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International Round-Up: Walcott, Djourou & More In Action

Arsenal’s International stars were in action for their respective countries tonight and it was the World Cup Qualifiers that became the main talking point of the evening.

Here at Gooner Talk, we look to bring you the latest updates and results on how the Arsenal players are doing for their countries with a brief summary of how they got on.

The following European-based players were in action tonight:

Bacary SagnaRomania v France
Cesc FabregasEstonia v Spain
Theo WalcottEngland v Kazakhstan
Johan DjourouSwitzerland v Latvia
Lukasz Fabianski Poland v Czech Republic

Bacary SagnaRomania 2-2 France

Yoann Gourcuff scored one goal and set up another Saturday to help France rally from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Romania in a World Cup qualifying match.

Florentin Petre and Dorin Goian put Romania 2-0 ahead after just 17 minutes as France’s weak defense was again exposed, but Franck Ribery took a pass from Gourcuff to pull a goal back in the 36th.

Gourcuff scored his first international goal with a spectacular dipping shot from 35 yards in the 69th.

Bacary Sagna completed the 90 minutes. The fullback was one of the better France players and helped Les Bleus get back to 2-2.

Cesc FabregasEstonia 0-3 Spain

Juanito Gutierrez, David Villa and Carles Puyol scored to give Spain a 3-0 win over Estonia in a World Cup qualifying match on Saturday.

The European champions lead Group 5 with nine points from three games, while Estonia is bottom with no points.

Spain took the lead in the 34th minute when Gutierrez sent the ball past Estonia goalkeeper Pavel Londak. Only four minutes later, Valencia’s Villa scored from the penalty spot after a foul on Liverpool striker Fernando Torres by Alo Barengrub.

Estonia’s best chance was in the 15th when Vladimir Voskoboinikov managed to advance through the Spanish defence but the visitors were saved by goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Spain dominated the game in the second half, getting a third goal in the 69th from Barca skipper Puyol.

Theo WalcottEngland 5-1 Kazakhstan

Three goals in the last 14 minutes gave England a 5-1 win over Kazakhstan in their World Cup Group Six qualifier at Wembley on Saturday.

Goals from stand-in skipper Rio Ferdinand after 52 minutes, an own goal by Alexandr Kuchma after 62, two from Wayne Rooney after 76 and 86 and a late strike by Jermain Defoe gave England a flattering victory which kept them top of the group.

A bad mistake by defender Ashley Cole, who was booed by England’s fans for the rest of the match, set up Zhambyl Kukeyev for Kazakhstan’s goal after 68.

England dominated most of the game but Kazakhstan, 131st in the world rankings, played well and were far from disgraced.

Theo Walcott was replaced late on by David Beckham, the England wizard provided a decent attacking threat from the right hand side and when given the ball, delivered several opportunities to England’s forward players.

Johan Djourou Switzerland 2-1 Latvia

Striker Blaise Nkufo scored with a 72nd-minute header to give Switzerland a 2-1 victory over Latvia in a World Cup qualifier Saturday.

The goal, from a free kick by Swiss captain Alex Frei, redeemed Nkufo a minute after he failed in his marking duties at another free kick to prevent Deniss Ivanovs heading an equalizing goal for 10-man Latvia.

The Latvians survived rapid-fire shots in the 29th minute after defender Johan Djourou broke through and played the ball across an unguarded goalmouth. Nkufo was denied by a sliding tackle from Ivanovs.

Frei had put Switzerland ahead in the 63rd minute. Latvia midfielder Juris Laizans was red-carded in the 68th minute for a second punishable foul.

Johan Djourou started and came off due to a cut to the face in what proved a superb performance at the back for him.

Lukasz FabianskiPoland 2-0 Czech Republic

Wojciech Lobodzinski and Mariusz Lewandowski scored first-half goals Wednesday to give Poland a 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic in a friendly.

Poland took early advantage of Czech defensive mistakes and capitalized in the sixth minute when Lobodzinski slotted the ball past the goalkeeper to the delight of the majority of fans in a tiny crowd of 600.

Poland again exploited the Czech defense in the 29th when Lewandowski picked up a bad clearance and sent a curling shot into the top corner of the goal from 18 meters (yards).

Despite being two goals down, the Czechs continued to press throughout the match but could not finish several good chances.

Lukasz Fabianski replaced Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc as the second half began and kept out the Czech’s with some marvellous shot stopping.

You can read all about the African Qualifiers, one of which Emmanuel Adebayor bagged four goals, here.

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