It took less than one minute in the second period for Ireland to score when Marc Wilson hit a laser from the top of the box into the upper ninety. Six minutes later, Jon Walters had headed home for Ireland's second goal as Robbie Keane kept the goalkeeper honest with a whiffed attempt at a redirect. At the midway point of the period, a weakly floated cross was not dealt with well by John O'Shea as the substitute Arnbiorn Hansen rose above him to head to the far corner, cutting Ireland's lead to 2-1. The Faroe Islands scored five minutes later, though this time it was in their own net as Pol Johannus Justinussen reached for a ball going behind him without any Ireland attackers in the area and accidentally poked into his own goal. Ireland finished off the match in style as Darren O'Dea headed into goal off a corner kick with Faroe center back Rogvi Baldvinsson hanging all over his shirt. Ireland win 4-1.
Vienna was the site of the return match as Austria hosted Kazakhstan having just visited them four days prior. Austria were certainly hoping to improve upon their scoreless draw from Friday. David Alaba whipped in a sharp cross midway through the half that allowed Marc Janko to run onto it and head home for the opening goal. An Alaba volley from twenty-one yards someone went through a crowd of people three minutes later to hit the far post. Austria led one goal to nil at intermission.
Alaba and Janko replayed their first goal down to the distance and position on the field as they combined for Austria's second goal midway through the half. A visibly tired and unenthusiastic Kazakh defense let up a third goal as Marko Arnautovic picked up a cleared ball and then slotted for Alaba, who beat his non-alert defender to the ball and then chipped the goalkeeper as he was thinking about sliding. On a stoppage time breakaway Arnautovic picked up his second assist when he played a bouncing ball in for Martin Harnik, who finished for the final tally. Austria win 4-0.
Berlin was the site of the day's most memorable qualifiers as hosts Germany welcomed Sweden to town. Thomas Muller nearly gave Germany the lead after two minutes of play, but Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson came up with a nifty double save. Germany made this match look like a stroll in the park from then on. Marco Reus slotted a ball short of where Miroslav Klose was stationed, so Klose cut inside of Sweden defender Jonas Olsson to find himself a one-time finish for 1-0. Reus then played a one-two-one with Muller before sending a ball across the box to Klose, whose initial shot was saved. Klose toe poked the rebound home and Germany were up 2-0 after a quarter hour. Muller saved a ball from bouncing out of bounds with a header back into the Swedish box, and from there his center back Per Mertesacker struck a nice goal to give Germany a 3-0 lead they would take into halftime.
Ten minutes into the second half, Germany had an unassailable four-goal lead when a Muller cross missed its targets but fell to Mesut Ozil with time and space. Ozil finished far post as a teammate halted his forward momentum to avoid touching the ball in an offside position. Kim Kallstrom gave Sweden something to cheer about when his cross put in striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the striker beat a two-man offside trap and headed from ten yards on the road for a vintage Ibrahimovic goal. Two minutes later, Kallstrom sent in a ball beyond a one-man offside trap to Mikael Lustig, who then nutmegged the goalkeeper at the near post to bring Sweden within 4-2. Alexander Kacaniklic ran onto a long through ball along the left flank before sending a ball across the German box to Johan Elmander for a one-timed finish and a 4-3 scoreline with fifteen minutes left in regulation. Poor Holger Badstuber was the defender victimized on Sweden's second and third goals. In stoppage time, a Swedish cross was headed on by Ibrahimovic and was half-volleyed into the goal from the penalty spot by Rasmus Elm. Germany suffer the most embarrassing of 4-4 home draws.
Germany 10 pts +9
Sweden 7 pts +3
Ireland 6 pts -1
Austria 4 pts +3
Kazakhstan 1 pts -7
Faroes 0 pts -6
Goals
Ireland
Marc Wilson 46
Jon Walters 52
Pol Johannus Justinussen 73 OG
Darren O'Dea 89
Faroe Islands
Arnbiorn Hansen 68
Austria
Marc Janko 24, 63
David Alaba 71
Martin Harnik 90+3
Germany
Miroslav Klose 8, 15
Per Mertesacker 39
Mesut Ozil 56
Sweden
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 62
Mikael Lustig 64
Johan Elmander 76
Rasmus Elm 90+3
Match Reports:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785753/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19954418
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785766/index.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-alaba-inspires-austria-4-0-win-over-205956382--sow.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/raphael_honigstein/10/19/germany-sweden-joachim-loew/index.html
http://www.rantsports.com/soccer/2012/10/17/germany-4-4-sweden-germany-needs-killer-instinct/
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785809/index.html
http://www.goal.com/en-us/match/92452/germany-vs-sweden/report
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jjTnDnj1esyDqkzocAC0VQzL-duw?docId=CNG.6eb94815e1babf849998590e97a79062.471
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m5PZcBoyXg (Ireland v. Faroe Islands)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMEVnswMMII (Austria v. Kazakhstan)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loMXEFyAik0&feature=related (Sweden v. Germany)
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