The Faroese gave the goal back when Johan Davidsen made a poor challenge while on the ground inside his own box, resulting in a penalty that the Kazakhs converted. One quarter hour later the Kazakhs were ahead through a goal from Andrey Finonchenko, who finished off a side volley pass by Sergey Khiznichenko. Kazakhstan win 2-1 for the first victory of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Munich was the site of Austria's visit to Germany. Germany, as expected, were dominant from the start, but it took more than a half hour to end the deadlock. A Philip Lahm cross found a sliding Miroslav Klose for a finish at the near post that was helped in by the concurrent slide of Klose's Austrian marker. This was Klose's 68th goal for his country, making him joint-top goalscorer in German history with Gerd Muller. Germany were ahead 1-0 at intermission.
Austria were rejuvenated coming out of the locker room, but the surge was short-lived. Marco Reus coolly picked up a loose ball from an Austrian headed clearance and waited for support. He found some with Toni Kroos, to whom he passed. Kroos finished from twenty-one yards away to give Germany their second goal. Germany finished the match off late. Benedikt Howedes declined to shoot with the goalkeeper out, inside slotting across for an awkward but simple tap-in for Thomas Muller. Germany win 3-0.
Dublin was the site for the crucial clash between visiting Sweden and Ireland. Shane Long played a high ball forward for Ireland. With his back to his own goal, Mikael Lustig made a poor attempt to head back to his goalkeeper. Robbie Keane took advantage and rolled the ball softly on frame. Lustig made the intial recovery to clear off the line, but eventually Keane bungled the ball across to give the Irish the lead. Lustig made amends later in the half when his belted cross was angled home by Johan Elmander's head to even the affair anew. The halftime score was Ireland 1, Sweden 1.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was leading a mini breakout for Sweden with Anders Svensson giving him an option with his run. For some reason, Glenn Whelan went with the runner even though his two centerbacks were playing for offside, so Ibrahimovic made the pass to Svensson, who finished despite pressure from Whelan to put Sweden ahead by one goal. Ireland could simply not put together any attacking threat for the remainder of the match, so Sweden win 2-1 on the road and eliminate Kazakhstan from the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Sweden own second place all by themselves, leaving Austria and Ireland playing catch up.
Germany 19 pts +18
Sweden 14 pts +5
Austria 11 pts +7
Ireland 11 pts +1
Kazakhstan OUT
Faroe OUT
Goals
Kazakhstan
Kairat Nurdauletov 49 PK
Andrey Finonchenko 63
Faroe Islands
Frodi Benjaminsen 23
Germany
Miroslav Klose 33
Toni Kroos 51
Thomas Muller 88
Sweden
Johan Elmander 33
Anders Svensson 57
Ireland
Robbie Keane 21
Match Reports:
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008590/postmatch/report/index.html
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/worldcup/story/germany-3-0-austria-world-cup-qualifying-match-report-miroslav-klose-equals-record-090613
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2414216/Republic-Ireland-1-Sweden-2--match-report.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23923007
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/06/republic-of-ireland-sweden-matchreport
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51-nKZhgZHc (Kazakhstan v. Faroe Islands)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWOqm1bUYkg (Germany v. Austria)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtO-AsS_e_o (Sweden v. Ireland)
No comments:
Post a Comment