ROME - Italy remained perfect without Mario Balotelli. The Netherlands, meanwhile, still appears to be in a post-World Cup slump.Giorgio Chiellini accounted for all three goals in Italys 2-1 win over Azerbaijan in European Championship qualifying Friday and World Cup semifinalist Netherlands laboured to a surprisingly hard-earned 3-1 victory over 10-man Kazakhstan.Also, World Cup quarterfinalist Belgium held target practice for a 6-0 victory over tiny Andorra.Elsewhere, Croatia won 1-0 at Bulgaria and is level with Italy atop Group H.The Czech Republic beat Turkey 2-1 in Istanbul and Iceland won 3-0 in Latvia to remain atop Group A.Wales took the Group B lead by one point over Cyprus, Israel and Belgium after holding Bosnia-Herzegovina to a 0-0 draw in Cardiff.The top two finishers from the nine groups qualify automatically. The best third-placed team also qualifies automatically, and the other eight can qualify through a playoff.The second batch of Euro 2016 qualifiers continues through Tuesday.___GROUP ADefender Renat Abdulin gave 127th-ranked Kazakhstan a shock lead at the Amsterdam Arena with a powerful 17th-minute header from a poorly-defended corner and the Netherlands had an anxious wait until the 62nd minute when substitute Klaas Jan Huntelaar levelled.A deflected 82nd-minute shot by Ibrahim Afellay, who started his first international in nearly two years, put the Dutch ahead before Robin van Persies penalty in the last minute of regulation time secured the three points and coach Guus Hiddinks first win in three matches since taking over from Louis van Gaal after the World Cup.In the end, it was a good result, said Van Persie.In Istanbul, Umut Bulut gave Turkey the lead in the eighth minute but defender Tomas Sivok levelled seven minutes later when he headed in a corner. Borek Dockal gave the Czechs victory with a neat finish just before the hour mark.Latvia held Iceland goalless for more than an hour before Gylfi Sigurdsson opened the scoring in the 66th and Aron Gunnarsson and substitute Rurik Gislason completed the comfortable victory.___GROUP BGroup B is wide open after Fridays matches with Wales taking the lead with four points from two games after a tough goalless draw at home against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Belgium and Israel both opened their campaign with victories to join Cyprus on three points.Kevin De Bruyne and Dries Mertens scored two goals each for Belgium and Divock Origi and Nacer Chadli added the rest to give the victory a special World Cup flavour since most of the scorers were instrumental in Brazil.We have had a good start and we are on our way, Origi said before the Red Devils departed for Bosnia for their second game on Monday.Israel also had a successful start, beating Cyprus in Nicosia 2-1 with goals from Omer Damari and Tal Ben Haim.___GROUP HWith Balotelli struggling to find his form since transferring to Liverpool a€” failing to score in five English Premier League appearances a€” new Italy coach Antonio left him off the squad again.While Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza provided the scoring last month, it was all Chiellini this time.In Palermo, Azerbaijan defended with 10 men and Italy had trouble creating opportunities until Chiellini took advantage of an error by the goalkeeper to give the Azzurri the lead in the 44th.Chiellini then scored into his own net in the 76th as he attempted to defend a corner kick but he made up for his error by heading in again in the 82nd.In good and bad I did it all, said Chiellini, the victim of Luis Suarezs bite at the World Cup. But the important thing is we came out on top.In Bulgaria, Nikolay Bodurov scored an own goal for Croatia in the 36th.Norway, which won 3-0 at Malta, got two goals from Blackburn forward Joshua King, who also set up the opening score from Mats Moller Daehli.Italy beat Norway in its opening qualifier and was also a winner over the Netherlands in a friendly to open Contes tenure. Damian Lillard Jersey . -- D.A. Points was disqualified Friday from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for using a training device while waiting to play the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. Jusuf Nurkic Jersey . With Bernard hurt, the second-round pick has emerged.Hill ran for 152 yards during a 27-10 win at New Orleans on Sunday, his second big game. He also ran for 154 yards against Jacksonville earlier this season. http://www.blazersteamofficial.com/ . -- LeGarrette Blount made one last big splash into a soggy end zone. Terry Porter Blazers Jersey .com) - Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist both scored in the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings denied the Minnesota Wilds comeback bid with a 5-4 win on Tuesday. Zach Collins Jersey . -- Down to 10 men and behind on the scoreboard, Toronto FC displayed its perseverance.DETROIT - If a contract extension between the Red Wings and Mike Babcock is indeed imminent, it appears to be news to the Detroit head coach.An animated Babcock addressed reporters after the Red Wings practice Thursday, candidly shooting down a media report that surfaced last night suggesting he was about to re-sign with the Original Six NHL club.Guys, this is like a fantasy world, Babcock said when asked about the report.Im happy here. I like the general manager, they treat me good. I dont know what else I can tell you.Babcock is in the last year of his current contract with the Red Wings, but he said he and general manager Ken Holland decided not to discuss contract negotiations during the season to prevent such talks from becoming a distraction.As far as negotiation between Mike Babcock and Ken Holland, there is none, he said. Do we ride on the plane together? Yeah. Was I out with his wife and his daughter the other night? Yeah. I think I had a glass of red wine and he had Coors Light. Therres nothing more to tell.ddddddddddddm not hiding anything, Im not making anything up, this is just reality. So lets not do this again tomorrow.The Red Wings have made the playoffs for nine straight seasons under Babcock, winning the Stanley Cup in 2008.They appear to be poised for another strong season. The Red Wings entered Thursday in first place in the Eastern Conference (17-6-6, 40 points).Babcock said the Red Wings impressive record this year should not come as a surprise.If you think Im working harder this year because Im in the last year of my contract, it makes no difference, he said. I grind, thats what I do. Im a professional grinder, I love winning.Babcock shrugged when asked whether he was getting tired of answering reporters questions about his contract status.They can write whatever they want, you guys get paid to make stuff up I guess, he replied. But the facts ... theres got to be something to do with the facts in the media somewhere, doesnt there? Youd think. ' ' '