Denmark seals Euro berth, sends Portugal to playoff

Published November 20, 2014

Michael Krohn-Delhi and Nicklas 1, on Tuesday to win Group H in Euro qualifying and secure a berth in the 2012 finals.

France, Greece and Russia also clinched spots Tuesday as first-place finishers in their qualifying groups, while Sweden advanced as the top second-place team by denying the Netherlands a perfect qualifying record.

Germany and Spain both completed qualifying with perfect marks, and had finals berths secured along with co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, Italy, the Netherlands, and England ahead of the final day of qualifying.

Denmark was more than happy to advance with a loss and a draw during its run, as it escaped a tight group with the victory over Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo pulled a goal back in stoppage time, but it was not enough for Portugal.

Portugal fell into the playoff round along with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Montenegro and Turkey. The playoff draw will be made Thursday to determine the pairings for the two-legged series.

The four playoff winners advance to the Euro finals.

In Group A, Mesut Ozil, Andre Schurrle and Mario Gomez scored as Germany beat Belgium 3-1 to finish with 10 wins from 10 games and deny the Belgians a spot in the playoffs, and Burak Yilmaz scored to lift Turkey into the playoffs with a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan.

In Group B, Alan Dzagoev scored twice to lead Russia to a 6-0 win over Andorra and into first place, and Richard Dunne scored the game-winner as Ireland beat 10-man Armenia 2-1 to capture second at the expense of its opponents. Slovakia tied Macedonia 1-1 in the other match.

In Group C, Antonio Cassano scored twice as Italy finished unbeaten with a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland, and Nemanja Vidic missed a penalty as Serbia missed a playoff spot with a 1-0 loss to Slovenia that left idle Estonia in second.

In Group D, Samir Nasri converted a late penalty to give France a 1-1 tie with Bosnia-Herzegovina and first place, while Bosnia-Herzegovina claimed second as it finished one point back. Romania tied Albania 1-1 in the other match.

In Group E, Kim Kallstrom, Sebastian Larsson and Ola Toivonen scored as Sweden edged the Netherlands 3-2 to finish as the best second-place team and claim an automatic berth in the finals. Holland won its first nine matches. Finland and Hungary tied 0-0, while San Marino lost 4-0 to Moldova to end qualifying with no goals scored and 53 against in 10 losses.

In Group F, Giorgos Fotakis and Angelos Charisteas scored late goals as Greece edged Georgia 2-1 to finish first with an unbeaten record, while Eduardo and Mario Mandzukic scored to send Croatia into the playoffs with a 2-0 win over Latvia. Israel beat Malta 2-0 in the other match.

In Group G, Eren Derdiyok and Stephan Lichtsteiner scored as Switzerland ended with a 2-0 win over Montenegro, which already had second secured, and Gareth Bale scored as Wales edged Bulgaria 1-0.

In Group H, Morten Gamst Pedersen and John Carew scored in the first half and Norway defeated Cyprus 3-1 to finish tied with Portugal for second, but missed out on a playoff spot on a tiebreaker.

In Group I, David Silva scored twice and Spain downed Scotland 3-1 to end with eight wins from eight games, while Jan Rezek and Michal Kadlec both scored two goals to lead Czech Republic to a 4-1 win over Lithuania that secured second.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/denmark-seals-euro-berth-sends-portugal-to-playoff