By David Hobbs
August 18 2005

Manchester United players were in international friendly action on Wednesday night as the final stages of World Cup qualifying fixtures loom.

England 1 - 4 Denmark
Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney all played their part in England's 3-0 defeat by Denmark. The United trio started the game in Denmark but Neville was replaced by Glen Johnson at half time.

England were lackluster throughout the second-half and conceded 3 week goals in 10 minutes as Dennis Rommedahl, Jon Tomasson, Michael Gravgaard all bagged a goal each. Wayne Rooney salvaged a goal back late in the game following fantastic work from David Beckham but Larsen struck late on.

Holland 2 - 2 Germany
Ruud van Nistelrooy picked up a yellow card as Holland entertained the World Cup 2006 hosts and took an early lead through Chelsea's Arjen Robben.

Marco van Basten's youthful Oranje were held to a draw, courtesy of a Robben double, with United target Michael Ballack bagging a goal. Edwin van der Sar played his part in the game also, conceding a late Gerald Asamoah goal as the Germans found an equalizer.

Republic of Ireland 1 - 2 Italy
John O'Shea played his part in the Republic's 2-1 defeat at home to Italy. Gilardinho and Pirlo opened the scoring in the first-half before Spurs' Andy Reid struck back. Liam Miller replaced O'Shea with just minutes to go.

Hungary 1 - 2 Argentina
Gabriel Heinze earned the Argentina national side a morale-boosting victory over Hungary. The United Player of the Year could be fit for the Red Devils in their next Premiership clash with Aston Villa. Rodriguez put the visitors in the lead before Torghelle equalized prior to Heinze's winner.

David Hobbs - Webmaster
[david@manutdweb.com]