Romania clinched a spot in Euro 2016 with a 3-0 away win over the Faeroe Islands on Sunday, while Greece beat Hungary 4-3 to avoid a winless qualifying campaign.
Two first-half goals by Constantin Bulescu secured second place in Group F for Romania, behind already-qualified Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland drew 1-1 with Finland in Helsinki after allowing a late equalizer by Paulus Arajuuri. Craig Cathcart had put the visitors ahead in the 31st minute.
Photo: Reuters
In Torshavn, Faeroe Islands, Bulescu opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a powerful shot just inside the penalty area after a cross from the left by Razvan Rat.
Budescu’s second came from what seemed to be intended as a cross in first-half stoppage-time that looped over goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen and into the net.
In the 83rd minute, Alexandru Maxim and Bogdan Stanku exchanged quick passes and Maxim beat Nielsen to cap the scoring.
Photo: Reuters
Greece finally ended their miserable run when substitute Panagiotis Kone headed in the winner in the 86th minute.
Coach Costas Tsanas made six changes to the starting lineup from the squad that lost 3-1 to Northern Ireland three days previously and it seemed to quickly pay off when Costas Stafylidis opened the scoring in the fifth minute. It was Greece’s first home goal in the qualifiers.
However, Hungary soon took over and equalized in the 26th minute with a header by Gergo Lovrencsics, before Krisztian Nemeth put Hungary ahead from point-blank range in the 55th.
Two minutes later, Panayiotis Tachtsidis met Petros Mantalos’ forward pass and blasted a shot from just inside the penalty area into the Hungary net.
In the 76th minute, Hungary took the lead again. Zsolt Kalmar, who had entered the game five minutes earlier, avoided two Greece defenders and as two more closed in passed to an unmarked Nemeth for an easy goal.
Three minutes later, Tachtsidis made a defense-splitting pass to Costas Mitroglou who made it 3-3, before Kone scored the winner from Jose Holebas’ cross.
“Definitely a bittersweet victory,” Tsanas said.
Hungary finished third in the group and will have another chance to reach the Euro 2016 finals through a playoff.
“We had always planned for a third-placed finish... Greece were unlucky not to have scored in previous games,” Hungary goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly said.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS