Football
ESPN staff 8y

Belarus beat Republic of Ireland in friendly as Austria beat Malta

Belarus ensured Republic of Ireland's Euro 2016 dress rehearsal did not go as planned as the visitors won 2-1 at Turner's Cross.

Martin O'Neill made 11 changes to the side which drew Friday with the Netherlands, and apart from Jeff Hendrick's industry and James McClean's aggression, there was little to cheer the manager.

Mikhail Hardzeichuk fired the visitors into a 20th-minute lead with a stunning strike and Maksim Valadzko doubled his side's advantage with 63 minutes gone just when it looked like Ireland had finally found their feet.

Stephen Ward reduced the deficit as the introduction of substitutes Shane Long and Wes Hoolahan gave the Republic a much-needed spark in front of an expectant crown of 7,200, but the evening ultimately ended in disappointment, even for those men who will be on the plane next Wednesday.

Shay Given established himself as Ireland's longest serving international. The 40-year-old goalkeeper broke Johnny Giles' record of 19 years and 202 days, with his stint now standing at 20 years and 65 days after his 134th appearance.

Also on Tuesday, early goals by Marko Arnautovic and Alessandro Schopf helped Austria beat Malta 2-1.

Arnautovic scored in the fourth minute after Malta defender Andrei Agius failed to clear from inside the area.

In the starting line-up for the first time, Schopf doubled the hosts' lead 14 minutes later, rounding off a swift attack set up by Zlatko Junuzovic.

Playmaker David Alaba scored an own goal in the 87th as he played back blindly to keeper Ramazan Ozcan, who was standing beside his goal.

Austria started centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic and striker Marc Janko in returns from injuries after not playing competitively since April 10.

Brown Ideye, Kelechi Iheanacho and Odion Ighalo scored to lead Nigeria to a 3-1 win over Luxembourg.

Serbia defeated Israel 3-1 thanks to goals from Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Milunovic and Dusan Tadic.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

^ Back to Top ^