Andorra nearly scored a miraculous goal as a half-field floated shot from Victor Moreira nearly sneaked in over a backpedaling goalkeeper, who had to tip over the bar. Lindpere nearly picked up an assist, but his cross was headed just wide by Andres Oper. Oper soon made amends after chesting down a ball for Martin Vunk. Vunk smacked the crossbar with some side spin, kicking the ball out to where Oper was standing. Oper made a diving header attempt for the opening goal with thirty-five minutes left in the match. Andorra nearly made a serious attempt at equalizing, so Estonia escape with their first points in a 1-0 win.
Bucharest was the site for the showdown of two undefeated teams as Romania played hosts to Netherlands. Jeremain Lens scored a stunning opener off a punched clearance from Romania goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu. Lens headed the ball home from the half circle to put Netherlands ahead by one goal. Twenty minutes on, a Rafael van der Vaart free kick beat the Romanian offsides trap and fell to the foot of Bruno Martens for the second goal, though John Heitinga was there at the far post for a tap in should Martens have failed. In response, Ciprian Marica took a goal all for himself after dribbling for over twenty yards to get into shooting position inside the half circle. Marica finished to pull Romania within one goal, but the lead would increase on the stroke of halftime for the visitors. Gabriel Tamas committed a foul on Luciano Narsingh in the Romanian penalty area, and the Netherlands converted the penalty kick for a 3-1 lead at the break.
Romania were never up to the challenge in the second period. An early Robin van Persie effort was tipped away by Tatarusanu, but it did not motivate his side to glory. With only five minutes left in the match, Romania were caught on the counterattack. Netherlands converted on the three-on-three with Narsingh providing the assist on van Persie's goal. Netherlands win 4-1 to take sole possession of first place in Group D. Netherlands are one of two perfect teams in European qualifying along with Russia.
Budapest was the site of the clash between visiting Turkey and Hungary, who were looking to join Romania in second place with a victory today. Turkey struck first midway through the period after a nice bit of intricate passing in the final third. Mehmet Ekici slotted to Caner Erkin, who then slotted for Mevlut Erdinc who was able to put the ball into the net from short range to give Turkey a 1-0 lead. Hungary were not fazed by this proceeding and maintained their game plan. Hungary were a bit fortunate on the equalizer that came eight minutes later as a long-range shot range from Vladimir Koman ate up Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel on the bounce and went into the goal off Demirel's knee. The half ended 1-1.
Hungary did not let their good fortune cause a let down; they wanted to convert it into three points. Adam Szalai, whose presence may have distracted Demirel on the first goal, made no mistake from close range after a rolled cross across the box from Tamas Kadar put him through. Hungary led 2-1 and were looking for more. A dozen minutes into the half, Turkey midfielder Hamit Altintop was beaten on a run by Koman into the box. Altintop accidentally tripped Koman as the cross was coming, leading to a Hungary penalty kick that was converted for 3-1. Turkey could not summon a fight back, and their dreams of Brasil 2014 appear to be vanishing into the air. Hungary win 3-1.
Netherlands 12 pts +11
Hungary 9 pts +5
Romania 9 pts +4
Turkey 3 pts -2
Estonia 3 pts -5
Andorra 0 pts -13
Goals
Estonia
Andres Oper 56
Netherlands
Jeremain Lens 8
Bruno Martens 28
Rafael van der Vaart 45+1 PK
Robin Van Persie 85
Romania
Ciprian Marica 39
Hungary
Vladimir Koman 31
Adam Szalai 50
Zoltan Gera 57 PK
Turkey
Mevlut Erdinc 22
Match Reports:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785736/index.html
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/world/story/romania-1-4-netherlands-uefa-2014-world-cup-qualifier-match-report-robin-van-persie-seals-win-101612
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785757/index.html
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-hits-rock-bottom.aspx?pageID=238&nID=32670&NewsCatID=362
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785772/index.html
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHUTsBwVnBo (Estonia v. Andorra)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW5jL1aN2xI (Netherlands v. Romania)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkUDb_vifQo (Hungary v. Turkey)
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