Final Euro 2012 qualifiers

[cwy21]

What a goal by Ronaldo. Portugal has two minutes.

 

[RV's Bird]

Oh no, it's not taekwondo time again, is it?

ouchhhhh...

 

[RobinLeonard]

Sweden is through!

Holland did their best Arsenal impression. All possession, zero cutting edge, horrible defending.

Johan Elmander is fantastic. He really is. I've never seen anyone run as much as he did today. Created two goals and defended admirably all evening.

Van der Vaart had a poor game and still created a goal with a stunning through ball. He is world class.

I can't believe we won.

 

[RickyVilla]

Denmark through but a bit hairy at the end. Nice one!!

 

[deselina]

Oranje were ahead 2 - 1 with 75% ball possession and were sure of looking to add more goals until Mathijssen had a brain fart in those 2 minutes where Sweden scored twice.

Sweden had the momentum from then on while Oranje lacked the motivation, Elia coming on so late was a clear example.

I feel for Huntelaar, he was so close in breaking that all-time record.

 

[cwy21]

Right now Ireland is seeded as long as Serbia don't beat Slovenia.

Also, for the final draw, the first two pots are set.

Pot 1
Ukraine
Poland
Spain
Netherlands

Pot 2
Germany
Italy
England
Russia

 

[RobinLeonard]

Oranje were ahead 2 - 1 with 75% ball possession and were sure of looking to add more goals until Mathijssen had a brain fart in those 2 minutes where Sweden scored twice.

Sweden had the momentum from then on while Oranje lacked the motivation, Elia coming on so late was a clear example.

I feel for Huntelaar, he was so close in breaking that all-time record.

They were probably looking to add more goals but Sweden's equaliser came 3 minutes after Holland had taken the lead. Sweden's third goal came two minutes later so it was never a case of Holland being in complete control.

Not saying that you're not a far superior team (you are) or that you didn't own the ball (you did) but the result wasn't completely undeserved.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

Penalty to France

 

[Marty]

Boooo, France 1-1 Bosnia. France through as it stands.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

Boooo, France 1-1 Bosnia. France through as it stands.

Good for Ireland. Gain a seeded place hopefully.

 

[SpurSince57]

So Scotland's heroics against Liechtenstein were to no avail. That's sad.

 

[deselina]

Pot 1
Ukraine
Poland
Spain
Netherlands

Pot 2
Germany
Italy
England
Russia

Is this final? Because there's a rumor going around on Twitter now that Oranje has lost intentionally to avoid being in Pot 1 since Pot 2 has stronger teams..

 

[tototoner]

Ireland seeded for playoffs

 

[sidford]

Who are the 3 seeded teams? Trying to figure out who we could be drawn against

 

[deselina]

Who are the 3 seeded teams? Trying to figure out who we could be drawn against

http://www.world-results.net/uefa/ranking.html

 

[sidford]

Cheers man. ESPN seemed convinced we're the 4th seed so here's hoping they got it right. If we're not seeded can't see us getting through

 

[deselina]

Ireland are seeded, it's confirmed on the link because you're in 13th place on the rankings while Turkey are 18th. You're even ahead of Czech Republic who are in 15th place.

 

[Davo99]

So it's one of Turkey, Bosnia, Montenegro or Estonia I take it.

Estonia would be great! All the other three will be tough and will probably be too strong.

 

[haxman]

So it's one of Turkey, Bosnia, Montenegro or Estonia I take it.

Estonia would be great! All the other three will be tough and will probably be too strong.

We did fine against Montenegro in the WC qualifiers. They score feck all goals anyway. Bosnia, if you can keep Dzeko quiet, that takes away a good part of their attacking threat. Turkey lost 3 times in their group, albeit a group which Germany won every game, but I don't fear any of those teams. Tough, yes, but far from impossible - we've had worse play off draws in the past.

Our defense is solid - we just need to convert a few chances. The bookies have us odds on (4/5 in places) to qualify.

 

[tototoner]

Only Turkey from those 4 concern me