Well the Euro Qualifying has ended with some wild endings. Let's break it down for one last time.
Group A- As I expected, Germany dominated this group completely. It didn't change today as Germany rolled through Belgium 3-1 with ease. I got to catch the first half at a bar before the Ireland game and they just are so fun to watch. Ozil scored on an absolute cracker. The left foot blast was so well hit that Migonlet had no chance at the near post. Gomez and Schurle scored easy one as Germany continues to look like a top three team in Europe. Turkey will be in the playoffs after barley slipping by Azerbaijan with a 1-0 win. Selcuk Inan was the hero as he came on with for Kazim Richards. He forced the keeper into a super man save, but eventually played the role as playmaker setting up Burak Yurmlez for a one on one goal.
Group B- Russia took care of business with a 6-0 win against Andorra. Five different men scored for Russia as they will be headed to Euro 2012 automatically. The big game in Dublin was a good one, as I got to check out the full game. Ireland struggled a bit and looked slow but they held on. They were much stronger on the ball against Andorra which led to the 2-1 victory. Ireland only needed a tie, so they seemed much more calm than you expect. A few good chances early on, but it wasn't until late 1st half a big moment happened. Armenia's goalie used his hands outside the box and received a red card. Armenia went to ten men and looked defeated. It got worse when an own goal off an easy clear out happened. It will be on blooper videos for years, it was horrid. Ireland went up two in the mid 2nd half when a great ball by Aiden McGeady found three green shirts in the area. The ball found Richard Dunne and he chested it in awkwardly. Armenia did score one on a deflected goal, but didn't have enough. Armenia should be very proud of what they accomplished after nobody knew about them for all the tournament.
Group C- Italy will be going through as they have been locked in for weeks. A major upset today led to a major underdog in the playoff round. Slovenia took care of Serbia at home 1-0 which led to the Serbs crashing out of qualifiers. It was shocking as they seemed to have a lot of momentum going for them. They were outplayed through out the game and missed a golden opportunity when Vidic missed a penalty in the mid 2nd half. It was all over for Serbia, which leads to Estonia into the playoffs. This is the biggest underdog of the tournament as nobody even considered them serious. Now someway Estonia enters the playoff round as the biggest underdogs. The nation should be really proud of this accomplishment and to have the chance to be on the biggest stage if they manage to get through.
Group D- It was a tight one in France, but France eventually got it together. Bosnia came in as one of the hottest teams in Europe and played like it early on. They were very threatening and were rewarded as star striker Edin Dzeko took a quick pass off a free kick and curled it in from 20 yards out. It was a world class goal from a top played like him. Bosnia was in absolute dream land as a win would get them first place. It wasn't meant to be though as France were much more threatening in the 2nd half with more subs. Eventually Samir Nasri took over and forced a penalty with his great dribbling. He scored on the penalty he forced and lead France to Euro 2012 automatically. Bosnia heads for the playoffs but should feel confident about their chances.
Group E- Holland was already headed for Euro 2012 but wanted to be undefeated. It wasn't meant to be as Sweden upset them 3-2 at home. Kim Kailstrom continued his great form for Sweden with a beautiful free kick to start off Sweden. It only lasted nine minutes as Klass Jan Huntelaar continued his goal scoring mayhem with another goal off a header. It was 1-1 going into half but it didn't last long with Dirk Kuyt scoring in the 50th. Off a shot from Van Persie, Kuyt was right there for the rebound and had Holland ready to be undefeated. It didn't last long with Holland getting called for hand ball in the box. Seb Larsson scored on a penalty to get Sweden back on level terms. It lasted a minute as Elmander went on a torrid run where Holland just couldn't handle him. The ball went to Ola Tovioen who was unmarked that scored the game winner. With the win, Sweden had the most points as a 2nd place team. They will be in Euro 2012 and it was well deserved. This team seems to be on Russia's level of dark horses.
Group F- Greece clinched a first place berth with a come from behind victory at Georgia. It seemed like Greece were going to lose first place and have to go through a playoff but that changed in the 79th minute where Giorgios Fotakis scored on a deflected blast from far out. Greece only needed a tie and they wanted to get it in anyway. Georgia looked like the better side and had some really close chances, but Greece took advantage. Greece took the lead in the 85th when Fotakis went on a huge run to find Greek legend Angelos Charisteas who was unmarked. It was a massive win for Greece to get back into the Euros after a rough 2008 campaign. Croatia will have to settle for 2nd after a 2-0 win against Latvia. It was a difficult game with Croatia controlling 75 % and really taking it to Latvia. But it took to the 60th minute when Ivan Strinic found Eduardo for a beautiful header to finally score one. Croatia was on the edge of stealing a first place spot and scored again with Darijo Srna finding Mario Manzadukic for a header on a free kick. Croatia can't be happy to settle for 2nd, but I look for them to use this as even bigger motivation to qualify
Group G- England will be in Euro 2012 through first place and Montenegro will be in it's first playoff ever.
