2012 European Football Championship (Euro Cup)
Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the net against Denmark in the 91st minute from a beautiful free kick (see video below), but could not prevent his side from losing to the Danish. As a result of this loss, Denmark qualifies directly to the Euro, and Portugal has to play off with other group runners up for a spot in the final tournament.
Germany finished their perfect qualifying campaign, collecting 30 points from 10 games, by beating Belgium 3-1 at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf. Germany's star Mesut Ozil grabbed the first goal with a stunning strike into the top corner, and three minutes later, in the great German tradition of counterattacking, the Germans secured their lead through a goal by Schürrle. Mario Gomez added a 3rd goal in the 48th minute, and the Belgians scored a consolation goal in the 86th.
The Dutch faced Sweden in their last game of Qualification, and failed to maintain their perfect record as the Swedes won 3-2. Sweden struck first when Källström scored in the 14th minute, but Holland managed to find the back of the net twice and gain the lead by the 50th minute (Dutch goals scored by Huntelaar and Kuyt). Sweden were awarded a penalty kick in the 52nd minute (Larsson struck home), and scored again one minute later when Toivonen put in what would be the winner.
The French played their last qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and shared the spoils as Samir Nasri tied up the game after Dzeko gave Bosnia the lead. France finished top of the group, and Bosnia will advance to the playoff round.
2014 World Cup Qualifiers
Iran crushed a 10 man Bahrain 6-0 in World Cup Qualifying, and now top their group with 7 points from 3 games. The goalscorers were Hosseini, Jabbari, Aghili, Teymourian, Ansarifard, and Rezaei.
Japan, another Asian powerhouse, annihilated their opponents Tajikistan 8-0 today, also topping their group with 7 points from 3 games. The goalscorers were Havenaar (two goals), Okazaki (two goals), Komano, Kagawa (two goals), and Nakamura.
Australia cruised past Oman 3-0 thanks to goals from Holman, Kennedy, and Jedinak. They currently sit atop their group with 9 points from 3 games.
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