Lev's habits

Bundesteam coach beat Guus Hiddink's team again

5. Kazakhstan

6. Azerbaijan

The next qualifying matches for the 2012 continental championship took place in Europe. There were some sensations. Estonia defeated the powerful Serbian team.

In our group “B” , the Slovak team, which won in Moscow, hoped to take three points in Yerevan. As Vladimir Weiss did not warn about the inadmissibility of underestimating the opponent, the conviction that the Armenian team can be defeated with one left hand remained stronger. Even the goal by Yuri Movsisyan, who ran away from the defenders towards goalkeeper Jan Mucha, was not seen as a tragic event. The head coach's son, Vladimir Weiss, equalized the score before the break. But after the rest, the guests had a hard time. They did not expect such agility from the Armenians. In the 50th minute, Edgar Manucharyan, once a member of Ajax, beat the defender and fired into the far corner. Mukha reached the ball in flight, but hit it straight to Gevork Ghazaryan - 2:1. The guests tried to win back, but that was not the case. Radoslav Zabavnik, well known to us from his performances for Terek, left at the wrong time. As a result, instead of 2:2 it turned out to be 3:1 - it was Henrikh Mkhitaryan who caught Mukha by surprise from the penalty line. An unexpected and much needed victory for the Armenian team. In another match of Group B, the Macedonian national team won against Andorra - 2:0, scoring two twin goals from corner kicks.

Three meetings took place in group “A”. The central match took place in Berlin. Germany hosted Turkey. There was enough pre-game intrigue in this confrontation. First of all, this is an interesting coaching duel: Joachim Löw against the former coach of the Russian national team, Guus Hiddink. In the 2010 World Cup qualifying round, the German defeated the Dutchman, who was then working with our team, both times. Secondly, millions of Turks live in Germany, and the guests did not feel like guests in Berlin in the full sense of the word. The German team includes Turkish nationalities Mesut Ezil and Serdar Tasci, and a good third of the players in the Turkish national team were born in Germany.

The Germans could not count on the injured Michael Ballack; the Turks had Arda Turan injured on the eve of the meeting. And in the first half, another leader broke down - Mehmet (Marco) Aurelio. Guus Hiddink had to adjust the team's play, because the naturalized Brazilian was almost the key player. Bundesteam had a slight advantage, which resulted in a goal shortly before the break. Miroslav Klose hit the ball into the net, bouncing off the crossbar. This goal was his 56th in matches for the national team, only legendary scorer Gerd Müller had more.

In the second half, Mesut Ezil did not spare his compatriots and scored the second goal. And there Klose scored a double - 3:0. Lev beat Hiddink again, the Germans won their third victory in three matches. The Austrian team beat Azerbaijan with the same score, the visiting Belgians were stronger than Kazakhstan - 2:0.

The biggest sensation of the gaming weekend took place in Group C. The Serbian national team, which played its first match under the leadership of Vladimir Petkovic, lost at home to Estonia - 1:3. At the end of the first hour of the game, Nikola Zigic's two-meter shot hit Sergei Pareiko's goal, but then the predicted course of events was interrupted. Former Spartak player Tarmo Kink equalized the score, then Konstantin Vasiliev put the guests ahead, and at the very end of the meeting, Zenit's Alexander Lukovich hit his own goal and set the final score 1:3.

The former world champions, the Italians, played not far from our team - in the capital of Northern Ireland, Belfast, where they were content with a goalless draw. Now Cesare Prandelli cannot avoid criticism for the unclear play of the team entrusted to him. Slovenia defeated the Faroe Islands - 5:1.

Having previously surprised with a victory over the French in Group D, Belarus this time could not cope with Luxembourg - a goalless draw. The Albanians and Bosnians did not reveal a winner - 1:1. On Saturday, the French, whom just recently everyone was laughing at, managed to put the squeeze on Romania in Paris. Successful substitutions were made by Les Blues coach Laurent Blanc. First, Loic Remy scored, and in stoppage time Joan Gourcuff sealed the victory. Both players appeared on the field in the second half. This win allowed the French team to take the lead in the group.