Group H- Like I expected, Denmark pulled it out against Portugal. Denmark has a commanding home field. Michael Krohn-Dehli scored on some luck as his long shot deflected off Christiano Ronaldo. It was a dream start for Denmark who has slowly played better and on a nice winning streak. It was close through out the game but Denmark was winning the mid field play and limiting Portugal's fast play. In the 63rd minute, Denmark veteran Dennis Rommedahl put a great ball in for Bendtner to score easily. Portugal's leaky defense was on display again today and it's something they will need to fix in the playoffs. Portugal did manage to score with two minutes left after Ronaldo scored on a stunning free kick. But their was simply little time left and Denmark is headed for the Euros. Portugal will now have to play in the playoffs for 2nd straight major tournament. Norway won 3-1 but simply didn't have the goal difference to take 2nd.
Group I- Spain finished off their dominance and is locked in for the Euro 2012. They beat Scotland 3-1 like most expected with controlled dominance in the midfield. David Silva proved his value with two quality goals to take down the Scots. David Villa scored his usual easy finish as Scotland was no match for Spain. They were out played and overmatched through out the game. Scotland managed to score with Craig McKail Smith forced a penalty on Barca keeper Victor Valdes. David Goodwille scored on a penalty but Scotland has been eliminated. The Czechs took over 2nd following a dominant win over Lithuania 4-1. They started off with a penalty forced and Michael Kadliec scored on a penalty in the 2nd minute. Czechs continued to push with two goals by Jan Rezek with two goals. Kadliec scored again on a penalty in the 85th to lead the Czechs to go through. A penalty for Lithuania saved the clean sheet but the Czechs will now enter the playoff stages.
That is the last of qualifying as we now head to the playoff knock out rounds. Thursday morning is the draw for the last eight teams. It will be posted here and discussed for a bit. Here are the qualified teams and now playoffs.
Qualified: Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Holland, Greece, England, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Ukraine
Playoff Teams (Pot's will be announced tomorrow). Portugal, Croatia, Bosnia, Ireland, Turkey, Estonia, Montenegro, Czech Republic.
Group A- As I expected, Germany dominated this group completely. It didn't change today as Germany rolled through Belgium 3-1 with ease. I got to catch the first half at a bar before the Ireland game and they just are so fun to watch. Ozil scored on an absolute cracker. The left foot blast was so well hit that Migonlet had no chance at the near post. Gomez and Schurle scored easy one as Germany continues to look like a top three team in Europe. Turkey will be in the playoffs after barley slipping by Azerbaijan with a 1-0 win. Selcuk Inan was the hero as he came on with for Kazim Richards. He forced the keeper into a super man save, but eventually played the role as playmaker setting up Burak Yurmlez for a one on one goal.
Group B- Russia took care of business with a 6-0 win against Andorra. Five different men scored for Russia as they will be headed to Euro 2012 automatically. The big game in Dublin was a good one, as I got to check out the full game. Ireland struggled a bit and looked slow but they held on. They were much stronger on the ball against Andorra which led to the 2-1 victory. Ireland only needed a tie, so they seemed much more calm than you expect. A few good chances early on, but it wasn't until late 1st half a big moment happened. Armenia's goalie used his hands outside the box and received a red card. Armenia went to ten men and looked defeated. It got worse when an own goal off an easy clear out happened. It will be on blooper videos for years, it was horrid. Ireland went up two in the mid 2nd half when a great ball by Aiden McGeady found three green shirts in the area. The ball found Richard Dunne and he chested it in awkwardly. Armenia did score one on a deflected goal, but didn't have enough. Armenia should be very proud of what they accomplished after nobody knew about them for all the tournament.
Group C- Italy will be going through as they have been locked in for weeks. A major upset today led to a major underdog in the playoff round. Slovenia took care of Serbia at home 1-0 which led to the Serbs crashing out of qualifiers. It was shocking as they seemed to have a lot of momentum going for them. They were outplayed through out the game and missed a golden opportunity when Vidic missed a penalty in the mid 2nd half. It was all over for Serbia, which leads to Estonia into the playoffs. This is the biggest underdog of the tournament as nobody even considered them serious. Now someway Estonia enters the playoff round as the biggest underdogs. The nation should be really proud of this accomplishment and to have the chance to be on the biggest stage if they manage to get through.
