Euro-qualifying Matchday 14 in Review
| 11
|
by Foolsgold
Group A Portugal never seems to learn, do they? An 88th minute strike by Serbian Marko Pantelić cost the Portuguese two valuable points and possibly their Euro chances. Now instead of being in second place, as they hold the tie breaker over Finland for away goals, they're in the same situation they were at the beginning of the day, two points back. Their only consolation is that they have a game-in-hand and Finland also failed to take advantage of playing at home by drawing with group leaders Poland. Portugal still has three relatively easy fixtures ahead of them before ending the group stage at home against Finland, a match that could very well determine who advances. Barring a major collapse, it looks like Poland punched it's ticket to the Euro final today. Having to still host Kazakhstan and Belgium, two points up on Finland, and the Portugal/Finland match costing one or both of it's closest competitor's points, they're looking awfully good.
Group B In a single match day, France fell from the group leader to third place after being upset by Scotland once again, 1-0 on a James McFadden goal in the 64th minute. Italy moved up a spot to second by virtually eliminating the Ukraine, 2-1, in Kiev. Sparingly used Antonio Di Natale scored both goals for the Italians. I guess this means Donadoni critics can quiet down a little now. France can take solace in the fact that Italy has to go to Scotland on November 17th and they have a trip to the Faroe Islands coming up next month, so I would still think Les Bleus has a good chance of advancing along with the winner of the Italy/Scotland tie.
Group C Greece and Norway played a thriller in Oslo today that saw them both go away with a point, while Turkey inched closer to the leaders with a 3-0 win over Hungary. Norway really needed the win as the Turks have a game-in-hand on the Norwegians. Turkey has to travel to Norway on November 17th in what could basically be the deciding match of who advances to the 2008 Euro. Moldova pulled off the upset of the day by walking into Sarajevo and completely obliterating Bosnia's hopes of advancing, 1-0. Now the Bosnians have to go to Greece and Turkey as well as host Norway in their last three fixtures. If they can somehow win all three of those, they definitely deserve to advance, but don't hold your breathe.
Group D Despite having all but one team mathematically eliminated, Group D was pretty much decided today. Second place Czech Republic beat third place Ireland, 1-0, and distance themselves by six points with three matches for each remaining. With Cyprus and Slovakia still be served on the Czech's plate, you've got to think they'll get at least a point from one of those. Wales stayed alive by annihilating Slovakia, 5-2, in Trnava, but with all of ten points even with a game-in-hand, there's really just no way they'll advance.
Group E England did themselves a huge favor today by beating Russia, 3-0, at New Wembley. They now find themselves in second place in the group, two points better than the Russians, though they're not out of the woods just yet. Even if they beat Estonia at home in October 13th, they still have to go to Russia and then host group leaders Croatia. Speaking of the Croatians, they made easy work of Andorra today, thrashing the minute country, 6-0, behind goals from five different players.
Group F Denmark breathed new life into their Euro hopes by making quick work of Liechtenstein, 4-0, while Northern Ireland's Euro dreams took a huge blow when a Keith Gillepsie own goal in the 91st minute gave Iceland the 2-1 win. With Spain's 2-0 win over Latvia, it'll take a minor miracle for the Norn Iron to advance now. The Green and White Army have to travel to Sweden and Spain as well as host Denmark in their three remaining fixtures and now that they find themselves three points behind Spain, that's a virtually impossible task. Don't count out Denmark just yet, they could very well steal one of the two qualifying spots as they have a game in hand and host Spain, Latvia, and Iceland in three of their four remaining fixtures. Group G Finally, a 91st minute strike from Ruud Van Nistelrooy gave Holland a 1-0 win over Albania and kept them above Bulgaria, who saw a brace from Dimitar Berbatov and a penalty from Martin Petrov, give them a relative easy win over Luxembourg. As it stands now, the Netherlands trip to Romania on October 13th could decide who'll win the group. Both the Dutch and the Romanians sit at 20 points, two better than Bulgaria, but both also have a game-in-hand. Cheers.
Originally posted here
