England 2 - Poland 0; Moldova 5 - Montenegro 2; Ukraine 8 - San Marino 0

Photo by Mike Hewitt

Montenegro closed their campaign at home in Podgorica against visiting Moldova.  Montenegro needed a win and a shock San Marino win in order to make it to the UEFA Playoff round.  The opening goal was the ultimate emotional swing for Montenegro goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic.  He somehow parried away a fast deflection off his defender Savo Pavicevic, but then Poleksic dragged the off-target return shot from Alexandru Antoniuc into the goal with his legs.  Moldova led 1-0 on Antoniuc's first international goal.  The 1-0 halftime score was not indicative of how eventful the second half would be.

Moldova were unlucky to commit a foul on the very top right corner of their penalty area.  Stevan Jovetic's penalty kick was done in the Panenka-style, and it bounced in off the underside of the crossbar for the equalizer.  Moldova regained the lead shortly thereafter.  Petru Racu won a header inside the Montenegrin area from a very high bouncing jumpball, and his header led to an easy finish for teammate Igor Armas.  Soon thereafter, Eugeniu Sidorenco made it 3-1 to Moldova.  He backheeled wide to a teammate and then received a poor pass back to him at the half circle.  Sidorenco was able to kick the ball up to himself, switch feet, and then hit a side volley that spun into the net.  Artur Ionita stripped Poleksic in possession at the edge of the box and then side-footed into the empty net for his first international goal and a 4-1 lead.  On a late breakaway, Antoniuc shimmied his way into the box, dropping his marker Vladimir Bozovic to the floor before pushing home for Moldova's fifth goal of the match.  Off a free kick rebound, Jovetic headed home a consolation strike in stoppage time.  The shock 5-2 victory for Moldova eliminates Montenegro from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Ukraine were visiting Serravalle to take on San Marino in their final Group H match.  This match goes as further evidence for why UEFA need a preliminary stage to eliminate their weakest sides before the group stage.  Ukraine had three goals in the opening twenty minutes and took that 3-0 advantage with them into halftime.

In the second period, matters worsened for San Marino.  They suffered two goals in the first ten minutes.  Then, Mirko Palazzi was sent off for a red card in minute 57, leaving them down a man.   Marko Devic converted the penalty kick for his hat trick and a 6-0 lead.  Another Ukraine goal came midway through the period.  Ukraine added one last goal in the final minute of regulation.  Alessandro Della Valle was sent to the sideline for his second yellow card in the final minute of the match, leaving San Marino down to nine men.  Ukraine win 8-0 but were still searching for help from Poland.

Poland paid a visit to England in London.  England needed a victory in order to qualify for Brasil directly, otherwise they would be heading to the playoffs barring a massive upset win by San Marino.  Robert Lewandowski nearly scored on a counterattack for Poland when his teammate dummied over a ball.  Lewandowski dragged just wide of goal, and England seemed to relax after narrowly avoiding tragedy.  A booming shot from Andros Townsend (pictured, white) crashed the crossbar, but Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was able to get up into time to parry away a driven shot off the rebound by Daniel Sturridge.  Grzegorz Wojtkowiak made a sliding block in defense for Poland to prevent a tap-in off a probing pass.  Toward the end of the first half, Wayne Rooney had just lost his protective headband when Leighton Baines sent a cross into the Polish penalty area.  Rooney rose to meet the ball and let it skim off his naked forehead, proving the perfect redirection into the goal to put the Three Lions ahead 1-0.  England led 1-0 at intermission.

Rooney's twenty-yard curler was stopped on the dive by Szczesny, keeping Poland within striking distance in this match and Ukraine alive with hope of qualifying directly should England drop points.  Lewandowski nearly helped out Ukraine, but England goalkeeper Joe Hart made himself big on a charge off his line.  Lewandowski's shot nicked the triceps of Hart and England remained in the lead.  England midfielder and captain Steven Gerrard sealed England's berth at Brasil 2014 with a goal two minutes from time.  During his run, the ball hit the boot of Poland centerback Kamil Glik (pictured, red #15), but the ball maintained its course, allowing Gerrard to toe poke over Szczesny and into the net.  England win 2-0 and are going to the FIFA World Cup finals.  Ukraine are into the playoffs.

England 22 pts IN
Ukraine 21 pts
Montenegro OUT
Poland OUT
Moldova OUT
San Marino OUT

Goals
Moldova
Alexandru Antoniuc 28, 89
Igor Armas 62
Eugeniu Sidorenco 64
Artur Ionita 74

Montenegro
Stevan Jovetic 55 PK, 90+1

Ukraine
Yevgen Seleznov 13 PK, 19
Marko Devic 15, 51, 58 PK
Andriy Yarmolenko 55
Roman Bezus 66
Vitaliy Mandzyuk 90

England
Wayne Rooney 41
Steven Gerrard 88

Match Reports:
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008735/postmatch/report/
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-ukraine-face-playoffs-despite-thrashing-san-marino-213233808--sow.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24439799
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/15/england-poland-world-cup-qualifier
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/10380652/England-2-Poland-0-match-report.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2461626/England-2-Poland-0-Wayne-Rooney-Steven-Gerrard-seal-win--Martin-Samuel.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv2TMgG8AvM (Moldova v. Montenegro)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF5gCRLmfhI (Ukraine v. San Marino)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YEIIUIpVZ8 (England v. Poland)