Injured Ronaldo to miss crucial qualifier
The Real Madrid winger insisted he was fit to start against Hungary on Saturday night after spraining his ankle during his club’s Champions League win over Marseille on September 30.
He lasted 27 minutes before being substituted in the 3-0 win over Hungary in Lisbon which saw Carlos Queiroz’s team move into pole position for a play-off spot in Group One.
Two goals from Simao Sabrosa and a header from Liedson earned Portugal their first home win in qualifying last night.
That, coupled with Sweden’s 1-0 defeat away to Group One winners Denmark, saw the Portuguese move second in the pool – a position they can wrap up if they beat Malta.
Serbia booked their place at next year’s World Cup with a 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Romania.
France will have to content themselves with a place in the play-offs after also winning 5-0 against Brian Kerr’s Faroe Islands.
In Group Four, Germany captain Michael Ballack is doubtful for Wednesday’s final qualifier against Finland after sustaining an ankle injury in Russia last night.
The 33-year-old Chelsea midfielder picked up the knock in the first half but played on to help Joachim Low’s side clinch a 1-0 win at the Luzhniki Stadium. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque was keen to play down talk of his side being favourites to win next year’s World Cup after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Armenia.
“The talk of us winn- ing the cup is pre-mature,” said Del Bosque, after his side saw off Armenia with goals from Cesc Fabregas and Juan Manuel Mata, whose winning penalty came not long after Armenia netted a shock equaliser through Robert Arzumanyan.
Spain look to complete a perfect record against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday. Bosnia are assured of a play-off place.
Slovenia all but assured themselves of a play-off place after winning 2-0 away to Group Three leaders Slovakia.
They need only to beat San Marino to guarantee second place and push for top spot. Slovakia must win in Poland to assure themselves of an automatic spot.
In Group Two, Switzerland must wait until Wednesday’s home clash with Israel to book their place.
Two goals in two minutes from Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos teed up a comfortable 3-0 victory in Luxembourg to see the Swiss in pole position in Group Two, three points above Greece.
Greece could steal top spot, however, after Theofanis Gekas hit four goals in a 5-2 defeat of Latvia. Greece require a win over Luxembourg in Athens to secure their play-off place and a favourable result could see them qualify automatically, if Israel beat Switzerland.
In Group Six, Ukraine’s win against England could deny Croatia a play-off spot. Ukraine must play Andorra on Wednesday, when Croatia face Kazakhstan.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
