Glasgow to replace Saint-Denis
Scotland - France - 1: 0
The strongest group of the current selection, formed under the letter "B", received a completely unexpected leader. In the meeting of the teams that started the tournament without losses, the Scots did not pull the bagpipe, but confidently clung to the first table row. All series ever end. So the French crashed in the qualifying rounds - the first after June 5, 1999, when the “three-color” lost to the Russian team 2: 3 in the memorable battle at Saint-Denis.
On the eve of the match in Glasgow, the teams had enough staff troubles. Raymond Domenech, due to injuries, missed the recent Italian grave digger Govu and the defender Gallas, who mockingly predicted that the Scots would tremble. If we forget about the fighting spirit of the Celts, then there were probably prerequisites for this. The British coach Walter Smith, in turn, could not declare three main defenders: MacNaughton, Merty, Naismith, as well as midfielder Kouasha and the disqualified Celtic attack leader Kenny Miller. The return of captain Barry Ferguson, who missed the start of the European campaign, was hardly a complete compensation for these losses.
The first half did not portend a final sensation. With the exception of an assisted episode in the opening, when a lonely forward of the hosts McFadden robbed Thuram but lost control of the ball, Hampden Park was dominated by the “three-color” ones. Soon, Henry, who worked for himself and for the habitually passive in recent times Trezeguet, earned a free-kick and, with the help of a soft wrap-around blow, hit the post. The Scots fought fiercely, but still pressed to the penalty area. And this allowed the guests to fire from medium distances and load the goalkeeper Gordon with canopies.
Immediately after the break, McFadden reminded himself when he nearly punished the yawn of a rare character from the French base of Bumsong. And in the middle of the inning, the persistence of the Everton striker bore fruit. McFadden earned a corner, and after re-filing Hartley defender “Celtic” Caldwell in the fall ahead of Abidal and lit the unit on the scoreboard.
The very real chance to restore the status quo was missed by the very same Henry. Taking a sketch from Malouda in a comfortable position, he weakly struck his head directly into Gordon's hands.
Now, the sponsored Smith is waiting for a test no easier than Saturday - a visit to the Ukrainians. Those, despite the misfire in Rome, "they did not die." The French will seek peace of mind in a home date with the Faroese.
"Red Fury" is losing its temper
Sweden - Spain - 2-0
And here is another strong team, relying on the “physics”, sunk the European whale and achieved at the same time one hundred percent result at the start. The composure and luck of the fast counterattacks “Tre Kronur” pressed against the wall not only the Iberian team, but also the Spanish Football Federation. She probably has no choice but to part with grandfather Louis. Old Aragones, however, among the executors of his career fate calls ... even the press. She didn’t feed her, they say, but let me recall the refusal to challenge Raul and Joaquin. The latter, by the way, managed to warn in response that the team of Aragones is a laughing stock, and chaos reigns inside it.
This can not be said about the team of Lars Lagerbak. She spent most of the match second number and according to a well-thought-out tactical plan, which was embodied in goals after flank breakthroughs Elmander and Olbak.
Maclaren counted to three
England - Macedonia - 0: 0
The British met with the militant Balkans in two rounds in a row. Steve McLaren clearly did not want a “deja vu” session with a copy of the ending of the match in Skopje, when the British, who arranged them 1-0, settled on the defensive and allowed themselves to “tinker”. Having promised not to allow anything like that (as if the 1: 0 numbers were already on the scoreboard), Big Mac began to play an active 3-5-2 scheme in training. Players accustomed to Ericsson and the traditional 4-4-2, took this with hostility. McLaren had to raise his voice: "I and only I determine the tactics and placement on the field."
Be that as it may, at Old Trafford such independence of judgment of the new English coach was confirmed only by raids ahead of Gary Neville. Neither the return of Rooney, who had served the disqualification, who did not shoot contrary to forecasts, nor the efforts of the prolific Crouch in the fall brought any sense. Once again, luck turned away from Gerrard. He could become a hero five minutes before the end, but made the crossbar a heroine. McLaren’s victorious tread broke in the fourth match.
As for the Macedonians, after all, in the last Euroqualification they played in a draw in England. Now they were more confident in their orientation to foreign lands, often snapped back and three times seriously disturbed Robinson. Well-known to Russian fans Shumulikoski and Mitreski participated in this. For the wards of Srechko Katanets, the worst is probably over. In the next year and a half, they definitely will not have to tame the “team of three lions”, as it turned out, not so toothy.
"Orange" is slippery
Bulgaria - Netherlands - 1: 1
Sophia rain caused a lot of trouble, especially goalkeepers. And already in the 6th minute left the Kate venue. Reaching for the ball, the Liverpool striker twisted his ankle on the slippery grass, and now his participation in the home match against Albania is in question. The troubles of van Basten and Co. did not end there. A little later, Yovov gathered three rivals around him and distracted them from the flank passage of Martin Petrov from the middle of the field. As a result, he calmly sent the ball into the near corner, scoring the fourth goal in the tournament.
The Dutch, already commendably active, stepped up the onslaught. The deficit in the attack of the “orange” was compensated by the formidable artillery of Sneijder and especially van Persie. Before the score was even in the middle of the second half, the crossbar twice helped out the hosts. But on the third attempt, the Dutch persuaded the goal frame to play for them. Oyer filed into the box, and Van Persie sent the ball into the net in transit from the bar. Then the guests almost stepped forward, but the blow of 19-year-old insider Babel hardly transferred to the corner Ivankov.
In the endgame, leadership in the “G” group could well have passed to the Bulgarian national team, having achieved the goal of “valid” hitting the head of Iliev and Bozhinov. As a result, the draw was in favor of the Romanians. They are ahead of the Dutch due to better performance.
Serbian barrier again
Serbia - Belgium - 1: 0
In addition to purely tournament motivation and revanchist attitudes of the guests (the Serbs have already crossed the Belgians in the selection for the 2006 World Cup), the confrontation between the German Bundesliga players: Bayern defender van Buyten and striker Hertha Pantelic fell into the list of pre-match intrigues. The Serb admittedly acknowledged that it was more important for him to win a national team match than a club match in Munich on October 14. Pantelich got his way. However, it is curious that, unlike him, it was van Buyten who was twice really close to a goal in the end of each half. But the Belgian giant obviously did not have the skills of a finalizer.
The fate of an ordinary match, held with the territorial advantage of the Serbs, was determined by Koroman's individual actions at the beginning of the second half. The former playmaker of Moscow Dynamo and Krylyov was in a stalemate, but managed to push Dragutinovich's ball from the corner of the field, and he successfully shot from the front line to a two-meter Zhigich.
The answer of the Belgians could be swift, the benefit of the owners for some reason refused active attacking actions. Goalkeeper Stoykovich, often mistaken at the exits and in Nantes, was nearly punished by Hefkens, but his shot after a corner was hit on the goal. The last opportunity to level the score was taken by Vandenberg - in the 93rd minute, after a shot from an acute angle, he hit the post.
Andrey KARNAUKHOV