Madrid  - European champions Spain increased their lead at the top of World Cup qualifying Group 5 on Saturday, with a tight 1-0 defeat of Turkey in Madrid.

Spain won thanks to the first international goal of Gerard Pique - and thanks to several sharp saves from Iker Casillas, arguably the world's best goalkeeper at the moment.

Turkey dominated the first half, but the hosts improved after the interval and took control in midfield.

Johannesburg - There were good wins for Togo, Gabon, Tunisia and Burkina Faso on Saturday as African countries started their final phase of the 2010 World Cup qualifying.

In Ouagadougou goals by Mahamoudou Kere and Alain Traore gave Burkina Faso a 2-0 half-time lead against Guinea in a Group E match before Moumouni Dagano added a second from the spot eight minutes after the restart.

Buenos Aires  - Argentina coach Diego Maradona on Saturday granted to superstar Lionel Messi the prestigious number 10 jersey that he once wore himself.

Maradona - nicknamed "El Diez" because he is for most the best player ever to wear that shirt - picked Barcelona striker Messi as one of his successors prior to his first competitive game as national team coach, against Venezuela in Buenos Aires.

Montevideo  - Uruguay beat the mighty Paraguay by 2-0 Saturday, to add excitement to the South American qualifiers towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Paraguay - who lost in Montevideo in a game where they could not impose their trademark play - remain comfortable atop the qualifiers table. Even if second-placed Brazil beat Ecuador Sunday, Paraguay would retain a three-point lead with 23 points from 11 games.

Hamburg  - Germany defeated Liechtenstein 4-0 in World Cup qualifying on Saturday but group rivals Russia remained on their heels with a 2-0 over Azerbaijan.

Captain Michael Ballack, Marcell Jansen, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski were on target for the three-time world champions Germany in Leipzig.

In Moscow, Roman Pavlyuchenko scored and set up Konstantin Zyrianov for the other as Russia prevailed over Azerbaijan.

Leipzig, Germany  - Germany defeated minnows Liechtenstein 4-0 on Saturday with efficiency rather than class to maintain a four-point lead in their World Cup qualifying group.

Captain Michael Ballack opened the scoring in the fourth minute, his 40th personal goal and 200th for Germany in World Cup qualifying overall. Marcell Jansen, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski got the other goals.

Germany top Group 4 with 13 points from five games ahead of Russia, who have nine from four games. Only the group winner qualifies directly for the 2010 finals in South Africa.