Tomasson double defeats Australia

Adjust font size:

LONDON, England -- Jon Dahl Tomasson struck twice as Denmark comfortably beat Australia 3-1 at Queens Park Rangers' Loftus Road in an international friendly on Tuesday.

Morten Olsen's side have now lost only once in 20 internationals, a record stretching back to 2005.

Tomasson, who signed on loan for Spanish side Villarreal last month, opened the scoring with a sweet 25-meter strike after just four minutes which flew into the top right-hand corner.

Denmark continued to dominate the first half, adding two more before the break thanks to an inspired performance from winger Dennis Rommedahl.

He laid on the second in the 27th minute with a pin-point cross which Daniel Jensen headed home after a well-timed run.

Rommedahl was in the thick of things again 10 minutes later when he slid a neat ball across goal for Tomasson to tap in after a sublime passing move.

Australia scored a consolation goal with five minutes remaining when Brett Emerton curled in a free kick from the edge of the box.

They were unlucky not to get on the scoresheet earlier with John Aloisi seeing a goal disallowed for offside.

Mali magic

Mali beat Lithuania 3-1 in an international friendly played in the outskirts of Paris on Tuesday with all four goals coming in the first half.

Midfielder Adam Tamboura opened the scoring for the African side after 21 minutes in the tiny stadium of La Courneuve, only for Edgaras Jankauskas to level the tie seven minutes later.

Mali wrapped up the win before the interval with Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra and striker Mamadou Diallo netting in the 30th and 43rd minutes respectively.

Lithuania are to play World Cup finalists France in a Euro 2008 qualifier next month in Vilnius.

Greece slip

Lee Chun-soo scored a late goal Tuesday to help South Korea beat Greece 1-0 in an international friendly in London.

Lee sent a hard free kick past the diving Antonis Nikopolidis in the 78th minute in a front boisterous, pro-South Korea crowd at Craven Cottage, the home of Premier League team Fulham.

Both teams created solid second-half chances, with Seol Ki-hyeon just missing a minute after Lee's goal, and Greece substitute Stelios Giannakopoulos hitting the crossbar with a header in the 59th.

Giorgos Karagounis had a shot from close range in the 90th that went wide, and Giannakopoulos had a goal disallowed for offsides deep into injury time.

Ghana glee

Ghana will believe they conclusively proved that they are Africa's strongest football nation after hammering Nigeria 4-1 in their international friendly in west London on Tuesday.

The Black Stars had not beaten their west African neighbors in 15 years, but this, their biggest win over Nigeria since 1960, was as emphatic as they come.

Level at half-time, Ghana took control in the early minutes of the second half.

With 50 minutes played, Stephen Appiah laid in Asamoah Gyan, drawing a smart save from Vincent Enyeama.

The ball, though, was never fully cleared, and when it fell to Laryea Kingston, he advanced two paces, and smashed a low drive from 22 yards into the bottom corner.

Three minutes later it got even better for Ghana, as Sulley Muntari worked the ball onto his right foot before lashing it into the top corner of the net.

And by the hour, it was three, Junior Agogo deftly converting a right-wing cross from Gyan.

A 64th-minute Taye Taiwo penalty, smacked home after John Utaka had been tripped, gave Nigeria some hope, but that was dashed with 13 minutes remaining.

Asamoah Frimpong had been on the field only a minute when he seized on the loose ball as Michael Essien bundled into the box, and stroked a low shot into the corner.

Get up-to-the minute news from CNN CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.

---

• Fox: 'Avatar' its costliest film ever
• The smartphone apps that could save your life
• U.S. citizen charged in Mumbai terror attacks
• U.S. military children arrested in Japan
• Major winter storm begins to wallop West

• Irish PM to quit over payments scandal
• NATO chief: Afghan troop increase likely
• Militants hunted as calm retuns to Basra
• Pressure on Bush to skip Olympics
• BA sending misplaced T5 baggage to Milan

• Recruiting suicide bombers (2:50)
• London was lucky (2:36)
• Cars in London rigged as bombs (3:48)
• Second explosives-packed car foun (2:32)
• Soviet culture returns (3:47)