Football
ESPN staff 8y

Ukraine beat Albania while Romania and Switzerland also win friendlies

A battle between two European Championship rivals saw Ukraine claim a 3-1 victory over surprise qualifiers Albania in Bergamo, Italy, on Friday.

After conceding an early opener, Albania levelled quickly through Armando Sadiku but gave away another goal at the start of the second half, and Ukraine, also going to Euro 2016, sealed the win with two minutes to go.

The loud Albania fans, who filled half of the stadium in Bergamo, Italy, where their team were training before going to France, were quieted as Ukraine completed their fourth win from four warm-up games.

Ukraine midfielder Yevhen Konoplyanka split the defense from the right to set up Taras Stepanenko for the opener, but Albania were level within four minutes through Armando Sadiku.

Andriy Yarmolenko headed in Roman Zozuyla's cross moments after half-time, and Konoplyanka finished off the scoring by pouncing on a mistake by Albania defender Ansi Agolli.

Also on Friday, Romania thrashed Georgia 5-1 in a friendly a week before they open the Euros against hosts France.

The Romanians, rebounding from a draw with DR Congo and a loss to Georgia in Italy last week, were 2-0 up in just three minutes.

Midfielder Adi Popa scored and Georgia captain Aleksandr Amisulashvili conceded an own goal a minute later.

Midfielder Niculae Stanciu made it 3-0 after half-time, then teammate Cosmin Moti gave up an own goal.

Gabriel Torje bagged Romania's fourth with help from Alexandru Chipciu, and Claudiu Keseru finished off the scoring.

Switzerland finished their preparations for Euro 2016 with a 2-1 win against Moldova.

Blerim Dzemaili opened the scoring before Radu Ginsari equalised, but Admir Mehmedi netted the winner 14 minutes from time.

Bosnia-Herzegovina booked their place in the Kirin Cup final in Japan after defeating Denmark 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

Milan Duric had scored twice for Bosnia in normal time, with Simon Kjaer and Viktor Fischer finding the back of the net for Denmark.

Bosnia captain Haris Medunjanin converted the winning penalty, with his side now set to face Japan on Tuesday after the hosts' 7-2 win over Bulgaria.

Shinji Okazaki scored a hat trick inside 35 minutes, while Maya Yoshida added a brace and Takashi Usami and Takuma Asano also scored for Japan.

Tesho Akindele scored in the first half but Canada were held to a 1-1 draw by Azerbaijan in Austria.

After the break, Canada defender Karl Ouimette brought down Aghabala Ramazanov just inside the box and Dimitrij Nazarov converted the resulting penalty.

New UEFA members Kosovo defeated Faroe Islands 2-0 thanks to goals from Albert Bunjaku and Flamur Kastrati in a game that saw both teams lose a player to red cards.

Yuning Zhang scored twice as China defeated Trinidad and Tobago 4-2, with Ning Jiang and Hu Rentian also on the scoresheet. Willis Plaza scored both of Trinidad's goal.

V. Sundramoorthy's reign as Singapore coach began on a positive note when his side beat host nation Myanmar 1-0 in their opening match of the AYA Bank Cup, Faris Ramli scoring in the 34th minute.

In the final, Singapore will face Vietnam, who beat Hong Kong 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Hosts Thailand defeated Syria 7-6 on penalties after a 2-2 draw to reach the final of the King's Cup, where they will face Jordan -- 3-1 winners over United Arab Emirates.

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