Portugal, Ireland book Euro 2012 berth
November 16th, 2011 - 2:18 pm ICT by IANSLisbon, Nov 16 (IANS) Portugal captured a ticket for Euro 2012 football championships after beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 6-2 in a qualifier here Tuesday evening.
The first match in Zenica had ended 0-0.
Portugal started the decisive match with the same eleven as in last Friday’ s match. Bosnia coach Safet Susic made one change with Sasa Papac, who was suspended in the previous game, coming in for Sejad Salihovic.
The home team started furiously at the Estadio da Luz of Benfica. Raul Meireles got the first chance in the fifth minute, but his shot went wide. Three minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo surprised Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic with a long-distance free-kick to give his side the lead.
The Portuguese kept dominating the first half and it was Nani who doubled the score in the 24th minute. The Manchester United winger found the target with a beautiful shot.
Both teams hoped to get a penalty in the last ten minutes of the first half, but only the Bosnians got one. German referee Wolfgang Stark awarded Helder Postiga with a yellow card for diving and gave Bosnia a penalty after a hand ball by Fabio Coentrao. Zvjezdan Misimovic converted the penalty.
After half-time, Cristiano Ronaldo produced his second goal in the 53rd by running past the Bosnian defence and Begovic. Bosnia responded once again with a Emir Spahic goal, but that was the last time the visitors got back into the match.
A shot by Helder Postiga (72′ ), a free-kick by Miguel Veloso (80′) and a header by Helder Postiga (82′) handed Portugal a 6-2 win. Just like two years ago in the World Cup qualification play-offs Portugal proved to be too strong for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ireland also qualified for the event next year in Poland and Ukraine after drawing with Estonia 1-1 in the second leg of the tie in Dublin.
Other qualifying results:
At Zagreb:
Croatia 0 Turkey 0
Croatia qualify 3-0 on aggregate
At Podgorica, Montenegro:
Montenegro 0 Czech Republic 1 (Jiracek 81)
Czech Republic qualify 3-0
At Dublin:
Ireland 1 (Ward 32) Estonia 1 (Vassiljev 57)
Ireland qualify 5-1
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Tags: 53rd, asmir begovic, bosnia herzegovina, bosnians, estadio da luz, euro 2012, first chance, football championships, free kick, manchester united, meireles, miguel veloso, papac, play offs, postiga, republ, safet susic, target, world cup qualification, yellow card