Euro 2012 Qualifying Round-Up: Moldova, Serbia And Croatia Start With Wins But Romania And Greece Drop Points At Home
By Subhankar Mondal
The hosts made a perfect start to their qualifying campaign in Group E as they won 2-0 at home. Two goals in the space of five minutes did the trick.
Striker Alexandr Suvorov gave Moldova the lead on 69 minutes and in the 74th minute Anatoli Doros made it 2-0. It stayed like that until the final whistle, implying that the hosts collect maximum points in their opening game.
Faroe Islands 0-3 Serbia (Group C)
2010 World Cup finalists Serbia got off to a flying start in their quest to qualify for the Euro 2012 finals as they defeated Faroe Islands 3-0 away. Danko Lazovic opened the scoring as early as the 14th minute and then four minutes later Inter midfielder Dejan Stankovic made it 2-0. A minute into injury-time Nikola Zigic netted Serbia's third.
Latvia 0-3 Croatia (Group F)
Former World Cup semifinalists Croatia commenced their Euro 2012 qualifying adventure with a 3-0 away win against European minnows Latvia. Mladen Petric found the target just two minutes before half-time and six minutes into the second-half Ivica Olic made it 2-0. Croatia wrapped up the points eight minutes from time when Darijo Srna made it 3-0 to the visitors.
Romania 1-1 Albania (Group D)
It finished all square between the two sides at the Stadionul Ceahlaul in Piatra Neamt. Both the goals came in the final ten minutes of the match. Bogdan Stancu gave Romania the lead on 80 minutes but seven minutes later Gjergji Muzaka equalised for the visitors.
Luxembourg 0-3 Bosnia & Herzegovina (Group D)
Bosnia collected three valuable points in their quest to qualify for the European Championships in two years' time. All three goals came inside the first 20 minutes. Senijad Ibricic found the target for the visitors as early as the sixth minute, Miralem Pjanic doubled the lead on 12 minutes and in the 16th minute Edin Dzeko netted his side's third of the evening.
Slovakia 1-0 FYR Macedonia (Group B)
Slovakia had reached the second round at the World Cup in the summer but almost failed to maintain that momentum, as they were drawing 0-0 with European minnows Macedonia late in the game. However, Filip Holosko found the target a minute into injury time to bag maximum points for his team.
Greece 1-1 Georgia (Group F)
Euro 2004 champions Greece got off to a disappointing start as they were held to a 1-1 draw by modest Georgia. In fact, it was the visitors who went ahead as early as the third minute through Alexander Iashvili but the Greeks restored parity in the 72nd minute through defender Nikos Spiropoulos.
Iceland 1-2 Norway (Group H)
Heidar Helguson gave Iceland the lead in the 38th minute but Norway replied with two goals in the second-half. First Brede Hangeland equalised on 59 minutes and then Mohammed Abdellaoue found the winner 15 minutes from time.
Switzerland 0-0 Australia
This was a friendly international and it finished 0-0 between the two sides at St. Gall.
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