Finland 1 - Belarus 0

Finland needed a win at home in Helsinki against Belarus in order to maintain hope of qualifying for Brasil 2014.  It would be Belarus that were the more enterprising of the two teams in the first half as they came close to hitting the frame on two separate occasions in the final quarter hour of the first period.  The teams returned to their dressing rooms knotted at 0-0.

Twelve minutes after the restart, Finland capitalized on some amazingly good fortune.  A fast throw-in lead to an attack down the right flank, but a poor cross went between the legs of Finnish attacker Teemu Pukki (pictured, white) and deflected off Belarus defender Igor Shitov.  Kasper Hamalainen had a chance for a tap-in, but his whiff actually threw off the goalkeeper and the ball rolled into the net for an own goal.  Goalkeeper Sergei Veremko denied a Pukki shot with his knee after Pukki had shaken his marker to get a shot off in an attempt to double the lead within five minutes of the opener.  Pukki struck a laser from distance shortly thereafter, but Veremko was able to push the shot high over the bar.  Showcasing an extreme lack of focus, Finland, playing with a one-goal lead with under ten minutes left in the match, decided to leave substitute Timofei Kalachev wide open on a switch of play cross, but Kalachev's open strike failed to curve inward quickly enough to get inside of the far post.  Pavel Nekhaichik was sent off for Belarus in minute 90 for his second yellow card, this one for diving for a penalty.  Finland made it through stoppage time to secure the 1-0 victory.

Spain 11 pts +6
France 10 pts +4
Finland 5 pts 0
Georgia 4 pts -4
Belarus 3 pts -6

Goals
Finland
Igor Shitov 57 OG

Match Reports:
http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/253617/report
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008410/postmatch/report/index.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeprHy5GW1s

Full Match Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwGotDfwR-o