Gallant Poland stun Germany 30 WORLD SPORT Gulf Daily News Sunday, 12th October 2014 Email: [email protected] l Scotland edge out Georgia for first win WARSAW: Poland stunned World Cup winners Germany 2-0 yesterday to earn their first ever victory over their neighbours and take control of Euro 2016 qualifying Group D. Earlier, Robbie Keane scored a hat-trick to help Group D rival Ireland to a 7-0 rout of Gibraltar in Dublin, and Scotland scraped a 1-0 win over Georgia in Glasgow. In Group I, winger Zoran Tosic scored a last-minute equaliser as Serbia salvaged a 1-1 draw against Armenia, while Denmark were held to 1-1 draw by Albania. Keane, who climbed further TODAY’S MATCHES up the list of all-time interGROUP C national goalscorers with his Ukraine v Macedonia 63rd, 64th and 65th goals for (Starting at 7pm, Bahrain time) his country, tapped in Ireland’s Belarus v Slovakia (Starting at 9.45pm, Bahrain time) first after just six minutes and Luxembourg v Spain made it two eight minutes later. (Starting at 9.45pm, Bahrain time) He grabbed his third from GROUP E the penalty spot on 18 minutes Estonia v England to complete the fastest hat-trick (Starting at 7pm, Bahrain time) in European qualifying history, Lithuania v Slovenia beating Marco van Basten’s (Starting at 9.45pm, Bahrain time) three in the first 23 minutes GROUP G against Malta 24 years ago. Austria v Montenegro Scotland, who had shown (Starting at 7pm, Bahrain time) plenty of promise in their their Russia v Moldova opening loss to the Germans, (Starting at 7pm, Bahrain time) secured their first win courtesy Sweden v Liechtenstein of a deflected Shaun Maloney (Starting at 9.45pm, Bahrain time) strike in the 28th minute. The home side, buoyed by fender Akaki Khubutia on its that good performance last way over the line. month, dominated early posScotland missed a hatful of session at Ibrox. second half chances with strikHowever, the Scots could ers Steven Naismith and Steven find no way past an organised Fletcher both shunning good Georgian defence until their opportunities. pressure paid off just before Gordon Strachan’s men were the half hour when Maloney’s very nearly made to pay for well-drilled shot came off de- their wastefulness when substi- In Bucharest, Romania were held 1-1 by Hungary in Group F and there was an identical outcome to the Group I clash between Armenia and Serbia in Yerevan. Arkadiusz Milik put Poland ahead with a well-timed header in the 51st minute and Sebastian Mila added another late in the game to hand the hosts a memorable victory against bitter rivals Germany after 18 previous failed attempts. Poland, who had scored once in their previous six competitive meetings and had lost 12 of 18 games against either Germany or West Germany, now go top of Group D on six points, as many as Ireland. Germany are third on three after two games. Wearing the black and red striped tops they had last worn during their 7-1 demolition of Brazil in the World Cup semi-final in July, Germany had none of their usual sharpness. The Germans, playing in the stadium where they lost 2-1 to Italy in the Euro 2012 semi-final, were made to work hard against a solid Polish backline in front of a fiery 57,000 crowd. Towering central defenders Kamil Glik and Lukasz Szukala also made sure to eliminate any aerial threat from Mats Hummels, playing his first game for Germany since the World Cup final. n Poland’s Milik, right, celebrates after scoring against Germany tute Irakli Dzaria was afforded time and space for a shot inside the Scotland box but the Georgian fired just wide. This seemed to be the wake- up call Scotland needed and only a brilliant save from Giorgi Loria then denied James Morrison after Fletcher had set him up. EURO 2016 QUALIFIERS ENGLISH LEAGUE SCOTTISH LEAGUE GROUP D League One Scottish Cup Second Round Ireland 7 Gibraltar 0 (Keane 6, 14, 18-pen, McClean 46, 53, J. Perez 52-og, Hoolahan 56) Scotland 1 Georgia 0 (Khubutia 28-og) Poland 2 Germany 0 (Milik 51, Mila 88) P 2 2 2 2 2 2 Poland Ireland Scotland Germany Georgia Gibraltar W 2 2 1 1 0 0 D 0 0 0 0 0 0 L 0 0 1 1 2 2 F 9 9 2 2 1 0 A 0 1 2 3 3 14 GROUP F Romania 1 Hungary (Rusescu 45) (Dzsudzsak 82) Finland 1 Greece (Hurme 55) (Karelis 24) Northern Ireland 2 Faroe Islands (McAuley 6, Lafferty 20) Northern Ireland Finland Romania Hungary Greece Faroes Armenia Albania Denmark Albania Serbia Armenia Portugal P 2 2 2 2 2 2 W 2 1 1 0 0 0 D 0 1 1 1 1 0 L 0 0 0 1 1 2 F 4 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 A 1 2 1 3 2 5 1 Serbia (Arzumanyan 73) (Z. Tosic 90) 1 Denmark (Lenjani 38) (Vibe 81) W 1 1 0 0 0 D 1 1 1 1 0 Pts 6 4 4 1 1 0 L 0 0 0 1 1 F 3 2 1 2 0 1 1 A 2 1 1 3 1 Pts 4 4 1 1 0 2 1 4 1 East Kilbride Montrose Forres Mechanics 3 1 1 2 Alloa Hibernian League Two Cambridge United Northampton Town AFC Wimbledon Accrington Stanley Carlisle United Exeter City Luton Town Morecambe Newport County Portsmouth Shrewsbury Town Tranmere Rovers 5 1 3 1 3 1 2 1 3 1 3 0 Oxford United Burton Albion Bury Dagenham & Redbridge Stevenage Hartlepool United Southend United Wycombe Wanderers York City Mansfield Town Cheltenham Town Plymouth Argyle 1 2 2 2 0 2 0 3 1 1 1 1 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFYING Congo Brazzaville GROUP I P 2 2 1 2 1 Pts 6 6 3 3 0 0 Bristol City 3 Chesterfield Colchester United 2 Fleetwood Town Crawley Town 1 Peterborough United Crewe Alexandra 2 Coventry Doncaster vs. Notts County Ppd. Gillingham 0 Scunthorpe Oldham Athletic 2 Walsall Port Vale 4 Yeovil Town Sheffield United 2 Leyton Orient Malawi Ethiopia Sierra Leone Republic of Congo Uganda Mozambique Nigeri GROUP A 0 South Africa GROUP B 0 Algeria 0 Mali GROUP D 0 Cameroon 1 Ivory Coast GROUP E 0 Togo GROUP F 2 Cape Verde Islands 0 Zambia 1 1 1 Spartans FC Arbroath Elgin 5 3 3 Scottish Championship 0 0 Hearts Dumbarton 1 0 Division One Airdrieonians Morton Forfar Forfar Athletic Dunfermline Greenock Morton Ayr United Brechin City Peterhead Stranraer Airdrie Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion P 4 2 3 W 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 9 9 9 6 6 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 Brechin Stirling Stenhousemuir D L F 2 1 0 1 3 2 4 2 2 3 1 2 4 4 3 3 2 5 5 5 17 14 16 13 15 8 13 12 10 9 A 0 0 0 Pts 9 5 12 12 15 8 14 15 16 21 20 19 15 13 12 11 10 8 8 6 A 6 5 9 11 10 18 12 9 14 9 1 3 Pts 18 13 13 12 10 9 8 8 8 7 Division Two 2 2 2 0 2 1 0 0 East Fife East Stirling Arbroath Albion Rovers Queen’s Park Montrose East Fife East Stirlingshire Berwick Rangers Annan Clyde Elgin City P 7 7 8 7 8 8 7 7 8 7 0 1 W 6 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 Clyde Queen’s Park D L F 0 1 14 1 2 9 1 3 11 0 3 10 1 4 13 0 5 8 2 3 13 2 3 8 2 4 10 1 4 7 Messi fumbles as Brazil ease past Argentina BEIJING: Lionel Messi missed a first-half penalty as Brazil beat Argentina 2-0 in a fiercely contested “Superclasico” friendly in Beijing yesterday. Journeyman Diego Tardelli was the unlikely hero with his first two goals for Brazil as Messi fluffed his lines with a tame spotkick at the Bird’s Nest stadium. Atletico Mineiro striker Tardelli, 29, put Brazil ahead on 28 minutes, before Messi curled his soft penalty attempt close to goalkeeper Jefferson just before half-time. Tardelli was on target again in the second half as Brazil restored pride after the World Cup, when the hosts were hammered in the semis while Argentina reached the final. “Brazil are the best team in the world with a great tradition,” beamed their coach DunINTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES Chile 3 Peru 0 US 1 Ecuador 1 Colombia 3 El Salvador 0 Argentina 0 Brazil 2 France 2 Portugal 1 ga, who is rebuilding following the 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany. “We have no big players, we are now acting as one team... The whole team is evolving, including me.” Dunga brought on former national hero Kaka for a late cameo and he indicated the Sao Paulo FC midfielder could be set for a more regular role after 18 months on the sidelines. “We need Kaka’s speed and control, he is an important part of our team,” he said. Fears over Beijing’s choking smog had dominated the buildup but in a relief to players and organisers, air quality and visibility lifted on a breezy day in the Chinese capital. Argentina were on top early in the match and Sergio Aguero fired an inviting chance over the bar before Angel Di Maria threatened with a drive from distance. Real face Mexicans or Asians in ‘World Cup’ LONDON: European champions Real Madrid will face Mexican side Cruz Azul or the yet to be determined club champions of Asia in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup after the draw for the annual showpiece in host nation Morocco yesterday. The Spanish side are three-time winners of the tournament in its former guise as the Intercontinental Cup and will be favourites going into this year’s event that will be held in north Africa from Dec. 10 to 20. Their opponents in the semi-finals could yet be one of three clubs, with Cruz Azul having already booked a quarter-final place against Western Sydney Wanderers from Australia or Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, who must still contest the final of the Asian Champions League with the second leg on Nov. 1. Clash In the other half of the draw South American champions San Lorenzo of Argentina could face one of four sides. Moroccan league winners Moghreb Tétouan have been entered to represent the host nation, but must first overcome the challenge of Oceania champions Auckland City in a playoff that will open the tournament on Dec. 10. That will determine the quarter-final opponents for the winners of the African Champions League, with the final between ES Setif of Algeria and AS Vita Club from DR Congo also to be concluded on Nov. 1. The winner of that quarter-final will advance to play the Argentine side in the second semi-final on Dec. 17, with Real Madrid in action the day before.
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