Hurri-Kane brewing, Cristiano Ronaldo can't stop scoring

London, March 27

England and Portugal made it two wins out of two at the start of European Championship qualifying, helped by their star players continuing their record-breaking streaks.

Harry Kane struck a record-extending 55th goal for his country to help England beat Ukraine 2-0, while Cristiano Ronaldo netted twice in his 198th appearance for Portugal in a 6-0 win over Luxembourg.

Slovenia was the other team with a perfect start to qualifying for Euro 2024 after two matches as they beat San Marino 2-0. Defending champions Italy got their first win of the qualifying campaign as it beat Malta 2-0.

Kane continues

After surpassing Wayne Rooney as England’s outright leading scorer with his penalty in Thursday’s 2-1 win against Italy in Naples, Kane extended his record streak at Wembley.

The England captain struck in the 37th minute of the Group C game, converting Bukayo Saka’s cross at the far post.

Saka deservedly got on the scoresheet himself three minutes later when turning on the edge of the area and curling a shot into the top corner.

Italy bounced back from their opening defeat to England with victory in Malta, with Mateo Retegui netting again. The Argentina-born forward, who has Italian citizenship through his maternal grandmother, headed in a corner for the Azzurri’s opener in the 15th minute.

Retegui became the first Italy player to score in his first two competitive international matches in nearly 55 years. The Azzurri doubled their tally in the 27th minute when Matteo Pessina tapped in a low cross from Emerson. — AP