Belarus and Montenegro pick up where they left off

UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying leading lights Italy, Germany, England and Spain all stumbled in their final friendlies of 2010, but while France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal all recorded impressive wins (see links for individual reports) Montenegro and Belarus also ended the year in style.

Exceeding expecation in their maiden UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign, Montenegro had few concerns in overcoming Azerbaijan 2-0 in Podgorica. Luka Pejovic's powerful shot (62) and Fatos Beciraj's header (74) did the damage for Zlatko Kranjcar's team, who are top of Group G and unbeaten in their first four fixtures.

Also heading their section are Norway – with three wins from three – but they were made to work for a 2-1 win in the Republic of Ireland. Shane Long's fifth-minute penalty gave Giovanni Trapattoni's side the lead before Morten Gamst Pedersen's thunderous free-kick levelled the scores. Erik Huseklepp struck the winner four minutes from time.

Greece also scored late to beat Austria and add to the confidence built up from four qualifying fixtures unbeaten. Georgios Samaras made Florian Klein pay for a missed penalty when he gave Greece the lead just after half-time, but Austria did draw level courtesy of Christian Fuchs' first international goal. Greece, though, secured the win through Georgios Fotakis.

Alongside Montenegro, Belarus have perhaps been the surprise package of qualifying so far. They did their confidence no harm with a 4-0 win against Oman, Aleksandr Martynovich (2), Vyacheslav Hleb and Vitali Rodionov all on target. It was also a comfortable evening for Hungary, who defeated Lithuania 2-0 through second-half goals from Tamás Priskin and Balázs Dzsudzsák.

Martin Jørgensen's 100th and final appearance for Denmark ended in frustration, though, with a goalless draw against the Czech Republic. Nikola Žigic of Serbia enjoyed a far more eventful evening, scoring the only goal in Serbia's triumph over Bulgaria only to be sent off late on. Georgia recorded one of the most eye-catching results, winning 2-1 in Slovenia, whose own hopes of reaching the finals have begun in solid fashion.

Albania 0-0 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Austria 1-2 Greece
Bulgaria 0-1 Serbia
China 1-0 Latvia
Denmark 0-0 Czech Rep
England 1-2 France
Estonia 1-1 Liechtenstein
Hungary 2-0 Lithuania
Israel 3-2 Iceland
Luxembourg 0-0 Algeria
Montenegro 2-0 Azerbaijan
Netherlands 1-0 Turkey
Northern Ireland 1-1 Morocco
Oman 0-4 Belarus
Poland 3-1 Ivory Coast
Portugal 4-0 Spain
Republic of Ireland 1-2 Norway
Romania 1-1 Italy
Russia 0-2 Belgium
Slovakia 2-3 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Slovenia 1-2 Georgia
Sweden 0-0 Germany
Switzerland 2-2 Ukraine

View the original article here