Portugal, Ukraine Win; Balotellli Sent Off

Started by Folami David, Jun 08, 2013, 09:02 AM

Folami David

Ukraine dented Montenegro's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time with a stunning 4-0 win that blasted Group H wide open on Friday when the fancied teams were made to fight hard for their points.
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Scotland, who have no chance of reaching next year's finals in Brazil, epitomised the battling spirit shown by some of the underdogs with a shock 1-0 victory in Croatia where a Robert Snodgrass goal hit the hosts' chances of topping Group A.
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Section leaders Belgium earned a nervy 2-1 home win over Serbia with headers from Kevin De Bruyne and Marouane Fellaini securing their sixth win in seven to put them three points clear of the Croats. Belgium cannot now finish lower than second.
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Russia, who led Group F after four straight wins, suffered their first defeat as an early Helder Postiga goal gave Portugal a 1-0 win over Fabio Capello's side to take top spot with 14 points, two clear of Russia and three above Israel.
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Among those trying to upset the odds were Albania and Iceland, neither of whom have ever reached the finals, with both having a chance to top Group E. At one stage, the pair seemed headed for home wins over Norway and Slovenia respectively.
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Ultimately, though, they both failed in their quest.
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Albania conceded a late goal and were held to a 1-1 draw by Norway in Tirana while Iceland led Slovenia 2-1 in Reykjavik but ended up losing 4-2 leaving Switzerland, who face Cyprus on Saturday, top by a point in Group E above the Albanians.
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Group B laggards Malta had a night to remember with their first World Cup qualifying victory for 20 years while perennial whipping boys Liechtenstein and Luxembourg also avoided defeat.
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Liechtenstein dented Slovakia's playoff chances with a 1-1 draw in Group G and Luxembourg finished their Group F match with the same scoreline in Azerbaijan.

Shola Sholaz

Balotelli is so used to seeing the red card so I'm sure he didn't complain much after this. He is so much controversial..