Euro 2008, Global

GROUP A

Portugal left it late it Almaty to beat Kazakhstan 2-1. Hugo Almeida had a goal disallowed in the first half before young striker Azila Makukula finally headed Portugal in front in the 84th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo doubled the lead in the last minute before a stoppage time Dimitri Byakov header gave the Portuguese a late scare. Coach Luís Felipe Scolari continued to serve his touchline ban for striking Serbian left-back Ivica Dragutinovic.

Having dropped two points in Armenia, Serbia made no mistake in Baku, thrashing Azerbaijan 6-1. Dusko Tosic, Nikola Zigic (2), Bosko Jankovic, Milan Jovanovic and Danko Lazovic scored the goals, with Samir Aliyev finding Azerbaijan’s consolation. Matters, though, are now in the hands of Poland and Portugal.

Meanwhile, Wesley Sonck ended his seemingly eternal goal drought for Belgium, scoring a close-range header to give them the lead against Armenia in Brussels. Further second half goals from Moussa Dembélé and Karel Geraerts gave Belgium a victory that they rarely looked like achieving before half time.

Poland (P12, 24); Portugal (P12, 23); Serbia (P12, 20); Finland (P12, 20); Belgium (P12, 15); Armenia (P10, 9); Kazakhstan (P12, 7); Azerbaijan (P10, 5)

GROUP B

Scotland’s chances of an unlikely qualification took a huge blow as they lost miserably in Tbilisi, with an early header from Levan Mchedlidze and a second-half goal from David Siradze giving Georgia a surprise 2-0 win. France took advantage with two late goals in a minute from Thierry Henry seeing them past Lithuania in Nantes; Henry became France’s leading goalscorer ahead of Michel Platini in the process, reaching 43 international goals.

Italy didn’t play, so Scotland still have matters in their own hands. A win over the world champions at Hampden Park on 17th November will see Scotland qualify whilst, if the match is drawn, they will also qualify if France lose on the Wednesday night in Ukraine

Ukraine’s form in Kiev is encouraging for Scottish fans, with them registering a comprehensive 5-0 win over the Faroe Islands. Their outstanding playmaker Maksym Kalynychenko scored a hat-trick, with Oleh Husyev grabbing the other two.

France (P11, 25); Scotland (P11, 24); Italy (P10, 23); Ukraine (P10, 16); Lithuania (P10, 10); Georgia (P11, 10); Faroe Islands (P11, 0)

GROUP C

Turkey won 4-1 in Athens earlier in the campaign, so would have fancied their chances in the return match at Galatasaray’s beastly Ali Sami Yen stadium in Istanbul. A late Ioannis Amanatidis goal, however, gave Greece a fantastic win which seals the European champions’ place in Euro 2008. With Malta at home next up they are almost certain to win the group and will be seeded as holders in the finals draw on 2nd December in Lucerne.

Norway are now favourite to go through with Greece, winning 2-0 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Erik Hagen headed in a John Arne Riise free-kick inside the first five minutes to settle the Scandinavian side’s nerves, before Riise’s brother Bjørn Helge sealed the win in the second half with a right-footed drive.

Norway will qualify if they beat Turkey in Oslo on 17th November. Elsewhere, Moldova condemned Malta to a likely wooden spoon with a 3-2 win in Ta’Qali.

Greece (P10, 25) [Q]; Norway (P10, 20); Turkey (P10, 18); Bosnia-Herzegovina (P11, 13); Hungary (P10, 12); Moldova (P11, 9); Malta (P10, 5)

GROUP D

Done and dusted in Group D, with the Czech Republic avenging Germany’s 2-1 win in Prague with a magnificent 3-0 demolition job in Munich; Libor Sionko, Marek Matejovsky and Jaroslav Plasil’s goals stunning the home crowd in a mood for a party following Germany’s qualification on Saturday.

Republic of Ireland’s campaign hit a new low as they were booed off at full time at Croke Park in Dublin by over 50,000 supporters - a great turnout considering the low-profile opposition and the fact that their chances of qualifying were effectively over. A late header from Stelios Okkarides looks like ending Steve Staunton’s career as Ireland’s manager, despite a face-saving stoppage-time equalizer from Liverpool full-back Steve Finnan.

Things were barely better for Wales, despite a win. Captain Craig Bellamy described the atmosphere in San Marino as ‘viscious’ following their humiliating 3-1 defeat in Cyprus on Saturday. First half goals from Rob Earnshaw and Joe Ledley sealed the points, with Earnshaw also having two goals disallowed. But an excellent goal from an Andy Selva free-kick got San Marino back into the game and, despite finishing with ten men, the minnows gave John Toshack’s side a huge scare. Like Staunton, Toshack looks in danger of losing his job. The two struggling Celtic sides meet in the Millennium Stadium on 17th November and although qualification is out of reach, it will be an important chance for one side to regain the goodwill of their long-suffering supporters.

Czech Republic (P10, 23) [Q]; Germany (P10, 23) [Q]; Republic of Ireland (P11, 16); Cyprus (P10, 14); Slovakia (P10, 13); Wales (P10, 13); San Marino (P11, 0)

GROUP E

Having won five consecutive qualifying matches 3-0, England bottled it in Moscow. A superb Wayne Rooney volley on the half hour saw them looking at immediate qualification but it fell apart in four awful minutes in the final quarter.

