From the Back Pages: 9/4/2010

Corry Evans becomes Northern Ireland hero via:(Reuters UK)

ENGLAND 4, BULGARIA 0 Rooney played all 90 minutes, and Carrick stayed on the bench. More on Rooney below: The BBC: Fabio Capello hails England hat-trick man Jermain Defoe The FA: Hat-trick hero lauds Rooney The Telegraph: Jermain Defoe hails 'the sweetest hat-trick of my career' Sky Sports: Fabio delighted by deadly Defoe The Republik of Mancuina: VIDEO: Rooney behind all four of England's goals Goal.com: England goalkeeper Joe Hart: I stole my technique from Kasper Schmeichel The BBC: Tottenham's Michael Dawson waits on knee injury scan UEFA: Defoe hat-trick helps England defeat Bulgaria

LITHUANIA 0, SCOTLAND 0: Darren Fletcher skippered Scotland in Craig Levein's first match in charge and played all 90 minutes.

• The Guardian: Craig Levein presides over damaging draw for Scotland in Lithuania
• Sky Sports: Levein's Scots settle for point
• UEFA: Nothing to separate Lithuania and Scotland

ARMENIA 0, IRELAND 1: John O'Shea anchored the Irish defense for 90 minutes, but Darron Gibson went unused.

• The BBC: Giovanni Trapattoni hails 'important win' over Armenia
  
• Irish Times: Ugly at times but three points matter most
• Belfast Telegraph: Cool Keith Fahey puts his name on the game for Republic (In Pictures)
• UEFA: Fahey earns Ireland three points in Armenia
  

FAROE ISLANDS 0, SERBIA 3: Nemanja Vidic (#5) played all 90 minutes...Zoran Tosic was an unused sub.

• ESPN: Zigic rounds off easy win
• Yahoo!:  Serbia captain scores in 3-0 win over Faroe Islands
• SB Nation: Serbia Cruises to 3-0 Win at Faroe Islands
• UEFA: Serbia ease to victory in the Faroes
  

Much more after the jump!

PORTUGAL 4, CYPRUS 4: Nani played for a very long 90 minutes

• Yahoo!: Weak Portugal held to thrilling 4-4 draw by Cyprus
• UEFA: Avraam earns Cyprus a point in Portugal

NORTHERN IRELAND 1, SLOVENIA 0: Corry Evans proved to be the hero, scoring in the 70th after coming on in the 67th. Craig Cathcart played all 90 minutes after Jonny Evans was ruled out with a groin injury.

• Belfast Telegraph: Nigel Worthington's praise for Northern Ireland's young guns
• Irish Times: Northern Ireland end winless streak as Evans secures the points
• The Daily Mail: Corry the super sub proves Worthy winner
  
• Sky Sports: Slovenia 0 N Ireland1
  
• UEFA: Evans the hero as Northern Ireland stun Slovenia
  

U21: PORTUGAL 0, ENGLAND 1: Bebe played all 90 minutes for Portugal, wearing #16; Tom Cleverley and Chris Smalling played 90 minutes for England and Danny Welbeck was brought off in the 84th.

• ESPN: Sturridge strikes as England beat Portugal
• The Daily Mail: Sir Alex Ferguson must wait for Bebe to blossom after indifferent showing for Portugal Under-21s
• The FA: Sturridge secures points in Portugal
• The Republik of Mancuina: How did Bebe do for Portugal U-21? I watched a good portion of this game, and I think this would be a fair assessment of Bebe's play. He concludes his opinion with:

In conclusion, he is "far off full fitness yet and needs a lot of coaching. He must up his football-IQ to become a Premier League hit. If only he’d been 17 or 18…

• UEFA: Sturridge sinks Portugal and keeps England alive
  

PAUL SCHOLES:

• Sky Sports: Scholes surprised to play on
• ESPN: Scholes: I thought last season would be the end
  
• The Sun: I thought I'd be done by now
  
• Sky Sports: Capello reveals Scholes U-turn Can we please drop it and move on?
  

SIR ALEX:

• The Daily Mail: Sir Alex Ferguson didn't knock us off our perch...Graeme Souness did, says Liverpool's Jamie Carragher
• The Guardian: Jamie Carragher: 'Souness not Ferguson knocked Liverpool off the top'

OTHER SQUAD NEWS:

• The FA: I'll give it my all Danny Welbeck talks with thefa.com
• Manutd.com (requires registration): VIDEO: Berba impresses Irwin
• Manutd.com: Park: There's more to come
• Manchester Evening News: Giggs on the secret to his United success
  
• Press Association: Park: Best is yet to come
• Sky Sports: Park not worried about Blues
• The Sun: We can't afford a stroll in the Park
  
• Sky Sports: Fletcher ready to shine
• The Telegraph: Jamie Carragher asks Liverpool fans not to abuse Michael Owen in charity testimonial Thanks, we'd appreciate it if you'd return him in one piece. 
  
• ESPN: Carragher urges Liverpool fans to lay off Owen
• The Daily Mail: Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher insists Michael Owen deserves respect at Anfield - despite joining bitter rivals Manchester United
  
• The Telegraph: Manchester United fans prepare 'old shirt' protest against Glazer family Oh boy, now we get to see everyone wear their 'retro' ugly shirts from the 90's that Um,bro and Adidas made: