Spain, in their first competitive outing since scaling football's global summit at Soccer City in July, swept aside Lichtenstein 4-0 in Vaduz. Liverpool forward Fernando Torres rediscovered his touch with a double, the rout completed by the two Davids, Villa and Silva.

Holland, defeated 1-0 by Spain in the World Cup final, were also quick out of the blocks on the long road to Ukraine and Poland, Bert van Marwijk's Oranje dishing out a 5-0 beating to minnows San Marino.

At Wembley, England, desperately disappointing in South Africa, went some way on the road to redemption with a sparkling 4-0 rout of Bulgaria. Jermain Defoe's treble and Adam Johnson's first goal for the Three Lions will have helped relieve the mounting pressure on coach Fabio Capello.

Germany, who so cruelly exposed England at the World Cup, where they finished third, eked out a 1-0 win over Belgium in Brussels.

World Cup flops France entered their post-Raymond Domenech era in the same way they had left it, with a defeat - new manager Laurent Blanc's competitive debut resulting in a 1-0 home loss to Belarus.