Villa hits milestone for Spain
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David Villa became Spain's leading goalscorer as the world champion came from behind to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 and join three other heavyweights in taking charge of their Euro 2012 qualifying groups on Friday.
France, Italy and Netherlands also extended their leads at the top with wins ranging from the labored to the convincing but it was Spain's near hiccup that caused the biggest stir.
The European champion was trailing to a first-half Jaroslav Plasil goal before Villa scored twice in four minutes to reach 46 goals for his country, two more than Raul, and send Spain six points clear of the second-placed Czechs in Group I.
"Villa is a boy with a lot of poise in front of goal," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque told a news conference. "Twelve points from four matches is the ideal position but we have to keep it up."
Spain's blushes were spared while France and Italy went some way to soothing their bruised reputations with Les Bleus beating Luxembourg 2-0 and the Azzurri sneaking a 1-0 win in Slovenia.
The two teams who contested the 2006 World Cup final were not at their most convincing though and were given a lesson in how to stamp authority over weaker opposition by 2010 World Cup runner-up Netherlands which thrashed Hungary 4-0.
While a noisy Granada stadium cheered Spain's fightback, there were few witnesses to Serbia's resilience in a 2-1 comeback win over battling Northern Ireland in a match played behind closed doors in Belgrade.
In the day's other qualifier, Belgium sprang a surprise in Austria as Axel Witsel struck twice in a 2-0 victory that propelled his team into second place behind Germany in Group A.
Euro 2012 qualifying continued yesterday with 13 matches, including Wales against England and Germany at home to Kazakhstan.
After miserable World Cup showings last year, France and Italy have been seeking to make amends and standing on top of Groups D and C, respectively, the future is looking brighter.
France took its time to settle against a Luxembourg team ranked almost 100 places below it and despite dominating possession it had to wait until the 28th minute before defender Philippe Mexes headed home.
It sealed the points and a four-point lead in its group 18 minutes from time when Yoann Gourcuff volleyed in after a Franck Ribery cross was deflected by a Luxembourg defender.
Italy is the runaway leader in Group D with 13 points from five matches thanks to Brazil-born Thiago Motta's 73rd-minute strike against second-placed Slovenia. Serbia is third in the group.
Netherlands, which like Spain has made a perfect start to qualifying, marched six points clear in Group E with 15 points from five matches after its demolition of second-placed Hungary in Budapest.
Rafael van der Vaart, Ibrahim Afellay, Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie found the net for the Dutch.
