Euro 2012 Qualifying: Belgium-Turkey, Portugal-Norway, And More

Despite the wide slate of games that was played on Friday evening, the general picture of Euro 2012 qualifying remains unchanged, as most of the games either played out as expected or failed to produce winners. Most of the big names did what was expected of them, with one notable exception. France drew Belarus in fairly embarrassing fashion, but their position at the top of Group D is not in jeopardy, thanks to shaky starts to the competition by Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania.

Germany and Austria played possibly the best game of the evening as Mario Gomez scored a brace in a 2-1 win, including a dramatic 87th minute winner. Belgium and Turkey drew, keeping the Group A picture unresolved, while Sweden and Croatia predictably strengthened their positions.

Winning the match took a brilliant header from the prolific Gomes, who scored an astonishing 42 goals in all competitions last season, and it didn’t come a moment too soon for the Germans, who would have seen their perfect start to the campaign erased by a draw in Austria. The match wasn’t as one-sided as Germany would have liked against a team four places below them in Group A - possession was fairly even and Germany only outshot their hosts nine goals to eight, but in the end they got their three points thanks to having a deadly striker on hand.

It’s just another chapter in Gomes’ phenomenal year. After being castigated for a miserable 2009/10 season, the striker has shown up his critics by averaging more than a goal every ninety minutes, and he’s shown no signs of slowing down in the summer.

Belgium started their Euro 2012 qualifying match against Turkey in impressive fashion, scoring an early goal to go up 1-0. They absolutely controlled the first 20 minutes of the game, but Turkey were able to find a first half equalizer, very much against the run of play. Belgium continued to control the game until the halftime whistle blew, but they couldn’t find another goal.

The second half was much less eventful than the first, as the teams more or less limped to a 1-1 draw in fairly unimpressive fashion. The second half was as surprising as it was disappointing when you consider how much each team had to gain by winning the match. After the draw, Belgium sits in second place in Group A, one point ahead of Turkey.

Belgium have had much more of the possession and the much better in the play of the first half of their Euro 2012 qualifying match against Turkey, and they took a deserved early lead as a result, but they’re locked in a 1-1 draw at halftime after Turkey found a great equalizer against the run of play. A draw would keep Belgium in second place in Group A, which would mean they control their own destiny as far as qualifying for a playoff to get into Euro 2012, but a win would put them in position that would be crippling to Austria and Turkey.

The opening goal was scored by Marvin Ogunjimi just four minutes into the game, scoring on a rebound after an assist from Nacer Chadli. The Belgians continued to press forward afterwards, but they were hit back on the counter by Turkey, as Arda Turan provided a nice setup for a Burak Yilmaz finish, leveling the game at 1-1.

Turkey entered Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier knowing that a win over Belgium would put them in the driver’s seat for second place in Group A. Trailing the Belgians by only a point and with a match in hand, the Turks needed a win to get a modicum of comfort and were expected to come out playing with fire. Instead, they came out looking disorganized, disinterested and downright laughable at the back. Belgium was all too happy to take advantage of it too, getting a goal just four minutes in to go on top, 1-0.

With the Turks running around aimlessly at the back, the Belgians pounced. Early pressure turned into a goal when Marvin Ogunjimi got a second attempt at goal and found the back of the net. Now the Turks have to play from behind against a very good Belgium back line.

“I have bad news,” Lukaku wrote on his Facebook account. “I have suffered an injury to a bone in my foot. It needs further investigation, but I will keep you informed. I am obviously very disappointed [to miss the game] but am sure we will win. I will do everything I can to recover quickly.”

The extent of the injury is still unclear, although with the club season over and this being Belgium’s last qualifier until September, it would take a very serious injury for it to keep him from missing any more matches. If it is serious though, it could threaten any potential transfer.