Argentine forward Sergio Agüero (front) vies for the ball with Paraguan defender Dario Veron during their World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires on Saturday. The match ended 1-1. (AFP)

London: French pride took a fresh hammering on Saturday when the national team were humbled 1-3 in Austria as Europe’s big guns began their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaigns.

It proved to be the only major upset on a day when holders Italy snatched a 2-1 stoppage-time win in Cyprus, European champions Spain edged Bosnia 1-0 and Germany crushed Liechtenstein 6-0. England were booed before beating Andorra 2-0 (briefly reported in Sunday’s Late City edition).

Argentina’s indifferent qualifying campaign continued on Saturday when they were held 1-1 at home by Paraguay and had striker Carlos Tevez sent off early again.

The point kept Paraguay top of the 10-team South American group on 14 from seven games with Argentina two points behind in second place following their third draw in a row. Peru beat Venezuela 1-0 to move off the bottom and Colombia lost 0-1 at home to Uruguay, who jumped to third.

Brazil, away to Chile on Sunday, temporarily dropped to sixth and out of the qualifying places. The top four teams qualify for South Africa in 2010 and the fifth plays off against a side from the Concacaf region.

France coach Raymond Domenech needed a positive start after the debacle of his team’s failure to survive the group stage at the European Championship in June.

Domenech, who is bound to come under renewed fire from the French media, had promised that France would come out fighting in Vienna after limping out of Euro 2008.

However, goals from Marc Janko, Rene Aufhauser and Andreas Ivanschitz left them reeling in Group Seven as Austria marked the first competitive game of new coach Karel Brueckner with a stunning win.

“It’s never nice to lose,” Domenech told reporters. “I have my feelings about what happened but I need to watch the game on video to confirm my impressions.”

World champions Italy made a stuttering start as Marcello Lippi began a second term in charge of the Azzurri, having steered them to 2006 World Cup glory over France.

Two goals from Antonio Di Natale, the second a stoppage-time winner, earned a 2-1 victory over Cyprus in their Group Eight opener in Larnaca.

Former Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque began his reign as coach of Spain with a home victory in Group Five against Bosnia, courtesy of David Villa’s second-half strike.

Del Bosque took over from Luis Aragones after Spain’s Euro 2008 final victory over Germany.

The Germans were far more convincing on Saturday in their Group Four demolition of Liechtenstein, helped by two goals from Lukas Podolski either side of halftime.

Fellow Italian Giovanni Trapattoni, also taking charge of his first competitive fixture as Ireland coach, enjoyed a 2-1 victory over Georgia in a match played in Germany because of Georgia’s recent conflict with Russia.

Elsewhere, Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey beat Armenia 2-0 in Group Five and Group One favourites Portugal were 4-0 winners in Malta in Carlos Queiroz’s first competitive game in charge since taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari.

There were disappointing starts for Romania, Poland and Sweden, all of whom played at Euro 2008.

Romania were humbled 3-0 at home by Lithuania in Group Seven, Sweden were held 0-0 by Albania in Tirana in Group One and Poland drew 1-1 at home to Slovenia in Group Three.

Andriy Shevchenko scored a last-minute penalty to give Ukraine, who qualified for the finals for the first time in Germany two years ago, a 1-0 victory over Belarus in Group Six.

Europe’s 53 teams are chasing 13 of the 32 final berths in South Africa with the nine group winners qualifying directly along with four runners-up who come through a playoff round.

The Mexico and US reeled off wins in Concacaf World Cup qualifiers on Saturday on a day that mixed soccer with politics.

The US beat Cuba 1-0 in Havana, their first visit to the island for 61 years, with a first-half Clint Dempsey goal.

The third round Group A match took place against the backdrop of a 46-year-old US trade embargo against Cuba, imposed after Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution and allied the country with the Soviet Union.

Tevez, sent off in the first half of the 1-2 defeat in Colombia in November for a petulant kick at an opponent, faces a ticking off from coach Alfio Basile after leaving his team in the lurch again.

The Manchester United forward, playing only his second international since then, was dismissed after two bad tackles in the first 31 minutes.

French defender Philippe Mexes said on Sunday he was to blame for France’s humiliating 1-3 defeat to Austria.

Mexes added that the players stood by embattled coach Raymond Domenech, who managed to keep his job after his side’s group-stage exit from Euro 2008 but still faces an uncertain future.

Mexes was involved in the first goal conceded by the World Cup runners-up on Saturday in Vienna and was responsible for the penalty that enabled Austria to seal their first victory over France in 38 years.

French media reacted to the defeat by saying Domenech would be axed if France failed to beat Serbia in their next Group Seven qualifier on Wednesday in Paris.

Result

Europe

• Albania 0 Sweden 0
• Hungary 0 Denmark 0
• Portugal 4 Malta 0
• Israel 2 Switzerland 2
• Latvia 2 Moldova 1
• Greece 3 Luxembourg 0
  
• Slovakia 2 Northern Ireland 1 l Poland 1 Slovenia 1
• Wales 1 Azerbaijan 0
• Germany 6 Liechtenstein 0 l Turkey 2 Armenia 0
• Belgium 3 Estonia 2
• Spain 1 Bosnia 0
• England 2 Andorra 0
• Croatia 3 Kazakhstan 0
• Ukraine 1 Belarus 0
• Austria 3 France 1
• Lithuania 3 Romania 0
• Serbia 2 Faroe Islands 0
• Italy 2 Cyprus 1
  
• Ireland 2 Georgia 1
• Montenegro 2 Bulgaria 2
• Macedonia 1 Scotland 0
• Norway 2 Iceland 2

Asia

• Qatar 3 Uzbekistan 0 Japan 3 Bahrain 2 North Korea 2 uae 1
• Saudi Arabia 1 Iran 1
• South America
• Peru 1 Venezuela 0
• Uruguay 1 Colombia 0
• Ecuador 3 Bolivia 1
• Argentina 1 Paraguay 1

Concacaf

• United States 1 Cuba 0
• Trinidad & Tobago 1 Guatemala 1
• Honduras 2 Canada 1
• Mexico 3 Jamaica 0