In Group “E”, Holland in Chisinau limited themselves to one goal against the Moldavian national team. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored. The Hungarians played their hearts out in the match with the national team of the dwarf state of San Marino, scoring eight unanswered goals to the opponent.

Croatia in Group F took important three points on the road, beating Israel 2:1. Niko Kranjcar, firmly settled in the reserves of English Tottenham, first converted a penalty and then scored from the game. He was assisted by teammate Luka Modric. Israeli Etey Shekhter scored one goal at the end of the match, but the “checkered” team brought the match to victory and came out on top.

Group G favorites England were rested on Friday while their upcoming opponents Montenegro got the better of Switzerland. Mirko Vucinic scored the only goal in the 67th minute. The Montenegrins will enter the match with the British as leaders - nine points out of a possible nine. The Welsh lost minimally to the Bulgarians at home - 0:1.

The Norwegians won their third victory in Group H , beating the Cypriots away - 2:1. Jon-Arne Riise put the northerners ahead in the second minute, and John Carew doubled the score shortly before the break. After rest, Giannis Okkas reduced the gap, but the islanders failed to do more. Paulo Bento's debut as head coach of the Portuguese national team was successful. The strong Danish team was beaten with a score of 3:1. Having a great season at Manchester United, Nani scored a brace in the first half. In the second half, Ricardo Carvalho almost put the Portuguese victory in doubt with a cut into his own goal, but his Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo put all questions to rest.

The world and European champions, the Spaniards, faced resistance from the Lithuanians in Group I. The first half ended in a goalless draw. But then Fernando Llorente scored a double, and David Silva scored another goal. The Lithuanians responded with a precise strike from Darvydas Šarnas. The first victory in the tournament was won by the Czech team. The only goal against the Scots was scored by former Moscow defender Roman Gubnik.

Results. Euro 2012 qualifying round. Group "A". Germany - Turkey - 3:0 (Klose 42, 87, Ozil 79) . Austria - Azerbaijan - 3:0 (Predl 3, Arnautovic 53, 90) . Kazakhstan - Belgium - 0:2 (Ogunjimi 52, 70) . Group "C". Northern Ireland - Italy - 0:0. Serbia - Estonia - 1:3 ( Zigic 60 - Kink 63, Vasiliev 73, Lukovic 90 own goal) . Slovenia - Faroe Islands - 5:1 (Matavz 25, 36, 65, Novakovic 72 pen., Dedich 84 - Mouritsen 90) . Group "D". Albania - Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1:1 (Duro 45 - Ibisevic 21) . Luxembourg - Belarus - 0:0. France - Romania - 2:0 (Rémy 83, Gourcuff 90+3) . Group "E". Moldova - Holland - 0:1 (Huntelaar 37) . Hungary - San Marino - 8:0 (Rudolf 11, 25, Szalay 18, 27, 48, Komon 60, Dzsudzsak 89, Gera 90 pen.) . Group "F". Greece - Latvia - 1:0 (Torosidis 58) . Georgia - Malta - 1:0 (Siradze 90+1) . Israel - Croatia - 1:2 (Shechter 81 - Kranjcar 36 pens, 41) . Group "G". Montenegro - Switzerland - 1:0 (Vucinic 67) . Wales - Bulgaria - 0:1 (Popov 48) . Group "H". Portugal - Denmark - 3:1 (Nani 29, 31, Cristiano Ronaldo 85 - Ricardo Carvalho 79 own goal) . Cyprus - Norway - 1:2 (Okkas 58 - J.-A. Riise 2, Karju 42) . Group "I". Czech Republic - Scotland - 1:0 (Gubnik 70) . Spain - Lithuania - 3:1 (Llorente 47, 56, Silva 79 - Sharnas 54) .

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Oleg TIMOFEEV