JOHN TERRY atoned for a blunder to lead England to a 2-1 victory over Germany in Berlin on Wednesday.

Both of England’s goals were scored by central defenders in another impressive performance by Fabio Capello’s team, which has also won all four of its World Cup qualifying matches.

Matthew Upson scored in the 24th minute after Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler missed Stewart Downing’s corner. Germany punished a mix up between Terry and goalkeeper Scott Carson and Patrick Helmes equalized in the 64th minute, but the England captain made up by heading home a free kick in the 84th.

“The result is important. The performance was very good because we played in Berlin against a good team. We had a lot of chances to score goals,” Capello said. “I liked the attitude of the team. We played with confidence and personality, which is important.”

In the only World Cup qualifying game to be played in Europe, the Czech Republic beat San Marino 3-0 to revive its chances of reaching the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Among the 23 friendlies spread across Europe, European champion Spain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Chile to improve its unbeaten streak to 28 matches, World Cup holder Italy earned a 1-1 draw at Greece, and France was held to a 0-0 draw at home by Uruguay with French fans calling for coach Raymond Domenech to quit.

Spain striker David Villa scored a 38th-minute penalty to take his tally to 24 in 41 matches, Fernando Torres added a second in the 67th and Santi Cazorla collected the third with four minutes to go.

Four minutes after Fanis Gekas had given the Greeks a 50th-minute lead, Italy striker Luca Toni leveled to maintain Marcello Lippi’s record of 31 games without a defeat. Lippi guided Italy to the 2006 World Cup title and then replaced Roberto Donadoni and shares the unbeaten record with Javier Clemente of Spain and Alfio Basile of Argentina.

“This is an issue that’s been chasing me for some time and of course I’m pleased,” Lippi said. “I hope we continue to win or do well in all our games.”

Norway’s John Arne Riise was sent off in his team’s 1-0 loss to Ukraine for kicking the ball into the referee’s back after disputing a decision.(SD-Agencies)