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Drogba makes Swedes pay for misses

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LONDON, England -- Didier Drogba struck in the 38th minute for the Ivory Coast to defeat Sweden 1-0 in an international friendly played at Le Mans in France on Wednesday.

It was Chelsea striker Drogba's 25th international goal in 37 appearances for the Elephants

Sweden played the tidier football but were punished for lax marking when the English Premier League's top scorer powered home a header after a cross from the left.

The Swedes should have gone ahead in the fifth minute when striker Markus Rosenberg steered the ball wide of the left hand post.

Ivory Coast then picked up the pace with Bakary Kone troubling the defense and crossing for Drogba's header, which gave keeper Rami Shaaban no chance.

Sweden, who top Euro 2008 qualifying Group F after victories against Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Spain, should have equalized just minutes into the second half.

A smart one-two put Lasse Nilsson through on goalkeeper Boubacar Barry, who palmed away the midfielder's weak chip.

Sweden continued to create openings, but were denied by Barry and let down by poor finishing with Kennedy Bakircioglu having the best of Sweden's chances.

He skewed a shot wide of Barry's left hand post in the 72nd minute and saw a header turned wide by the keeper a few minutes later.

Milan Baros scored in time added on to help the Czech Republic salvage a 1-1 draw with Denmark in an international friendly in Prague.

The Aston Villa striker headed in the equalizer from close range, scoring his 30th goal in 53 international appearances.

Peter Loevenkrands put Denmark ahead with a solo effort in the 28th minute after beating defenders Tomas Ujfalusi and David Rozehnal and then goalkeeper Marek Cech with a left-footer from 10 meters.

Dennis Soerensen could have made it 2-0 in the last minute but Cech dived to his right to save his penalty kick.

Winning start

An early strike by Marek Mintal and goals from Marek Sapara and Miroslav Karhan secured Slovakia a 3-1 win over Bulgaria in a friendly in Zilina to hand new coach Jan Kocian a winning start on Wednesday.

Kocian, who replaced Dusan Galis earlier this month, saw his side completely dominate as only some fine saves from keeper Dimitar Ivankov prevented Bulgaria slipping to a heavier defeat.

The home side went in front with Nuremberg's Mintal scoring his 11th goal for Slovakia after eight minutes.

The 29-year-old Mintal took advantage of a defensive blunder, burst into the penalty area and gave Ivankov no chance with a shot from nine meters.

Sapara doubled Slovakia's lead soon after the restart, slamming home a close-range shot in the 53rd minute after being set up by Mintal.

A glut of changes on both sides reduced the tempo but Slovakia burst into life again 13 minutes from time when Filip Holosko was brought down by Iordan Todorov in the penalty area and veteran Karhan made no mistake from the spot.

Bulgaria replied with a consolation in the 79th minute when substitute Kalojan Karadzinov headed in a Hristo Yovov's corner for his first international goal.

Levan Kobiashvili scored in each half to give Georgia a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Uruguay in a friendly in Tbilisi.

The Schalke 04 midfielder opened his account with a 39th-minute penalty after striker Georgi Demetradze was fouled and added a second on the hour to seal victory in the first encounter between the nations.

The home side dominated for the first hour while the visitors, who were missing injured Inter Milan striker Alvaro Recoba, came alive in the final half hour.

Uruguay's best chance fell to Fabian Estoyanoff late in the game, but the striker's low drive from the edge of the box was saved by keeper Nukri Revishvili.

An experimental Serbia side featuring four under-21 debutants scraped a barely deserved 1-1 draw with Norway in an entertaining friendly in Belgrade.

Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic gave Serbia an early lead before towering striker John Carew equalized with a superb finish midway through the first half.

Vidic drilled in a downward volley after the visitors failed to clear a corner but the home team's joy was short-lived as Carew rounded off a flowing move when he raced clear of two defenders and buried his shot into the roof of the net.

Midfielder Rene Aufhauser notched a hat-trick as Austria scored a 4-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in a friendly in Vienna, helping coach Josef Hickersberger to his third straight win.

Aufhauser began the rout in the 14th minute when he gave Trinidad keeper Jan Michael Williams no chance with a left-footed strike.

Trinidad striker Collin Samuel equalized eight minutes later but the World Cup finalists were level for only three minutes as Aufhauser scored again with an intended cross that curled in.

Missing several regulars, including skipper Dwight Yorke, Trinidad were caught out again just before halftime when an unmarked Aufhauser headed home to complete his treble.

Ferdinand Feldhofer hit Austria's fourth 10 minutes from time.


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Chelsea's in-form Drogba scored his 25th goal in 37 outings for the Elephants.

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