EURO 2012 Qualifiers Group A-D

By Daniel Berditchevski

Group A:

Following a great World Cup in South Africa (Third place), Germany grabbed two convincing victories 1-0 in Belgium and 6-1 against Azerbaijan. Miroslav Klose already scored three goals in the first two games. Turkey accompanies Germany on top of Group A with two victories3-0 in Kazakhstan and 3-2 in Istanbul against Belgium.

Group B: Ireland and Slovakia share the lead on top of Group B. Ireland did not convince but won 1-0 in Armenia and 3-1 against Andorra in Dublin. Slovakia (photo) after knocking out Italy off the last 16 during the World Cup won in Moscow 1-0 against Russia. They also won the first game 1-0 versus Macedonia. The road to the Euro will be a battle for the Russian national team; next game in Dublin versus Ireland is already critical for the qualification.

Group C: After a battling win in Estonia 1-2 last weekend, Italy crushed Faroe Islands 5-0 in Florence with 5 different scorers. They lead the group. Serbia is second and suffered today to a draw against Slovenia in Belgrade with Zigic scoring at the 88th to avoid losing. Serbia won its first game in Faroe Islands 0-3 but have played one more game than Northern Ireland who are in third place with 3 points. Behind Italy the battle for a potential qualifying second place will be hard between Serbia, Northern Ireland and Slovenia.

Group D: France regained some respect and are back with the promising win over Bosnia 2-0 at Sarajevo. After suffering a terrible loss in Paris last weekend versus Belarus (0-1), Les Bleus waited until the 72nd to score the first of their two goals by Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. With 3pts, they are just 4th as today. Albania and Belarus lead the group with 4pts and this group will be more competitive than expected.