SAN MARINO is a popular holiday spot for Germans, but there can have been few happier tourists than Joachim Löw’s team last night. The World Cup semi-finalists edged past Ireland 1-0 on Saturday, but added 13 without reply last night as the hosts justified their position 59 places below Andorra in the world rankings.
Six ahead at the break, Germany went on to record the highest score in the European Championship — Spain’s 12-1 win over Malta in 1983 was the previous best — in a match likely to refuel the debate over whether the weaker European nations should enter a pre-qualifying tournament.
Lukas Podolski scored four, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Miroslav Klose added two goals each and the others came from Michael Ballack, Manuel Friedrich and Bernd Schneider.
Roy Hodgson’s fine start as Finland coach continued with a 1-1 draw at home to Portugal, four days after winning 3-1 away to Poland. Holland improved after a 1-0 victory over Luxembourg with a 3-0 win against Belarus. Robin van Persie, of Arsenal, scored the first two and Dirk Kuyt, of Liverpool, added the third.