Last-minute header takes Portugal to victory against Denmark
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his last minute goal during a Euro 2016 group I qualifying soccer match between Denmark and Portugal in Copenhagen, Denmark
Paris: 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 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 0-2 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. Borussia Dortmund’s Erik Durm, who went to the World Cup but did not play, 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.
“We’re all disappointed. I think that was Ireland’s only chance of the game and they scored from it,” said Loew. “In the last few minutes, we were simply naive.” ”Ireland’s hero O’Shea added: “We have a fantastic spirit, we didn’t want to come off having lost with people thinking we just did ok.”
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.
Ronaldo said: “I want to congratulate the team for always believing. We knew it was going to be a difficult game but we showed confidence right to the end.” In Warsaw, Poland took the lead against Gordon Strachan’s side through Krzysztof Maczynski, but Shaun Maloney and Steven Naismith found the net for Scotland, leaving the hosts requiring a Arkadiusz Milik goal to earn a 2-2 draw.
( Source : AFP )
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