UEFA World Cup Qualifying: Russia, Spain, Italy all victorious

With the win, the Netherlands is now perfect through three matches of World Cup qualifying. Andorra are winless, with 12 goals against and none scored.

The Netherlands knocked the ball around and dictated the match to poor Andorra, but never really showed any ambition and they didn’t have to. They were in complete control and when Ruben Schaken added a third goal in the 50th minute, they really turned the lights off.

With the win, Croatia keeps pace with Belgium in Group A. The two teams are tied atop the group on seven points, three clear of third place Serbia and while Belgium has the edge in goal difference, Croatia got a draw in Brussels last month so they appear to have the slightest upper hand on their challengers.

Macedonia went in front through Agim Ibraimi, who scored in the 16th minute to send the Croatian fans into a panic. The Macedonia fans exploded and began to dream of pulling out a memorable win, but Croatia moved quickly to change that.

A Gheorge Grozav strike proved enough for Romania to maintain their perfect record in their World Cup qualifying group as they emerged victorious from a difficult away game in Turkey.

After early Turkish dominance, Romania enjoyed a spell of continued attacks on the hosts’ goal with Ciprian Marica going close before the away side eventually found a way through. Mihai Pintilli provided the decisive pass to unlock the Turkish defence, bypassing their entire defence to send Grozav through, who smartly took advantage of Volkan Demirel charging off his line to deliver a deft finish from 30 yards.

Macedonia 1-2 Croatia

Serbia 0-3 Belgium

In a game that was an excellent advertisement for UEFA switching to a multi-round qualifying model, like those in North America and Asia, an average England A- side laid a simple 5-0 beating on San Marino at Wembley.

Can San Marino go through an initial round of qualifying from now on? Please?

Even Gareth Bale appeared to sink after the goal, showing his frustration by sending a pair of efforts from outside of the box embarrassingly wide. And it could have been worse - James Morrison received another chance from a Steven Fletcher knockdown, entirely unmarked outside the Welsh area, but blazed over.

It wasn’t just the home side to be on the end of some poor refereeing decisions - shortly afterwards, Charlie Adam crossed for Steven Fletcher to head in, but the cross was judged to have gone out of play. Replays showed it to be an incorrect decision, and it was to prove a crucial one.

Of course the best way to deal with that is just go score a goal anyway, which Reus did roughly two minutes later. After Marcel Schmelzer’s ball in to the box was not cleared by Ireland, a lurking Reus charged up and buried a lovely shot over the right shoulder of Kieren Westwood to give Germany a 1-0 lead.

It just kept getting worse for Ireland. Toni Kroos scored to make it 5-0 on a lovely volley shot off a poor attempted clearance by John O’Shea. Kroos scored again in the 83rd minute to further humiliate the Irish.

It was Norway, not Switzerland who pushed forward for a winner in the final nine minutes-plus, and they were unlucky not to find it. Benaglio had to make one world class save on Vegard Forren, while Daniel Braaten was almost the hero with a brilliant long-range shot that beat Benaglio, but hit the post. In the end, both teams will likely feel satisfied with the draw and will consider themselves the favorites for the group’s top two spots.

But by the 68th minute, the enormous keeper’s luck had worn off. The Serbia defense, stretched in their desperation to find an equalizer, made the mistake of allowing Kevin De Bruyne in behind them. The architect of the first goal, the second was all his as he sidestepped an onrushing Brkic to slot home.

A win was always a given in this match for Spain. On Tuesday, they’ll actually face a bit of a test.

England have hit the woodwork a couple of times as well, and should be up by more than two goals. They don’t look terrific, but San Marino are simply a poor side.

Macedonia are a respectable team and playing away in World Cup qualifying is never easy, but in a deep Group A, Croatia know that they need to get every point they can and that means getting three in Skopje. Unfortunately for them, things did not start so well as Macedonia went in front, but Croatia did level and sent the match to halftime level at 1-1.

Agim Ibraimi got Macedonia going with a goal after 16 minutes. It stunned Croatia and woke them out of their early slumber, keying a half-hour of Croatian dominance. They kept the ball, dictated tempo and created chance, but they couldn’t break through.

The Netherlands are not at full strength, with many first team players injured or rested, but it didn’t matter and it showed from the start. van der Vaart scored just seven minutes in and by the 15 minute mark, the home side were 2-0 up.

