EURO 2012 Play Off First Leg Review

(Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland (Keith Andrews 13′, Jon Walters 67′, Robbie Keane 71′,88′)

Republic of Ireland has almost booked their tickets to Poland and Ukraine after thrashing Estonia 4-0. The home side had both of their centre backs sent off. Robbie Keane scored a brace for the visitors while the midfielder Keith Andrews and Jon Walters added one each to their tally.

Ireland opened the scoring in the 14’th minute after Aiden McGeady’s delightful chip from the left was headed into the net by the Ipswich Town midfielder Keith Andrews. Estonia had lots of possession and came close when Konstantin Vassiljev’s brilliant attempt from distance went just away from the target. Just before the half time hosts were down to ten men after Andrei Stepanov was shown the marching orders for a second bookable offence.

Estonia started the second half brightly but Republic of Ireland extended their lead in the 67’th minute through Jon Walters. Robbie Keane in the box lifted the ball to his striking partner who headed in to double the advantage for Ireland. Then four minutes later Robbie Keane scored his first goal in the match. After Keith Andrews’ deflected free-kick was initially kept out by Sergei Pareiko the former Tottenham Hotspur striker tapped in the rebound to make it 3-0.

Things got worse for Estonia when their captain Raio Piiroja was given his second yellow after handling the ball. Robbie Kean completed the rout for Ireland in the injury time when he scored from the spot after Steven Hunt was fouled in the box.

An Estonian come back looks highly unlikely in the second leg and they will be looking forward to round off their campaign in a positive note at Dublin.

Turkey 0-3 Croatia (Ivica Oli? 2′, Mario Mandžuki? 32′, Vedran ?orluka 51′)

Croatia are all set seal to their places in the final 16 after claiming an impressive victory against Turkey in the first leg of the play-offs. The visitors dominated the match and have taken sweet revenge for their Euro 2008 penalty shootout defeat against Turkey.

Ivica Olic opened the scoring for Croatia in the 2’nd minute of the match after tapping in a cross from Vedran Corluka which the keeper Volkan Demirel failed to cut off. After the half hour mark Mario Mandžuki? doubled Croatia’s lead. After Luka Modric’s effort was blocked the captain Darijo Srna sent in a cross which was headed home by the VfL Wolfsburg striker.

Croatia added the third early in the second half after Darijo Srna free kick from the right was slotted into the net by an unmarked Vedran Corluka. The goal killed the tie and the 50,000 people in the stadium were shocked as Turkey didn’t have any answer. The 3-0 result means Turkey need a miracle to qualify for the finals.

Czech Republic 2-0 Montenegro (Václav Pila? 63′, Tomáš Sivok 90+2′)

Tomas Rosicky didn’t score a single goal but the captain’s contribution was immense in Czech Republic’s 2-0 win against Montenegro at Prague. Two goals in the second half ensured that Czech Republic holds the advantage when both teams will meet at Podgorica.

It was the visitors Monetengero who started the match brightly and the Juventus striker Mirko Vucinic came close in the 15’th minute. After collecting the ball from a Savo Pavicevic’s cross Vucinic’s attempted shot on goal went wide. While at the other side Tomas Rosicky pass set up the forward Tomas Pekhart but his shot was off target.

Montenegro came close to breaking the deadlock when Simon Vukcevic’s curling effort was brilliant tucked away by Cech. The Chelsea keeper playing with a special mask after breaking his nose made a one handed save to deny visitors taking the lead. After the hour mark Czech Republic broke the deadlock. Tomas Rosicky from the left flank fed in Vaclav Pilar who drilled in a wonderful shot which went past a flying Mladen Bozovic. It was the midfielder’s first goal for the country.

Czech Republic scored their second goal in the injury time after the central defender Tomas Sivok who was totally unmarked in the box headed in Tomas Rosicky’s free kick. Montenegro has a mountain to climb in the second leg and they will be relying on home support for a turnaround.

Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0 Portugal

Plenty of action in both sides of the pitch yet it ended in a goalless draw at Zenica the story of first leg between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Portugal. With all the other three matches gave an idea who will fill in the remaining four berths of the finals this tie

It was Portugal who made the early moves in the match. A diagonal ball from the midfield was headed down by Nani to Raul Meireles and the Chelsea striker sent in a half volley from the edge of the penalty area which forced out a save from Begovic. While just before the half time Cristiano Ronaldo had a shot superbly blocked by the defender Adnan Zahirovic. Bosnia defended pretty well to deny Portugal taking the lead at half time.

Bosnia was a different team in the second half as they started to put pressure on Portuguese backline. But they couldn’t create clear cut opportunities upfront. While at the other end Helder Postiga had a shy at goal as his attempt from inside the box went wide of the target. The Bosnian substitute Vedad Ibisevic had the best opportunity in the match. The striker was set clear by a delightful flick and went one on one with the keeper Rui Patricio but blazed his shot over the crossbar.

At the full time whistle the Portugal players looked disappointed in not securing an after dominating most of the match. Portugal will be relying on home advantage in the second leg but Bosnia’s second half performance clearly indicates Paulo Bento’s boy’s will have to sweat hard if they want to clinch the bus to Poland and Ukraine.

The second leg of all the matches will be played on 15’th November.