Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (L) scores the winning goal during the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying match against Denmark at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Tuesday. Portugal won 1-0. (EPA)
AFP/London
World champions Germany stumbled again in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign on Tuesday, drawing 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland on a night where Cristiano Ronaldo and a flying drone made headlines elsewhere.
Ronaldo’s late header gave Portugal a 1-0 win in Denmark to kickstart their qualifying campaign.
Germany had suffered their first qualifying defeat since 2007 at the weekend, losing 2-0 in Poland in Group D, but the World Cup winners were greeted by a huge fan mosaic at one end of the stadium in Gelsenkirchen which read simply ‘Thank You’, proving that such a defeat could not overshadow their heroics of July.
Nevertheless, only five of the players who started in the win against Argentina in Rio de Janeiro three months ago lined up at kick-off against Martin O’Neill’s men.
One of the newer faces, Borussia Dortmund’s Erik Durm, smashed a shot off the bar in the first half before a precise Toni Kroos strike in the 71st minute gave Joachim Loew’s men the lead.
But Ireland stunned their hosts by equalising in the fourth minute of added time with their first effort on target from veteran defender John O’Shea.
The result means Poland are top of Group D from Ireland on goal difference, with Scotland and Germany three points further back, while Georgia beat Gibraltar 3-0 to record their first points.
Poland took the lead against Gordon Strachan’s side in Warsaw through Krzysztof Maczynski, but Shaun Maloney and Steven Naismith found the net for Scotland, leaving the hosts requiring a magnificent Arkadiusz Milik goal to earn a 2-2 draw in a thrilling match.
In Copenhagen, Cristiano Ronaldo headed in Ricardo Quaresma’s cross in the fifth minute of injury time to score his 51st international goal and give Portugal victory against their Danish hosts in their first competitive game under new coach Fernando Santos.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos praised his captain after his late goal, saying: “Cristiano is Cristiano. He is a winner, and there are no adjectives to describe him.”
The Danes enjoyed plenty of possession after that, passing well on the slick, rain-soaked Parken pitch, but despite being roared on by a sell-out crowd of 36,562 they rarely threatened the Portuguese goal and were eventually punished.
“We knew that Denmark were very strong,” Santos told reporters. “I think they saw the match against France and changed from their normal tactics, from a 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 trying to control the match.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland made it three wins from three in Group F with a remarkable 2-0 victory away to Greece in Piraeus, Jamie Ward and Kyle Lafferty finding the net either side of half-time for Michael O’Neill’s side.
The result leaves Claudio Ranieri’s Greece side, European champions in 2004, lagging behind with just one point so far, while a brace from Bogdan Stancu gave Romania a 2-0 win in Finland and Adam Szalai’s solitary effort handed Hungary a 1-0 triumph in the Faroe Islands. In England’s Group E, Switzerland recorded their first points with a 4-0 victory away to hapless San Marino, with Haris Seferovic scoring twice and Blerim Dzemaili and Xherdan Shaqiri also on target.
The next round of qualifiers will be played over the weekend of November 14 to 16.