Russia won a penalty after 68 minutes even though replays clearly showed Wayne Rooney’s foul was outside the box. Roman Pavlyuchenko converted the penalty and went on to pounce on a Paul Robinson parried save four minutes later. As a consequence, nobody has yet qualified but England are left praying that Russia drop points in Israel. If they should, a win at Wembley over Croatia on the Wednesday night would see England scrape into the finals. Croatia will qualify if Israel can take a point off Guus Hiddink’s side.

Should England fail to qualify it would surely end the unimpressive reign of Steve McClaren and José Mourinho has already been strongly linked to the job. The British media are salivating already.

Macedonia beat lowly Andorra 3-0 in Skopje in front of an improbable crowd of 20,000. Goals from Ilco Naumoski, Goce Sedloski and Lazio’s own Goran Pandev scored to seal a win which cements fifth place for Macedonia.

Croatia (P10, 26); England (P11, 23); Russia (P10, 21); Israel (P10, 17); Macedonia (P10, 11); Estonia (P11, 4); Andorra (P10, 0)

GROUP F

Plaudits to Nigel Worthington’s Northern Ireland side, who made up for their dreadful defeats in Latvia and Iceland with a fine performance in Stockholm. Olaf Mellberg’s early goal from a set piece looked to have confirmed qualification for Sweden but Northern Ireland looked impressive and confident, with left-winger Chris Brunt putting in a particularly fine performance. Kyle Lafferty’s stylish finish kept Northern Ireland in with a theoretical, if unlikely, chance of reaching a major tournament for the first time in 22 years.

Jon Dahl Tomasson, Ulrik Laursen and Dennis Rommedahl scored for Denmark in a 3-1 win over Latvia in the Parken Stadion in Copenhagen; Kaspars Gorkss scoring an irritating consolation for Latvia, who have fallen well short of repeating their miraculous success in reaching Euro 2004.

Liechtenstein registered the best result of the night, an incredible 3-0 win over an increasingly calamitous Iceland side in Vaduz; star striker Mario Frick gave them a half-time lead before two late Thomas Beck goals sealed Iceland’s humiliation. Liechtenstein have now amassed a laudible seven points in a tough group.

Sweden (P10, 23); Spain (P10, 22); Denmark (P10, 17); Northern Ireland (P10, 17); Latvia (P10, 9); Iceland (P11, 8); Liechtenstein (P11, 7)

GROUP H

Romania have qualified for their first major tournament since Euro 2000 win a functional 2-0 win in Luxembourg. Close range strikes from Florentin Petre and Ciprian Marica gave them the win as they dominated the home side.

Holland have also effectively qualified, beating Slovenia 2-0 in Eindhoven. Real Madrid’s superb midfielder Wesley Sneijder opened the scoring before Chelsea target Klaas Jan Huntelaar settled their nerves late on with a second. Bulgaria were held 1-1 in Albania - Dimitar Berbatov’s late equalizer cancelling out a Radostin Kishishev own goal in the first half - but Holland only need to beat minnows Luxembourg at home next month to seal their place in the finals.

Bulgaria will now be merely playing for pride against neighbours and rivals Romania on 17th November and will reflect on another underachieving campaign during the latter stages of which they have sorely missed Manchester City’s injured forward Valeri Bojinov.

Romania (P10, 26) [Q]; Holland (P10, 23); Bulgaria (P10, 19); Albania (P10, 11); Slovenia (P11, 11); Belarus (P10, 7); Luxembourg (P11, 3)

SOUTH AMERICA

Argentina won 2-0 in Venezuela thanks to first-half goals from defender Gabi Milito and attacking genius Lionel Messi, now team-mates at Barcelona. Brazil made up for their poor 0-0 draw in Colombia at the Weekend with a thumping 5-0 win over Ecuador at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. Vágner Love opened the scoring in the 19th minute but they rallied in the last twenty with Ronaldinho, Kaká (2) and Elano all converting.

Meanwhile, the other teams look much of a muchness. An early goal by Nelson Haedo Valdez saw Paraguay beat Uruguay 1-0 in Asunción while Chile got their first points with a 2-0 win over Peru; Humberto Suazo gave them an early advantage before promising Villarreal forward Matías Fernández sealed the win early in the second half. There was another goalless draw for Colombia, this time away to Bolivia.

FRIENDLIES

Cristiano Lucarelli scored twice in the last eight minutes to give an experimental Italian side a 2-0 win over World Cup 2010 hosts South Africa in Siena. Spain disappointed with a goalless draw in Finland while Egypt suffered a hangover from the weekend’s vital African Cup of Nations qualifying win over Botswana in Cairo, losing 4-1 in Japan. Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland slipped up in Basel, location of their three group matches, losing 1-0 to the U.S.A. whilst the Austrians fared better, getting a rare win over the Ivory Coast in Vienna. Didier Drogba scored twice for the visitors but the hosts produced on their best performances in recent years to win 3-2.

AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS

The draw will be held today, 19th October. The qualified teams are:

POT 1: Ghana (hosts, Group A), Egypt (holders, Group C), Nigeria, Tunisia
POT 2: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal
POT 3: South Africa, Mali, Guinea, Zambia
POT 4: Angola, Namibia, Sudan, Benin

Tags: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Euro 2008, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey

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