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.