From that point on, the Dutch just put that match on cruise control. They kept the ball and were clearly the better side, but clearly lacked the cutting edge and urgency they showed early on. The most interesting part of the match from that point on was Nigel de Jong being a bowling ball as the Netherlands just waits for the final whistle to go.

Scotland go into half-time at Cardiff City Stadium 1-0 up thanks to a James Morrison strike in a game in which chances were plentiful but finishing was poor.

Shortly afterwards, in a spell of dominance for the home side, Steve Morison really ought to have scored after collecting a cross from the right wing and despite having considerable freedom in the Scottish area, nodded wide of the far post with Allen MacGregor stranded.

Of course the best way to deal with that is just go score a goal anway, which Reus did roughly two minutes later. After Marcel Schmelzer’s ball in to the box was not cleared by Ireland, a lurking Reus charged up and buried a lovely shot over the right shoulder of Kieren Westwood to give Germany a 1-0 lead.

It was the home side that had the majority of the chances, but at halftime, Belgium lead Serbia, 1-0.

Serbia started off the match looking as though they wanted another 6-1 victory. After barely two minutes, Zoran Tosic, charging up the left, cut inside and let his shot fly. Fortunately for Belgium, the ball hit the post. Also fortunately for Belgium, this set the tone for the majority of the home side’s chances.

An early goal from Alexander Kerzhakov and a major lack of ideas from Portugal on the attack allowed Russia to earn an important 1-0 victory in Moscow.

Russia wasted little time testing the Portugal defense and subsequently, slicing it apart. Igor Denisov’s pass combined with a great run from Alexander Kerzhakov, turned Pepe in circles and allowed Kerzhakov a one-on-one chance against Rui Patricio. He did not waste the opportunity, blasting a shot over the goalkeepers shoulder as he went to ground, trying to make the save.

Group A underdogs Wales and Scotland are aiming to get their Brazil 2014 qualification bid back on track as they face each other at Cardiff City Stadium.

”He has played some big games for Manchester United since he came back. I’ve been in constant contact with him for the last year or so and I feel he’s ready to go.

If Ireland want to keep their hopes of qualifying for World Cup 2014 alive, they are going to need a result against Germany. The odds of that happening are clearly not in their favor.

Both sides are hit hard by injuries, but Ireland’s problems are definitely more severe. Even without the likes of Mats Hummels and Philipp Lahm, there’s enough depth in the German system to overcome. Ireland will have to find a way to get points missing key strikers, midfielders and defenders. Advantage: Germany.

Fabio Capello’s Russian side welcomes Portugal to Moscow, hoping to earn a key three points and keep their 100% percent record in tact. Of course, Portugal have the same goals.

How important is Ronaldo? Just look at Capello’s comments about him in his press conference on Tuesday:

Next up, Armenia, who also secured three points by beating Malta before being beaten 1-0 by Bulgaria. The Armenians haven’t done much thus far in qualifying, with nearly all their chances coming in the second half against Malta. Bulgaria shut them down after their goal, forcing Armenia to take desperate measures, which only resulted in red cards for attackers Marcos Pizzelli and Gevorg Ghazaryan. In addition to the reds, Armenia have already picked up five yellows in their two matches, so this could be a crunching match.

And, let’s face it, it’s almost certain that should Pirlo play, Armenia’s main task will be not to score goals, but to render him invisible. Perhaps, then, it’s time for Prandelli to give the veteran a break -- and use, say, young Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti? But the Azzurri coach tends to go tried and true, and so it’s almost certain we’ll see Pirlo as the man this squad is built around.

Match Date/Time: 8 p.m. local, 3 p.m. ET

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England

Belgium and Serbia, along with Croatia, are even at four points at the top of Group A in UEFA World Cup qualifying. But despite the equality in accumulated points, Belgium are the clear favorites to win this match, if not the group. Take a look at the Belgians selected for this round -- just how many of those names are unfamiliar? They’re being snapped up like beads at a Mardi Gras parade and, quite frankly, that amount of attacking talent is just not fair.

Finally, Belgium may also end up intimidated by the atmosphere at the Marakana, which can be quite the simmering cauldron. But the home side could wind up feeling the wrath of their supporters if things don’t go their way -- the risk of playing in Belgrade. In fact, Miha tried to convince the authorities to move this match to Novi Sad, where the Wales win occurred. Not much of a home-field advantage for Serbia, then.