Friday 11.11.11 is Saint Martin's Day. It is also the day when the eight second-placed teams which did not make it to the UEFA finals automatically from the group phase play off over two matches (home and away) to pick the last four teams to go to the UEFA finals in Poland/Ukraine in 2012.
Bosnia and Herzegovina takes on Portugal in Zenica on Friday November 11, at 20.00 CET. Five minutes later, Turkey kicks off against Croatia then at 20.15, the Czech Republic vs. Montenegro game begins. The last match of the evening is between Estonia and the Republic of Ireland, starting at 20.45 in Tallinn.
Return match (second leg) November 15
Standings
Group A
Germany 3 Belgium 1
Turkey 1 Azerbaijan 0
Kazakhstan 0 Austria 0
Country Games Points Goals
Germany 10 30 34-7
Turkey 10 17 13-11
Belgium 10 15 21-15
Austria 10 12 16-17
Azerbaijan 10 7 10-26
Kazakhstan 10 4 6-24
Germany qualifies automatically, Turkey enters the play-offs
Group B
Russia 6 Andorra 0
Rep. Ireland 2 Armenia 1
Macedónia 1 Slovakia 1
Country Games Points Goals
Russia 10 23 17-4
Rep. Ireland 10 21 15-7
Armenia 10 17 22-10
Slovakia 10 15 7-10
Macedonia 10 8 8-14
Andorra 10 0 1-25
Russia qualifies automatically, Rep. Ireland enters the play-offs
Group C
Slovenia 1 Serbia 0
Italy 3 Northern Ireland 0
Italy 10 26 20-2
Estonia 10 16 15-14
Serbia 10 15 13-12
Slovenia 10 14 11-7
N. Ireland 10 9 9-13
Faroe Islands 10 4 6-26
Italy qualifies automatically, Estonia enters the play-offs
Group D
France 1 Bosnia 1
Albania 1 Romania 1
France 10 21 15-4
Bosnia-H. 10 20 176-8
Romania 10 14 13-9
Belarus 10 13 8-7
Albania 10 9 7-14
Luxemburg 10 4 3-21
France qualifies automatically, Bosnia enters the play-offs
Group E
Sweden 3 Netherlands 2
Hungary 0 Finland 0
Moldavia 4 San Marino 0
Netherlands 10 27 37-8
Sweden 10 24 31-11
Hungary 10 19 22-14
Finland 10 10 16-16
Moldavia 10 9 12-16
S. Marino 10 0 0-53
Netherlands and Sweden both qualify directly
Group F
Georgia 1 Greece 2
Croatia 2 Latvia 0
Malta 0 Israel 2
Greece 10 24 14-5
Croatia 10 22 18-7
Israel 10 16 13-11
Latvia 10 11 9-12
Georgia 10 10 7-9
Malta 10 1 4-21
Greece qualifies automatically, Croatia enters the play-offs
Group G
Bulgaria 0 Wales 1
Switzerland 2 Montenegro 0
England 8 18 17-5
Montenegro 8 12 7-7
Switzerland 8 11 12-10
Wales 8 9 6-10
Bulgaria 8 5 3-13
England qualifies automatically, Montenegro enters the play-offs
Group H
Denmark 2 Portugal 1
Norway 3 Cyprus 1
Denmark 8 19 15-6
Portugal 8 16 21-12
Norway 8 16 10-7
Iceland 8 4 6-14
Cyprus 8 2 7-20
Denmark qualifies automatically, Portugal enters the play-offs
Group I
Spain 3 Scotland 1
Lithuania 1 Czech Republic 4
Spain 8 24 26-6
Czech Rep. 8 13 12-8
Scotland 8 11 9-10
Lithuania 8 5 4-13
Liechtenstein 8 4 3-17
Spain qualifies automatically, Czech Republic enters the play-offs
UEFA Rules for qualifying:
"Qualifying group stage
The 51 entrants were drawn into nine groups, six of six teams and three of five. Matches are played on a home-and-away basis between 3 September 2010 and 11 October 2011. The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record against the top five sides in their pool qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up enter the play-offs.
Play-offs
The four sides with the best UEFA national team coefficient ranking will be seeded and will play the second legs on 15 November 2011 at home. The first legs will be played on 11 or 12 November. The teams which score the greater aggregate of goals qualifies for the finals, with away goals and then penalties used to determine the winner in the event of a draw".
(Source: UEFA.com)
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru
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