Netherlands’ defender Joel Veltman (right), is challenged by Republic of Ireland’s midfielder James McClean during the friendly football match between Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland on May 27. (AFP)

LONDON, May 28, (RTRS): Marcus Rashford’s rapid progress continued as the 18-year-old took 138 seconds to become the youngest player to score on his England debut in a 2-1 friendly win over Australia on Friday.

The Manchester United striker probably booked his place in Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad and his Manchester United team mate Wayne Rooney added a second before substitute Eric Dier headed a late own goal.

But the night belonged to Rashford, who netted three minutes into what was only his 19th professional match, stroking the ball first time past goalkeeper Matt Ryan after creating space inside the area at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.

Rashford, who also scored on his United debut in February, could have had a second goal minutes later and produced an assured performance before coming off on the hour.

Manager Hodgson praised his debutant but refused to confirm whether Rashford will be in the trimmed down 23-man squad that must be named before Tuesday.

“It was fantastic, he did very well and I am pleased for him on his debut,” Hodgson said. “He would not be out of place in anyone’s 23.”

Rashford probably only started against Australia because of an injury to Daniel Sturridge, but Hodgson said he was hopeful the Liverpool striker will recover sufficiently to train with the squad on Monday.

“If he does, the calf injury will not be a reason to leave him out of the 23,” said Hodgson. “None of those decisions (about who to leave out) will be injury-related.”

Rooney scored a record-extending 52nd goal for his country with a fine strike 10 minutes after the break.

Ireland 1, Dutch 1

In Dublin, striker Shane Long showed his poacher’s instincts to grab a first-half goal that looked like giving Ireland a win in their friendly against Netherlands in Dublin on Friday, but Luuk De Jong’s late equaliser snatched a draw for the Dutch.

Ireland’s goal came when Robbie Brady whipped in a corner which central defender John O’Shea headed powerfully goalwards. It appeared to strike a Dutch arm, but Long bundled the ball home.

The Irish lost their shape following a slew of second-half changes, allowing Dutch substitute De Jong to steal in and head home an equaliser with virtually their only decent attacking move of the game.

The Irish, who play Belarus in their final pre-Euro 2016 friendly in Cork on Tuesday, kick off their Group E campaign against Sweden in Paris on June 13 before meeting Belgium and Italy.

With manager Martin O’Neill waiting until Tuesday to announce his final 23-man squad, he gave midfielders Stephen Quinn and Harry Arter as well as striker David McGoldrick a chance to stake their claims and all three rewarded him with energetic displays.

Czech 6, Malta 0

In Prague, the Czech Republic cruised to a 6-0 win over Malta on Friday as Petr Cech earned a record 119th cap and Tomas Rosicky returned to the squad in time for next month’s European Championship.

The Czechs are counting on a mixture of experience along with new faces to get them out of a tough Euro 2016 group in France next month which includes defending champions Spain.

Midfielder Jaroslav Plasil scored after 15 minutes with a 30-metre strike that went in off the left post.

Milan Skoda tapped in from close range and Roman Hubnik gathered a Plasil cross to smash in the third goal.

David Lafata, Tomas Necid and Patrik Schick scored in the second half as the Czechs’ controlled the ball, rarely allowing Malta to threaten a defence anchored by 33-year-old goalkeeper Cech.

Rosicky missed half the Czechs’ qualifying campaign and almost the whole season for Arsenal due to injuries but the 35-year-old was at his inspirational best in 65 minutes on the pitch against Malta.

Slovakia 3, Georgia 1

In Prague, Adam Nemec showed he could provide the scoring threat Slovakia need in their European Championship debut by netting two goals to secure a 3-1 win over Georgia on Friday.

Slovakia are looking to regain the attacking momentum that carried them to six successive wins, including victory against champions Spain, in qualifying for their first Euro finals since becoming an independent nation in 1993.

Resting key players ahead of a friendly with Germany on Sunday, the Slovaks struggled early to keep pressure on Georgia, who did not qualify for Euro 2016 and hired former Slovakia manager Vladimir Weiss in March.

Nemec, the team’s second leading goal scorer in qualifiers, took advantage of his first opportunity, scoring from a fine pass from Matus Bero five minutes into the match.

Croatia 1, Moldova 0

In Zagreb, striker Andrej Kramaric boosted his hopes of getting into Croatia’s Euro 2016 squad after scoring a clinical early winner in their 1-0 friendly victory over Moldova on Friday.

The former Leicester City player took an Ivan Perisic pass in his stride and beat goalkeeper Ilie Cebanu with a crisp low shot from 13 metres in the ninth minute.

The 24-year old Kramaric, who made no impact during his one-year spell at Leicester before he was loaned to German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in January and made the move permanent this week, was substituted at halftime.

“I am fairly satisfied given that we played after a lot of hard-working practice sessions but our finishing left something to be desired,” Croatia coach Ante Cacic told the country’s national HRT television.

Cacic fielded a makeshift formation missing most of the team’s key players and gave an array of youngsters a chance to impress as he made sweeping changes at the interval.

The Croatians produced a drab performance for much of a hot and humid evening in Koprivnica, with the final ball letting them down in the absence of Real Madrid playmaker Luka Modric and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

Ireland 3, Belarus 0

In Belfast, Northern Ireland’s record-breaking unbeaten streak was stretched to 11 matches with a 3-0 victory over Belarus at Windsor Park on Friday as Michael O’Neill’s team continued their impressive preparations for Euro 2016.

Kyle Lafferty scored six minutes into his 50th international appearance, Conor Washington claimed his second in three games just before halftime and substitute Will Grigg netted two minutes from time as the Irish claimed a sixth win in 11 games.

That run includes an eight-game unbeaten spell in qualifying for the finals that saw Northern Ireland book a place at a major championship for the first time in 30 years, with the team due to face world champions Germany, Poland and Ukraine next month.

“The game couldn’t have gone any better for us really,” said O’Neill. It was good to make the substitutions ... we were able to work with the team and we were able to play about with things a bit and all-in-all in was a perfect night for us.

“What we’re trying to get in this team is flexibility, the ability to change. We asked (central defender) Jonny Evans to play for the last 20 minutes as left back and (midfielder) Stuart Dallas to play out of position (on the left flank).

“It was a great performance from us tonight. I thought (Manchester United centre back) Paddy McNair was magnificent tonight. What we did tonight was fantastic.”

Goalkeeper Roy Carroll, 38, started for the second game in a row while McNair won his seventh cap alongside Corry Evans and Steven Davis in midfield as O’Neill took a final look at his options before naming his final 23-man squad on Saturday.

Lafferty opened the scoring with his 17th interntional goal when he reacted quickest after Egor Filipenko failed to clear Dallas’s low cross into the six-yard box, thumping the ball into the bottom corner of Andrei Harbunov’s goal.

Another defensive error led to Ireland’s second just over a minute before the break when another Dallas cross from the left caused problems and Harbunov’s attempted punch looped into the air to allow Washington to head into the unguarded net.

The visitors’ poor defending gave Grigg, a 61st minute substitute for Lafferty, the chance to add a third in the 88th and the Wigan Athletic man slotted home his first goal for his country with a right-foot shot from 12 metres.

Belarus rarely threatened, ensuring the hosts a comfortable send-off in front of a typically boisterous Windsor Park crowd.

O’Neill’s team have one more friendly — against Slovakia on June 4 — before their debut at a European Championship against Poland in Group C on June 12 in Nice.