FIFA World Cup Qualifiers day 2 Zone Europe:
Another day of international soccer has hit the world as 31 teams battle to qualify to the next World Cup in Russia. The spotlight was on Italy and Spain for a rematch of the last Euro that saw Italy going through 2-0 against the Iberians at the Round of 16 stage.
The match: Italy 1-1 Spain
Italy and Spain have a long story together and were squaring off in Turin for an electric World Cup Qualifier match. Both teams have an extended record to preserve and the draw enabled Italy to remain undefeated in 52 qualifiers (last defeat was against Frnace in 2006!) and Spain have not lost any of its 55 World Cup qualifiers matches.
Austria 2-2 Wales
After a successful; Euro 2016 campaign, theWelsh were back in action against a team that disappointed during the same tournament. The point obtained by Wales could mean a lot when it comes to the group’s first place. Coach Coleman comments on the important draw:
“We didn’t play well tonight, but we still found a way to hold on to something. I think it’s a point gained – it wasn’t our best performance. In terms of quality with the ball, we gave away a lot of possession, we made a lot of mistakes and we looked indecisive, which is not something you can say about this team on too many occasions.”
France 4-1 Bulgaria
23 years ago World Cup qualifier, Bulgaria scored at the last minute thanks to Emil Kostadinov in Paris and would prevent France from going to the 1994 FIFA World Cup… dark times for the French. Maybe some memories were still alive when the Bulgarians opened the score on a penalty after just 5 minutes in [0-1]. But France came from behind for fine win and move onto four points. Next will be the most anticipated clash against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Monday. The Dutch easily disposed of Belarus 4-1 as well.
Portugal 6-0 Andorra
Any other result than a victory for the European Champions would have been a stunner and the score can justify the gap between the two nations. However this game saw the return of the national idol, Cristiano Ronaldo with the team [suffered injury in Euro 2016 Final] and he gave the fans some to celebrate by netting 4 goals to a poor defense who also got two of their squad sent off..
Other significant results: Hungary 2-3 Switzerland. The Swiss scored the winning goal in stoppage and lead group with 6 points. Belgium 4-0 Bosnia and Hezergovina. Kosovo 0-6 Croatia
More to come!
