United in Europe

Rio Ferdinand lived the dream of leading England out as captain on Wednesday night, but there was no fairytale ending as the Three Lions slumped to a 1-0 defeat in the Stade de France.

A first-half Frank Ribery penalty was enough to hand the home side victory in a match that also saw David Beckham win his 100th England cap.

Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves completed 90 minutes in Paris, while Wayne Rooney (45 minutes) and Wes Brown (63 minutes) also turned out for England. Patrice Evra was an unused substitute for the French side.

In London, Reds midfielder Anderson came on for the last half-an-hour as Brazil beat Sweden 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium. A large section of the crowd, presumably Arsenal fans, booed Anderson’s every touch.

Darren Fletcher was also involved in international action, with Scotland coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Croatia at Hampden Park.

Elsewhere, Tomasz Kuszczak was an unused substitute as the USA ran out 3-0 winners in Poland, while Nemanja Vidic played 74 minutes in Serbia’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Ukraine.