Rooney dismissal mars England’s qualification
Italy draw leaves Serbia hopes under threat
Wayne Rooney was sent off as England secured qualification for Euro 2012 after Montenegro fought back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw in Podgorica, last night.
A last-minute equaliser from substitute Andrija Delibasic grabbed a share of the points for Montenegro after England had taken the lead with goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent.
The Montenegro fightback was not enough to prevent Fabio Capello’s men from earning the point they needed to secure qualification for next year’s finals in Poland and Ukraine, however.
But England’s night was so nearly ruined by Rooney’s 73rd minute moment of madness, the Manchester United striker sent off for aiming a needless and petulant kick at Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic.
Rooney’s dismissal capped a miserable week following the arrest on Thursday of his father and uncle in connection with a football betting scam.
Montenegro’s fans meanwhile celebrated wildly at the final whistle after a result which guarantees them a place in the play-offs.
From the same group, Wales ended Switzerland’s hopes of snatching a play-off place as goals from Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale secured a 2-0 win over the 10-man visitors as the Liberty Stadium.
In Belgrade, Serbia’s hopes of securing a place in the play-offs suffered a blow despite a 1-1 draw with Italy in Group C.
Claudio Marchisio gave the visitors a second-minute lead but a goal from Branislav Ivanovic restored parity before half-time.
However, with Estonia winning in Northern Ireland, Serbia must now win their final group game in Slovenia to overtake their rivals for second place in the group.
A draw would see them draw level on points with Estonia but miss out on their head-to-head record, due in no small part to a shock 3-1 home defeat to their rivals last October.
Reigning world and European champions Spain kept their perfect record in Group I after easing past the Czech Republic 2-0 with first-half goals from Juan Mata and Xabi Alonso.
Spain top the group with seven wins from seven games. The Czechs are second on 10 points, two ahead of Scotland who have two games to play.
Holland and Germany remained unbeaten in their qualifying campaigns.
The Dutch’s impressive path continued in Rotterdam with Schalke forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring in the 40th minute for the Oranje’s 35th goal of the qualifying campaign in a 1-0 win over Moldova.
Germany earned their ninth consecutive win as Bayern Munich trio Mario Gomez, Thomas Mueller and Bastian Sch-weinsteiger all netted in the 3-1 win over Turkey.
France made light of a glut of injury problems to outclass Albania 3-0 at Stade de France and close to within a point of a place at Euro 2012.
Well-taken goals from Florent Malouda and Loic Remy gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before the half-time break, before Anthony Reveillere put the seal on a comfortable night’s work with his first international goal in the 67th minute.
Bosnia’s 5-0 thrashing of Luxembourg prevented France from qualifying automatically, but they are now assured of at least a play-off place.
In Athens, second-half goals from Georgios Samaras and Thoefanis Gekas sealed a 2-0 win for Greece in a Group F showdown with Croatia that was earlier marred by crowd trouble.
The win leaves the 2004 European champions needing just a point from their last group game away to Georgia on Tuesday to clinch their place in next summer’s finals.
Croatia had come into the game in first place, but must now beat Latvia and hope that the Greeks lose in their last match to qualify automatically for the finals.
Playing today
Liechtenstein vs Scotland - 19.30
Tuesday’s fixtures
Group A
Germany vs Belgium; Kazakhstan vs Austria; Turkey vs Azerbaijan.
Group B
Ireland vs Armenia; Macedonia vs Slovakia; Russia vs Andorra.
Group C
Italy vs Northern Ireland; Slovenia vs Serbia.
Group D
Albania vs Romania; France vs Bosnia Herzegovina.
Group E
Hungary vs Finland; Moldova vs San Marino; Sweden vs Netherlands.
Group F
Croatia vs Latvia; Georgia vs Greece; Malta vs Israel.
Group G
Bulgaria vs Wales; Switzerland vs Montenegro.
Group H
Denmark vs Portugal; Norway vs Cyprus.
Group I
Lithuania vs Czech Republic; Spain vs Scotland.