Ready for the Euros

In the space of 5 days the remaining 4 spots for Euro 2012 were claimed while the rest of the world battled for World Cup participation. The Republic of Ireland took 9-man Estonia apart 4-0 before securing a place in Poland and Ukraine with a 1-1 draw in Dublin while Croatia who had already destroyed the hopes of Turkey 3-0 settled for a goalless home draw and Portugal thumped Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-2 in Lisbon.

Lebanon excelled in the world rankings by shocking their Kuwaiti hosts 1-0 and stunning South Korea 2-1 in Beirut while a goal in Oman left Australia on the losing side and Japan fell by the same result in North Korea. China’s 4-0 win in Singapore was soured by Iraq’s 3-1 comeback in Jordan as signalled the end of the road for the Chinese.

Argentina bounced back from a disappointing 1-1 home draw against Bolivia to win 2-1 in Colombia while Paraguay and Peru lost 2-0 away to Chile and Ecuador respectively.

Tanzania were stunned 1-0 at home to Chad and Sao Tome & Principe earned a 1-1 draw in Congo while Ethiopia were held to a goalless draw at home to Somalia and Burundi lost 1-0 in Lesotho.

Puerto Rico slammed 4 past St Lucia in Castries and Belize struck twice away to Saint Vincent & the Grenadines while Canada fired blanks in St Kitts & Nevis. Trinidad & Tobago lost 2-1 in Guyana and Haiti were defeated by a single goal away to Antigua and Barbuda.

Spain remain top of the rankings despite losing 1-0 in England and needing a last-minute goal to draw 2-2 after trailing by 2 goals in Costa Rica.       

World stages matches

In a busy week of international football the European and African qualifiers concluded their group matches while in other parts World Cup qualifiers were taking place affecting the football rankings. Suriname suffered a shock 3-1 defeat at home to the Dominican Republic and Canada were held to a goalless draw at home to Puerto Rico while Trinidad & Tobago lost 2-1 in Bermuda and Curaçao drew 2-2 in Haiti. Grenada sailed to a 4-1 victory in Belize while Guyana returned from Barbados with a 2-0 win and St Lucia managed a 1-1 draw in St Kitts & Nevis. In South America Chile returned home after taking a 4-1 beating in Argentina to defeat Peru 4-2 while Argentina lost 1-0 in Venezuela. The Peruvians had opened their campaign with a 2-0 home win over Paraguay. In Asia China were left with a mountain to climb after losing 1-0 at home to Iraq while Kuwait could only draw 2-2 in Lebanon, and Uzbekistan picked up 3 vital points with a single goal in North Korea while Iran battered Bahrain 6-0 in Tehran.

South Africa failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations after a disastrous 0-0 draw at home to Sierra Leone and Guinea stunned Nigeria with a 90^th minute goal to earn a 2-2 draw and qualify instead of their illustrious host while Rwanda caused an upset with a 1-0 win in Benin.

In Europe Wales had a successful week winning 2-0 at home to Switzerland and 1-0 away to Bulgaria while Austria enjoyed a 4-1 win away to 10-man Azerbaijan and Greece celebrated a decisive 2-0 victory at home to Croatia while Romania could only manage a 2-2 draw at home to Belarus. The Czech Republic swept their hosts Lithuania aside 4-1 and Sweden got the better of the Dutch 3-2 in Stockholm while Hungary ended their matches with a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Finland, whereas a 1-1 draw between France and Bosnia & Herzegovina in Paris was enough to see the French qualify for the finals and their visitor for the play-offs.  

Earlier in the month Hong Kong won the Long Teng Cup in Kaohsiung by hammering hosts Taiwan 6-0 in the final.