Euro Cup 2012 Qualifying 3/27/2011. International friendlies too.

I'd like to start with the Group A match-up between Germany and Kazakhstan which saw Miroslav Klose and Thomas Müller strike twice each as Germany strode to a 4-0 victory. Klose opened the scoring in the 8th minute and closed it in the 88th while Müller struck his two goals in the first half as Germany had a 3-0 advantage at the half. Armenia were actually able to keep Russia from scoring but forgot to score themselves as they finished 0-0 in a tense match. Meanwhile, in Andorra, Slovakia were able to slot home in the 21st through Filip Šebo and so win the three points by a 0-1 scoreline. Over in Ireland, things were close but the home side managed to edge visiting Macedonia 2-1. Aiden McGeady and Robbie Keane struck a goal a piece as the Irish had a 2-0 lead at the half. Ivan Trickovski struck Macedonia's solitary goal to make the final score 2-1. Bosnia and Herzegovina's match with Romania was also close, but the home side won out in the end 2-1 as Vedad Ibišević struck in the 63rd and Edin Džeko struck in the 83rd after Romania had actually taken the lead through Ciprian Marica in the 29th. Albania's match with Belarus was a bit more one sided as Albania just held onto the lead that Hamdi Salihi had given them in the 62nd. There were a ton more cards than goals though, as seven yellow cards were given out including three in five minutes! Either way, it was a decent home performance for a side that were all too glad to take it. In my opinion, the biggest surprise of the day came from Georgia as they were actually able to defeat visiting Croatia 1-0 thanks to a goal from Levan Kobiashvili in the 90th minute! Croatia had almost all of the shot attempts but to no avail. It just took one from Kobiashvili to sink them too. Over in Israel, the hosts were content as they edged Latvia 2-1. Beram Kayal's 81st minute header which won them the match was just what the doctor had ordered after Elyaniv Barda had struck them the first goal in the 16th minute. Latvia's captain Kaspars Gorkšs had drawn the visitors back one in the 62nd but that didn't matter after Kayal had his say! As Greece visited Malta, they showed a lot of attacking flair; making many opportunities but only Vassilis Torossidis' second minute of stoppage time winner actually went in. They were even playing a man down after Sokratis Papastathopoulos had been given a straight red card. But, for now, they will just be happy to be back on top of Group F. Up in Wales, England dominated early on and just held on for the ride as Frank Lampard struck a penalty and a Darren Bent scored a goal within the first 15 minutes to give England a solid victory. A highlight of the English defense: the Welsh only shot three times with not one of their attempts landing on target! Bulgaria v.s. Switzerland was a hard fought game but, in the end, nobody got anything from it as the sides finished 0-0. Alexander Frei was twice denied by Bulgaria's keeper Nikolay Mihaylov while Bulgaria actually had more attempts as a whole but couldn't convert any of them into goals. In Cyprus' game against Iceland, neither side were looking too good until Chrysostomos Michail got a penalty shot in the 21st minute. It would have been all Cyprus may have needed for a 1-0 victory. We'll never know though as Stefán Magnússon pulled off a great save to keep Iceland in the game. The match then returned to its previous setting of boring as time wound down. On the bright side, it was the first point for Iceland in their Group H qualifying campaign. Finally, in one version of the Nordic derby, Norway's Erik Huseklepp struck in the 81st minute to draw his side level after Dennis Rommedahl had slotted home for the Danes in the 27th. The game thus concluded 1-1. On the international friendly front, the U.S. hosted and were able to draw with Argentina as it really was a game of two halves. Argentina were better in the first half, especially later on which led to Esteban Cambiasso beating Tim Howard three minutes from the half. However, America's Colombian-born forward Agudelo came in to equalise 14 minutes after the interval when  Landon Donovan's free-kick found Carlos Bocanegra who headed goalwards, Argentina's keeper Mariano Andujar failed to keep hold of the ball, and Agudelo just slotted home. Mexico v.s. Paraguay was another good match which was decided by two goals from Javier Hernandez and a goal from Andres Guardado that lifted Mexico to a 3-1 victory in a friendly match at the Oakland Coliseum. Cristiano Riveros provided Paraguay with their solitary goal of the night.