 3, Faroe Islands 0
In Torshavn, strikers Danko Lazovic and Nikola Zigic scored either side of a goal from captain Dejan Stankovic to give Serbia a 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands in their opening Group C qualifier.
The game was played at almost walking pace with Lazovic giving Serbia a controversial 13th-minute lead when he steered the ball into an empty net after Milan Jovanovic appeared to have handled the ball into his path.
Stankovic added the second five minutes later, curling in a free kick from 20 metres for his 15th international goal in his 92nd appearance for his country.
Faroe striker Simun Samuelsen spurned a good chance to pull one back in the 75th minute, when he steered the ball wide from close range with the goal at his mercy.

Moldova 2, Finland 0
In Chisinau, Moldova, Moldova wore down 10-man Finland to secure a 2-0 win with two second-half goals.
Finland opened the match on the attack but were reduced to 10 men after Sami Hyypia was sent off in the 36th minute for grabbing the legs of Viorel Frunza.
Moldova finally took advantage when Alexandru Suvorov opened the scoring in the 69th minute from a 20-meter free kick, sending the ball over the wall and into the top left corner of the net. Anatolie Doros then doubled the lead in the 74th with a hard shot into the left side of the goal.
Finland’s best chance came in injury time when Mika Vayrinen got through the Moldovan defense but couldn’t convert his shot from six meters (yards).

Ireland 1, Armenia 0
In Yerevan, Armenia, substitute Keith Fahey scored a late winner Friday to secure a 1-0 victory for Ireland.
Fahey came on for Aiden McGeady in the 68th minute and pounced on a rebound eight minutes later after goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky failed to control Robbie Keane’s shot from inside the box.
Keane had hit the post previously, as Ireland wasted a number of chances to take the lead.
Henrik Mkhitaryan had Armenia’s first effort on goal with a low shot from the right forcing Shay Given to make a save in the 14th minute.
Eight minutes later Berezovsky blocked Glenn Whelan’s header from a corner.
Given made two more saves late in the first half to deny the home side from scoring.
“It was a hot game,” Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni said. “The last 15 minutes were really tough for the Irish team.”
Armenia pressed for an equalizer but Given blocked Karlen Mkrtchyan’s shot from outside the box and saved two efforts from late substitute Edgar Manucharyan in the 84th and 89th.
Ireland next hosts Andorra on Tuesday, while Armenia travels to FYR Macedonia.
Group B also includes Russia and Slovakia.