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Euro 2012 Qualifying, Group A Recap: Germany Rolls, Belgium Disappoints

Sep 2, 2011, 8:49 PM UTC

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying: Why Not Just Hand The Trophy To Germany Already?

Germany have kept their 100 percent record in Euro 2012 qualifying intact, while things are now a little bit more clear behind them in Group A. Belgium were seriously disappointing and Turkey are now in the driver's seat to qualify for Euro 2012.

Germany 6-2 Austria

Talk about a fun match! Mesut Özil was absolutely on fire in this one, netting a hat trick while doing plenty of work to set up his teammates for chances as well. The scariest thing about this match for Germany’s potential rivals is not that they scored six goals but that Mario Götze and Andre Schurrle both came off the bench and scored. Their young backups are better than most teams’ starters.

Azerbaijan 1-1 Belgium

What in the world, Belgium?!? Not having Kevin De Bruyne is not an excuse for this result. Belgium played what was mostly a healthy first choice team and somehow managed to not defeat Azerbaijan, who netted an 85th minute equalizer. Belgium’s goal was a penalty, scored by Timmy Simons.

Turkey 2-1 Kazakhstan

Turkey got a serious scare in this one when Kazakhstan scored an equalizer and they missed a penalty, but they’re now in position to qualify for Euro 2012 after a late winner. Burak Yilmaz scored the opening goal, but Ulan Konysbayev netted a 55th minute equalizer. Yilmaz had a chance to give his team back the lead in the 63rd minute, but missed a penalty. It looked like Turkey was going to miss their opportunity to overtake Belgium until the very end, when Arda Turan saved them with a goal at the death, moving them into second place in Group A behind Germany.