LONDON — England drew 1-1 with Ireland for the fourth time in a row in an entertaining friendly at Wembley Wednesday. Shane Long gave Ireland an early lead but Frank Lampard quickly equalized and although England dominated possession it failed to conjure up another goal in the teams' first meeting since their 1995 friendly in Dublin was abandoned due to crowd trouble. In the second half, Ireland goalkeeper David Forde denied Theo Walcott twice and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Ashley Cole captained England in honor of his recent 100th cap but the left back had a quiet match before leaving the field to warm applause after being substituted in the second half. Germany scores in nine seconds against Ecuador In Boca Raton, Florida, Lukas Podolski scored one of the fastest goals in international football when a largely second string Germany beat Ecuador 4-2 in a friendly Wednesday. The Arsenal striker netted after only nine seconds as the Germans once again showed their impressive strength in depth. The crowd had barely taken their seats before Podolski robbed defender Gabriel Achilier and confidently drove home. Davide Gualtieri's goal after 8.3 seconds for San Marino against England in 1993 is considered by FIFA to be the fastest goal in a World Cup match. Germany made it 2-0 through Sidney Sam. Podolski and Bender completed German scoring. Joachim Loew's team, without any players from Champions League finalists Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund, dominated the match Belgium routs US In Cleveland, Christian Benteke scored two of Belgium's three second-half goals in a decisive 4-2 win over the United States in an international friendly. Bulgaria blanks Japan In Toyota, Japan, defender Stanislav Manolev put Bulgaria on the path to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Asian champion Japan Thursday, in a warm-up game for the World Cup qualifiers. The visitors took the lead after just three minutes when Manolev hit a sizzling shot from a free kick from outside the area. In the 70th minute substitute midfielder Hristo Zlatinski hit another free kick into the area. Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe tried to clear it but manged only to score an own goal. — Agencies
