Kieron Dyer came off the bench for England in the 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan at St.James’ Park. He was introduced with a fifteen minutes remaining but couldn’t make any real impact in what was a drab affair against the minnows.
Andy O’Brien was a second-half substitute as the Republic of Ireland defeated China in a friendly. Shay Given and Stephen Carr were both unused substitutes.
Jean-Alain Boumsomg started for France in their 1-1 draw against Israel in Tel Aviv. France have now dropped four points in the past week in what has been labelled the ‘Group of Death’. A group that also includes Israel, Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland.
Whilst Aaron Hughes played the full 90 minutes as Northern Ireland were beaten 1-0 by a late Poland goal.