Italy sounds World Cup warning

Italy scored the most emphatic victory of the night with a 4-1 win over Germany when soccer's major powers began their final preparations for the World Cup finals in earnest on Wednesday.

Germany, the hosts for this summer's extravaganza, were not the only big losers on the first night of important warm-up friendlies exactly 100 days before the finals begin on June 9.

Argentina, tipped as potential World Cup winners, fell 3-2 to Croatia who won with an injury-time goal in neutral Basel, while France lost for the first time since July 2004, beaten 2-1 in Paris by visitors Slovakia.

World Cup finalists Sweden also had a night to forget, crashing 3-0 to Ireland in Dublin, a little consolation for the Irish who narrowly failed to reach the finals themselves.

World champions Brazil braved freezing conditions in Moscow to beat Russia 1-0, while England, also tipped to do well in Germany, came from behind to beat Uruguay 2-1 in Liverpool with another stoppage-time winner.

CONVINCING WIN

Italy, looking to win the World Cup for the first time since their third triumph in 1982 when they beat West Germany, were too good for the Germans in Florence.

They raced into a 3-0 halftime lead at the Franchi stadium with goals from Alberto Gilardino, Luca Toni and Daniele De Rossi.

Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero added Italy's fourth soon after the restart to give the Azzurri their most convincing win since Marcello Lippi took over as coach in August 2004.

Defender Robert Huth grabbed a late consolation goal for Juergen Klinsmann's well-beaten side as Germany suffered their heaviest defeat against the Italians since losing 5-2 in a friendly in 1939.

DEJA VU

It was a case of deja vu for Argentina, who lost 3-2 to Croatia in neutral Switzerland after conceding a stoppage time goal.

Argentina conceded a late goal to England in a 3-2 defeat in neutral Switzerland in November -- but appeared set for a better night after two goals in the opening six minutes from Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi cancelled out Ivan Klasnic's third-minute opener for Croatia.

Barcelona teenager Messi's first goal for Argentina was to prove irrelevant, however, as Croatia turned things around in the second half with headers from Darijo Srna and Dario Simic -- who scored with a stoppage-time header.

There was also a shock defeat for France, who lost under coach Raymond Domenech for the first time since he took over from Jacques Santini after Euro 2004.

Substitutes Szilard Nemeth and Jozef Valachovic netted for the Slovaks in the second half before Les Bleus pulled a goal back with a penalty from Sylvain Wiltord 15 minutes from time.

Slovakia failed to qualify for the World Cup in Germany in June while France had gone 17 games without defeat since their quarter-final elimination by Greece at Euro 2004.

BRAZIL WIN

Brazil began the final preparations for the defence of their title with a 1-0 win in Moscow over Russia where Ronaldo scored the only goal after 14 minutes.

"This was the coldest match I have ever been involved in with any sort of team at any level," Parreira told reporters. "I've never been in a situation like this before. I was freezing on the bench."

The goal warmed Brazil though, who played more defensively than usual and survived a series of Russian attempts in the second half.

England's year began with a victory too, thanks to Joe Cole's winning strike three minutes into stoppage time against Uruguay.

The South Americans, who failed to reach the finals, had taken the lead with a spectacular volley from midfielder Omar Pouso after 26 minutes and held it until Peter Crouch equalised for England with a header 15 minutes from time.

DUTCH DELIGHT

There were also wins for the Netherlands, who beat fellow finalists Ecuador 1-0 in Amsterdam, Portugal, who beat fellow finalists Saudi Arabia 3-0 Duesseldorf and Switzerland, who won 3-1 at Hampden Park against Scotland, who have not won a friendly international there for 10 years.

Spain twice came from behind to beat fellow finalists Ivory Coast 3-2 in Valladolid to extend their unbeaten run to 19 games. Central defender Juanito headed the winner five minutes from the end.

The United States also did well to beat fellow finalists Poland 1-0 in a snowstorm in Kaiserslautern.

But the weather proved too much for Belgium, whose match against Luxembourg was called off after 64 minutes with the Belgians leading 2-0 because a blizzard in Luxembourg made conditions impossible to continue.