Maradona secures debut win

By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Diego Maradona enjoyed a winning start as Argentina coach with victory over Scotland on Wednesday while Marcello Lippi equalled a world record in charge of Italy.

Among the pick of the other friendlies in Europe, a late header from captain John Terry earned England a 2-1 win against old foes Germany, European champions Spain swept Chile aside 3-0 and Robin van Persie's brace helped the Netherlands beat Sweden 3-1.

Elsewhere, World Cup runners-up France were held scoreless at home to Uruguay and in the only World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, the Czech Republic got their bid to reach the finals in South Africa back on track with a 3-0 win over lowly San Marino.

Maradona waited just eight minutes for his first goal in charge of Argentina when Maxi Rodriguez rounded off a slick, defence-splitting move which echoed moves orchestrated by his new boss when he captained the South Americans to victory at the 1986 World Cup.

Scotland regrouped and threatened to spoil Maradona's party, but their best efforts were denied by Argentina goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo and some desperate defending.

"Argentina had 25 brilliant minutes at the beginning and couldn't put away more chances. It was a totally fair result," Maradona told a news conference.

"We gave the ball away later on but Scotland were unable to profit from that...We could have had the ball more and won by more," added Maradona, who scored his first Argentina goal as an 18-year-old at Hampden in a 3-1 win over the Scots in 1979.

WORLD RECORD