EURO 2012 QUALIFIERS

Friday 14th October

All the games have now been played, the groups have finished and barring four play off spots we now know who will be competing in Poland & Ukraine. All that’s left is to await the draw. Here is a recap of the final group standings.

Group A

Biggest win: Germany 6-1 Azerbaijan
Top Scorer: Miroslav Klose Germany (9)
Performance: Azerbaijan 1-0 Turkey

Germany stormed the group with a perfect 10 wins from 10 games, scoring the 2nd most goals 34. Turkey go into the play off’s and will have a tough game against Croatia. Belgium did push them all the way though, and with their young squad could well be building for a good World cup campaign.

Group B

Biggest Win: Russia 6-0 Andorra
Top Scorer: Henrik Mikhitaryan Armenia (6)
Performance: Russia 0-1 Slovakia

Russia qualify as group winners 2 points ahead of the fighting Irish. In the end the home defeat to Russia proved pivotal. Although they do have a favourable play off draw against Estonia. Armenia proved to be the surprise package claiming two 4-0 wins home to Andorra and away to Slovakia.

Group C

Biggest Win: Italy 5-0 Faroe Islands
Top Scorer: Antonio Cassano Italy (6)
Performance: Serbia 1-3 Estonia

As expected Italy qualified as group winners by only conceding two goals in 10 games. Estonia stunned everyone, most of all Serbia by making it into the play offs. It was surprising most as they suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat away to Faroe Islands.

Group D

Biggest Win: Bosnia 5-0 Luxembourg
Top Scorer: Adrian Mutu Romania (5)
Performance: France 0-1 Belarus

By one point France just piped Bosnia to first place in what was a two horse race. In the end the home defeat to France was their undoing. it’s a stark reminder of how slim the margins can be as now they have a tough play off draw against Portugal.

Group E

Biggest Win: Holland 11-0 San Marino
Top Scorer: Klass-Jan Huntelaar Holland (12)
Performance: Holland 11-0 San Marino

Sweden spoiled Holland’s perfect record on the last day of the qualifiers, but in truth Holland had the league won a long time ago scoring the most goals in qualifying 37. The win for Sweden proved to be absolutely vital in the end as it allowed Sweden to qualify automatically as best runner up ahead of Croatia.

Group F

Biggest Win: Latvia 0-3 Croatia – Croatia 3-0 Malta
Top Scorer: Yossi Benayoun Israel, Niko Kranjcar Croatia (4)
Performance: Greece 2-0 Croatia

With an identical home record, it was Croatia’s 2 away defeats that pushed them into 2nd place behind the undefeated group winners Greece. With the 2004 win still fresh in the memory they will go into the championships full of confidence. Croatia will have to settle for a tricky play off spot against Turkey.

Group G

Biggest Win: England 4-0 Bulgaria
Top Scorer: Xherdan Shaqiri Switzerland (4)
Performance: Wales 2-1 Montenegro

In a fairly straight forward group, England eased through as group winners with an undefeated record. Montenegro just piped Switzerland for the play off spot by one point. Their reward is a draw against the Czech Republic for a place in the finals.

Group H

Biggest Win: Cyprus 0-4 Portugal
Top Scorer: Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal (5)
Performance: Portugal 4-4 Cyprus

In one of the tightest groups, Denmark surprised Portugal to go through as group winners. The pair met on the last day and Denmark’s 2-1 home win sealed the group. Portugal just made it into the play offs, although they finished on the same points as Norway they progressed by way of a superior goals difference.

Group I

Biggest Win: Spain 6-0 Liechtenstein
Top Scorer: David Villa Spain (7)
Performance: Czech Republic 0-1 Lithuania

The reigning Euro champions strolled into the finals without breaking a sweat, 11 points ahead of the 2nd placed team. The real fight was for 2nd as the Czech Republic edged out Scotland. The 2-2 draw in Scotland proved to be vital game, especially as the Czech’s equalised with a 90th minute penalty.