Group D- It was a tight one in France, but France eventually got it together. Bosnia came in as one of the hottest teams in Europe and played like it early on. They were very threatening and were rewarded as star striker Edin Dzeko took a quick pass off a free kick and curled it in from 20 yards out. It was a world class goal from a top played like him. Bosnia was in absolute dream land as a win would get them first place. It wasn't meant to be though as France were much more threatening in the 2nd half with more subs. Eventually Samir Nasri took over and forced a penalty with his great dribbling. He scored on the penalty he forced and lead France to Euro 2012 automatically. Bosnia heads for the playoffs but should feel confident about their chances.
Group E- Holland was already headed for Euro 2012 but wanted to be undefeated. It wasn't meant to be as Sweden upset them 3-2 at home. Kim Kailstrom continued his great form for Sweden with a beautiful free kick to start off Sweden. It only lasted nine minutes as Klass Jan Huntelaar continued his goal scoring mayhem with another goal off a header. It was 1-1 going into half but it didn't last long with Dirk Kuyt scoring in the 50th. Off a shot from Van Persie, Kuyt was right there for the rebound and had Holland ready to be undefeated. It didn't last long with Holland getting called for hand ball in the box. Seb Larsson scored on a penalty to get Sweden back on level terms. It lasted a minute as Elmander went on a torrid run where Holland just couldn't handle him. The ball went to Ola Tovioen who was unmarked that scored the game winner. With the win, Sweden had the most points as a 2nd place team. They will be in Euro 2012 and it was well deserved. This team seems to be on Russia's level of dark horses.
Group F- Greece clinched a first place berth with a come from behind victory at Georgia. It seemed like Greece were going to lose first place and have to go through a playoff but that changed in the 79th minute where Giorgios Fotakis scored on a deflected blast from far out. Greece only needed a tie and they wanted to get it in anyway. Georgia looked like the better side and had some really close chances, but Greece took advantage. Greece took the lead in the 85th when Fotakis went on a huge run to find Greek legend Angelos Charisteas who was unmarked. It was a massive win for Greece to get back into the Euros after a rough 2008 campaign. Croatia will have to settle for 2nd after a 2-0 win against Latvia. It was a difficult game with Croatia controlling 75 % and really taking it to Latvia. But it took to the 60th minute when Ivan Strinic found Eduardo for a beautiful header to finally score one. Croatia was on the edge of stealing a first place spot and scored again with Darijo Srna finding Mario Manzadukic for a header on a free kick. Croatia can't be happy to settle for 2nd, but I look for them to use this as even bigger motivation to qualify
Group G- England will be in Euro 2012 through first place and Montenegro will be in it's first playoff ever.
Group H- Like I expected, Denmark pulled it out against Portugal. Denmark has a commanding home field. Michael Krohn-Dehli scored on some luck as his long shot deflected off Christiano Ronaldo. It was a dream start for Denmark who has slowly played better and on a nice winning streak. It was close through out the game but Denmark was winning the mid field play and limiting Portugal's fast play. In the 63rd minute, Denmark veteran Dennis Rommedahl put a great ball in for Bendtner to score easily. Portugal's leaky defense was on display again today and it's something they will need to fix in the playoffs. Portugal did manage to score with two minutes left after Ronaldo scored on a stunning free kick. But their was simply little time left and Denmark is headed for the Euros. Portugal will now have to play in the playoffs for 2nd straight major tournament. Norway won 3-1 but simply didn't have the goal difference to take 2nd.
Group I- Spain finished off their dominance and is locked in for the Euro 2012. They beat Scotland 3-1 like most expected with controlled dominance in the midfield. David Silva proved his value with two quality goals to take down the Scots. David Villa scored his usual easy finish as Scotland was no match for Spain. They were out played and overmatched through out the game. Scotland managed to score with Craig McKail Smith forced a penalty on Barca keeper Victor Valdes. David Goodwille scored on a penalty but Scotland has been eliminated. The Czechs took over 2nd following a dominant win over Lithuania 4-1. They started off with a penalty forced and Michael Kadliec scored on a penalty in the 2nd minute. Czechs continued to push with two goals by Jan Rezek with two goals. Kadliec scored again on a penalty in the 85th to lead the Czechs to go through. A penalty for Lithuania saved the clean sheet but the Czechs will now enter the playoff stages.
That is the last of qualifying as we now head to the playoff knock out rounds. Thursday morning is the draw for the last eight teams. It will be posted here and discussed for a bit. Here are the qualified teams and now playoffs.
Qualified: Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Holland, Greece, England, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Ukraine
Playoff Teams (Pot's will be announced tomorrow). Portugal, Croatia, Bosnia, Ireland, Turkey, Estonia, Montenegro, Czech Republic.
