England find a partner for Owen

Alan Smith and Lee Bowyer, Leeds United team-mates, provided encouragement for coach Sven Goran Eriksson when they combined to put England ahead in their 1-1 draw against Portugal in a friendly match at Villa Park. Bowyer, given his chance in the absence of David Beckham and Paul Scholes, combined with Smith for a goal manufactured at Elland Road. Bowyer, relishing the opportunity of establishing himself at international level now that his court case is behind him, read Smith's near-post run and curled a cross on to the abrasive striker's dyed blond locks.

After the usual clutch of substitutions, which gave Jonathan Woodgate the chance to follow Bowyer back into the international reckoning, Portugal looked the more confident side. Eager to atone for their poor World Cup display they made a start with Costinha's equaliser.

But there were positives for Eriksson to take from the game. The Swede was particularly impressed with Smith's performance as Michael Owen's partner in attack. He said: "Alan showed that he is really ready for the senior team and that is very good for us. You now know that when there are qualification games he is ready. He had a really good game today. He can play in several different positions and he scored a beautiful goal."

Bowyer and Smith combined well in the post-match interviews. While the striker had "enjoyed every minute of it", Bowyer professed to have "loved every minute of it". "It was the biggest game of my life, the first time representing my country at the highest level," he said. Things did not work out quite so well for Woodgate, but he was unlucky. As Eriksson said: "Woodgate got a knock early on in the second half and suffered with it a bit."

Nothing for England yesterday was as serious as what happened to Scotland. The masters of the unlikely lapse avoided their most embarrassing defeat when they came from behind to force a 2-2 draw away to the Faroe Islands in their opening match in European Championship qualifying Group Five. A late equaliser from Barry Ferguson barely covered the cracks.

Even after ending the run of defeats under Berti Vogts at five, the German still possesses the worst starting record of any Scotland coach. Vogts should have known what to expect. Scotland could only draw there in similar circumstances three years ago, and it could have been so much worse. After 11 minutes the Scots were trailing to two goals from John Petersen, who squandered the chance of a hat-trick eight minutes into the second half, one of several wasted by the Faroese before and after Paul Lambert put the Scots back in the game with an hour gone.

By contrast, Wales appear to be emerging from their long tunnel. Mark Hughes' side built on promising performances in friendlies by opening their campaign in Group Nine with an excellent 2-0 victory in Finland. Wales worked hard under pressure in Helsinki, and stole the points with goals from Celtic's John Hartson and Tottenham's Simon Davies. That makes six games unbeaten.

The Republic of Ireland came unstuck on a tricky trip to Russia. They lost 4-2 in a Group 10 match in Moscow where a fightback, featuring strikes from Gary Doherty and Clinton Morrison, was ended by a Phil Babb own goal.