UEFA World Cup 2014 qualifying: Spain held to draw against Finland; England annihilate San Marino

Volunteers had been drafted in to clear the pitch, but to no avail, with IFA officials now facing criticism over the fact that the pitch was not covered. Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill protested about “freak” conditions, pointing out that “ it is the first time in history it has happened [to Northern Ireland], so it is not something we have not managed well, or have mis-managed over time.”

Attention will now turn to Northern Ireland’s qualifying game against Israel on Tuesday - there is not much prospect of the weather improving dramatically, so that game will also be under threat of postponement.

Germany and Austria cruised to easy wins against Kazakhstan and the Faroe Islands respectively, but Ireland put up a pretty decent fight against Sweden, emerging from Stokholm with a credible 0-0 draw. After a strong start by the visitors Sweden were pretty clearly the better side, but a valiant rearguard effort saw them claim a point and remain within touching distance of qualification.

Although the Netherlands didn’t look particularly impressive, they got the job done against Estonia. Turkey also beat Andorra because duh. The most interesting action came in Hungary, where Romania kept pace with the current runners up by snatching a last-minute draw through Alexandru Chipciu at Fenric Puskas Stadium. Friday’s match was a good chance for Hungary to pull away, and they didn’t manage it.

Mathieu Valbuena was seemingly creating chances at will, but will have been frustrated as his teammates seemed to go out of the way to spurn them. An excellent ball over the top saw Giroud one-on-one, but his attempted lob was far too heavy and Georgia were once again fortunate not to be behind.

Georgia even looked like threatening themselves as France got frustrated, but with the half running out, France scored just before the break. The creator was no surprise, as the excellent Valbuena sent in a perfect delivery which Giroud got on the end of to head Les Bleus into the lead.

As a neutral, it’s difficult to watch Giovanni Trapattoni’s teams, but he’s managed to get another great result with an Ireland team that doesn’t quite have the talent to stack up against their opposition. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sweden were completely stifled at home on Friday, as the Irish defended brilliantly in a 0-0 draw.

The visitors finished the game without a single shot on target. Their best spell of play came mid-way through the second half, but they never truly looked like scoring. Much like they always do on the road against good opposition, Ireland sat back in a rigid 4-4-2 formation, and Sweden struggled to break them down.

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San Marino starting lineup: The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker...*

*I haven’t seen San Marino lineups and it’s very difficult to convince myself that finding them will enlighten anyone in any meaningful way.

Netherlands lineup (4-3-3): Kenneth Vermeer; Daryl Janmaat, Stefan De Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Daley Blind; Jonathan De Guzman, Kevin Strootman, Wesley Sneijder; Jeremain Lens, Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben. #nedest

Estonia lineup: Sergei Pareiko, Taijo Teniste, Ragnar Klavan, Igor Morozov, Enar Jääger, Dmitri Kruglov, Martin Vunk, Konstantin Vassiljev, Sander Puri, Henrik Ojamaa, Andres Oper.

Kazakhstan meanwhile line up with a 5-4-1 as they look to contain the visitors and make the most of a long trip to a rather hostile environment.

Kazakhstan starting lineup: Andrei Sidelnikov, Konstantin Engel, Yuri Logvinenko, Viktor Dmitrenko, Aleksandr Kirov, Kairat Nurdauletov, Anatoli Bogdanov, Ulan Konysbaev, Marat Khayrullin, Heinrich Schmidtgal, Sergei Ostapenko.

A heavy snowfall overnight and into the morning covered the pitch in a lovely white blanket. Stadium workers were joined by local volunteers in a mad scramble to get both the pitch and the travel routes to the stadium clear enough for the game. Despite their best efforts, officials determined the match could not be played today. There was also concern about more snow in the forecast that could lead to unplayable conditions should they attempt to play the match as scheduled.

As a result, the two teams will have wait until tomorrow to play their match at Windsor Park. Kickoff has been rescheduled for 3pm local time (10 am ET) tomorrow.

Things have already started to get heated (or not, as the case may be) with the freezing cold temperatures expected at the Friends Arena. The roof at the ground is likely to be closed after protests from Sweden boss Erik Hamren, while Ireland’s contrarian coach Giovanni Trapattoni expressed a preference for it to be left open. With temperatures dipping as deep as 14 fahrenheit, Fifa have probably made the right choice.

Match Date/Time: Friday 22nd March 2013 8:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET

Group 1

Group 2