A searing first-half strike from Paul Pogba handed France a 1-0 win at rivals the Netherlands as Belgium and Portugal clocked up 6-0 victories and Christian Benteke grabbed a slice of World Cup qualifying history.
Criticised by manager Didier Deschamps for his performance in Friday’s 4-1 win over Bulgaria in Paris, the world’s most expensive footballer emphatically replied with a towering display in Amsterdam in the most eye-catching fixture on Monday.
The Manchester United midfielder’s powerful hit from 25 metres after half an hour left diving Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg able to get his hands to the fizzing ball but unable to stop it.
“I didn’t speak to him (Pogba), I just said a few words to him before entering the changing rooms, ‘I have confidence in you,’” Deschamps said.
“The match confirms what he is able to do. Pogba was much better in everything he did. He showed what he can do.
“We never doubted he could do it. We mustn’t forget Paul is relatively young and he can still progress.”
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France, losing finalists on home soil at Euro 2016, are equal on seven points at the top of Group A with Sweden, who beat Bulgaria 3-0 at home in Solna. The two countries will play on November 11 at the Stade de France.
Pogba, 23, was imperial in front of a central defence made up of Raphael Varane and Laurent Koscielny, who pushed back wave after wave of Dutch attacks.
Pogba nearly doubled his account with a header off a Dimitri Payet corner on 66 minutes just lacking power.
“If the team has a good match, I have a good match,” Pogba said. “If it’s a bad match, I have a bad match.
“We’re not going to talk about individual performances. It’s true it’s not always nice to hear criticism, bad things about myself. There wasn’t any answer. Today it was a good team effort.”
France had a slight scare in the final minute but Hugo Lloris did well to keep out a Memphis Depay effort on the line.
“It’s an important win for us, even if we could have had a larger lead,” Deschamps said.
“We could have hurt them more in the first half. It’s good to have got these two victories.”
The Dutch failed to make it to Euro 2016 and now sit third in the group, needing to improve fast if they are to make it to Russia in 2018.
“Our goalkeeper made a mistake which he never makes in training,” Netherlands manager Danny Blind said.
“We played better in the second half and we should have had at least a point because we had chances at the end of the match.”
Belgium and Portugal went on goal sprees against minnows Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands.
Belgium striker Benteke set a new World Cup record for the fastest goal ever — just seven seconds — on his way to a hat-trick in Faro.
Belgium top Group H on nine points out of nine, ahead of Greece on goal difference.
The Crystal Palace forward, 25, picked up the ball in the first move and raced towards goal with the Gibraltar defence in disarray leaving goalkeeper Deren Ibrahim with no chance.
Benteke’s quick-fire goal eclipsed the previous best of 8.3 seconds achieved by San Marino’s Davide Gualtieri in a World Cup qualifier against England in November 1993.
Portugal, bidding to catch Group B leaders Switzerland, matched their 6-0 win over Andorra on Friday.
Andre Silva scored a hat-trick for the European champions before captain Cristiano Ronaldo netted his fifth goal in four days, with Joao Cancelo and Joao Moutinho also scoring late on.
Switzerland maintained their unbeaten run, coming away 2-1 winners from Andorra with Fabian Schaer and Admir Mehmedi scoring in either half.
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Company%20Profile
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
The 10 Questions
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Company%20profile
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Company%20Profile
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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