Dutch, Germans stunned as England and Spain win

Saturday USA 5 - 1 ScotlandNorway 0 - 1 EnglandGreece 1 - 1 SloveniaCzech Republic 2 - 1 IsraelNetherlands 1 - 2 BulgariaSwitzerland 5 - 3 GermanyPortugal 0 - 0 MacedoniaSpain 2 - 0 SerbiaDenmark 1 - 3 BrazilBASEL - Germany and the Netherlands, two of the sides widely-tipped as potential UEFA EURO 2012 contenders, both suffered friendly defeats on Saturday.The Germans slumped to a shock 5-3 defeat in Switzerland, while the Dutch were booed off in Amsterdam after surrendering a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 against Bulgaria. Defending European and world champions Spain, however, showed off their depth when a second-string side defeated Serbia 2-0. England, meanwhile, gave Roy Hodgson a winning start as new national coach with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Norway in Oslo.Germany, who rested their eight-strong Bayern Munich contingent, suffered their first loss to Switzerland, who failed to qualify for EURO 2012, since 1956. Joachim Low’s Germany qualified for EURO 2012 without losing a match, but they have now lost two friendlies in succession having been defeated 2-1 by France in February.Their last friendly will be against Israel on 31 May before embarking on their EURO campaign against Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark in Group B.Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok, who has just left Bayer Leverkusen for fellow German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, grabbed a hat-trick in Basel with Andre Lichtsteiner and Admir Mehmedi also on target. Mats Hummels, Andre Schuerrle and Marco Reus hit back for the Germans.“We didn’t expect a result like this and we cannot be satisfied by it,” said Low. “After a lot of intensive training sessions, it’s clear that we didn’t concentrate enough and made a lot of mistakes. The team didn’t function, we weren’t good today.”Roy Hodgson made a winning start to his reign as England manager after an Ashley Young goal in the ninth minute gave his side a 1-0 victory over Norway in Oslo. With EURO 2012 starting on 8 June, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque fielded a host of fringe players with Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao stars having played in Friday’s Copa del Rey final. That left the door open for the likes of Atletico Madrid’s Adrian Lopez to state his case, and he didn’t disappoint, heading the world champions into a 64th-minute lead.

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Dutch, Germans stunned as England and Spain win