Euro 2012 Qualifying: Denmark, England, Italy And...Armenia Notch Victories

“Fourth in the world? You’re having a laugh!” That was the chant heart ‘round Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night from the Wales supporters in the building. Yes, England eventually won the match 1-0 to secure all three points and a likely place in Euro 2012, but they were hardly convincing in the process. Honestly, the Wales fans had a point.

Aaron Ramsey was easily the best player on the pitch, while England lacked invention. Stewart Downing and Ashley Young did well to connect for a goal, but it was England’s best move of the night. They were lackluster, and though three points is all that really matters in the end, it wasn’t encouraging.

I honestly do not have positive words to say about the Euro 2012 qualifying match between France and Romania. It is possible that it could improve in the second half, but a variety of factors lead me to believe that it will not improve. I will continue to watch it anyway because i hate myself.

Here’s a quick recap of everything that sucks about this game:

Italy Starting XI: Buffon; Cassani, Ranocchia, Chiellini, Balzaretti; Thiago Motta, Pirlo, De Rossi; Montolivo; Cassano, Rossi

Italy bench: De Sanctis, Criscito, Pazzini, Marchisio, Balotelli, Bonucci, Nocerino

Grazie Football Italia for the lineups!

After being completely battered for 90 minutes, the Republic of Ireland have somehow pulled off one of the most undeserved points in football history. Russia absolutely battered them for the entirety of the match, but somehow failed to score a goal as the match ended 0-0. Ireland created absolutely no clear cut chances in the match and did not manage a shot on goal in the second half.

Russia almost took advantage of a situation where a ball re-arranged Dunne’s face, causing him to have to leave the pitch for a couple of minutes, but Ireland’s defense held up. Hilariously, the referee would not let Dunne back on the field with a plain shirt; Ireland did not have a replacement for his bloodied No. 5. The Ireland staff then drew a No. 5 on his shirt with a marker.

Russia lineup (4-4-1-1): Malafeev; Anyukov, A. Berezutsky, Ignashevich, V. Berezutsky; Zhirkov, Semshov, Shirokov, Zyryanov; Arshavin; Kerzhakov

Substitutes from: Shunin, Pogrebnyak, Torbinskiy, Pavlyuchenko, Bilyaletdinov, Glushakov, Shiskin