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Belgium manager makes winning competitive debut

Sep 07, 2016

Former Everton boss Roberto Martinez has made a winning competitive debut as Belgium manager, after his side beat Cyprus 3-0 in their 2018 World Cup qualifier.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice to help ease the pressure off Martinez, after his team were outplayed by Spain in a friendly last week.

Meanwhile, in Group H, Gibraltar's first-ever World Cup qualifier ended in a 4-1 defeat to Greece.

Elsewhere, European champions Portugal, without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, lost 2-0 to Switzerland in Group B.

This is their first competitive defeat in 2 years under coach Fernando Santos.

And in Group A, Sweden began life without Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands., while France could only manage a goalless draw at Belarus.

Over in the Asian qualifiers, former Premier League star Tim Cahill came off the bench to score the winner, as Australia edged the UAE 1-0 in Abu Dhabi.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia won 2-1 against Iraq, while Japan beat Thailand 2-nil in Bangkok.