UEFA World Cup 2014 qualifying: Spain back on top of their group while England stall

First and most important: forget the past.

Of no other “Major” International Side can it have been said so often that “they scored too early”: “first half good, second half not so good”, as Sven used to say. The penultimate paragraph of the Guardian’s match report reads: “England, without any warning, had lost their composure, making basic errors and forgetting how to take care of the ball”. Of course, you’re thinking, we’ve seen this before. Indeed we have. But if you want to commentate on England matches you have to forget that. STAY IN THE MOMENT!

Montenegro stormed back in the second half to gain a well-deserved point against England. Full match report here.

Spain regained control of the group as Pedro’s goal gave them a victory over France in Paris. Full match report here.

England suffered a nightmare second half against Montenegro as their early lead was cancelled out, with the Three Lions fortunate to get anything out of the game in the end.

Mirko Vucinic tested Hart with a pair of long-range efforts as the England defence stood impotent, before the Manchester City keeper almost made a horrific error, somehow managing to nutmeg himself in dealing with another effort from Vucinic. Hart then dealt well with a Jovetic half-volley, before Montenegro hit the post from the resultant corner. Eventually, England could not hold on, and yet another corner eventually saw the ball scrambled into the net by Dejan Damjanovic.

Germany were in total control from the opening whistle and completely dominated possession and the midfield. However when they ventured forward in the attacking third, they seemed to short circuit and forget how to execute the final pass. After 20 minutes things started to click though and the Germans took control.

A wild two minute spell began in the 21st minute when Mario Götze’s cross into the box was met by Ilkay Gündogan who put the ball off the post. Less than a minute later Götze put a shot off the opposite post after an awful bit of defending allowed a long ball by Mesut Özil to fall to him in the box.

That leaves England in a fine position and nicely set up for the second half, and although Montenegro are far from out of the game, they will need to step things up a level if they want to gain a result.

No pressure, or anything, Spain.

Helder Postiga nearly had a brilliant chance to put his team ahead in the 28th minute, off a square ball from Pepe. Danny slipped Pepe down the flank with a great ball, but Rashad Sadygov cut out the ball before Postiga could finish. That was by far the best opportunity that Portugal had during a poor first half showing.

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Ireland and Austria both have seven points after four matches and sit one point behind Sweden for a coveted playoff spot. This is a big match in Group C and while it won’t decide anything just yet, it could go a long way towards how things ultimately play out later this year.

Ireland’s scoreless draw against Sweden allowed Giovanni Trapattoni’s side to both stay close to the Swedes and open the door for them to potentially jump into second place as Sweden don’t play another qualifier until the summer. Team captain Robbie Keane was forced to pull out of the match with a calf strain and he’s been replaced by Wolverhampton striker Kevin Doyle.

Northern Ireland vs. Israel - 3:45 p.m

Azerbaijan vs. Portugal - 1 p.m.

Poland vs. San Marino - 3:45 p.m.

Montenegro vs. England - 4 p.m.

Ukraine vs. Moldova - 3 p.m.