Euro 2012 Play-off First Legs. 11/11.

Well, the European Championships are fast approaching and the teams are almost all set and ready to go. To set things off on the right track how about Estonia's hosting of the Republic of Ireland? Keith Andrews started the flood for the Irish in the 13th minute with quite the goal. Andrei Stepanov was sent off in the 35th after a second yellow which left the hosts down to 10 men. Jon Walters then scored in the 67th minute of the 2nd half to leave the Estonians between a rock and a hard place. Ireland's captain and legend striker Robbie Keane then struck in the 71st minute to make it 0-3 for the waves of green. Estonia's own captain Raio Piiroja was then sent off in the 76th minute after collecting a second yellow as well. And so, with 9-players down, Keane converted a penalty in the 88th to truly solidify the Irish team's qualification bid. Over in the Czech Republic now where the hosts were far more successful as they defeated their guests Montenegro by a not very impressive but workable 2-0 scoreline.Vaclav Pilar gave the Czechs the lead in the 63rd minute of the 2nd half with his first international goal while Tomas Sivok headed home in the 2nd minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half to conclude the match in the Czech's favor. Meanwhile, in Turkey, the crowd of more than 50,000 looked on as the home side were battered by Croatia in the 1st half with goals from Ivica Olic (in the 2nd minute) and Mario Mandzukic (in the 32nd) to make it 0-2. The 2nd half got no better though, as Vedran Corluka floated a header in the 51st minute for the Croatian's 0-3 lead. The only game to not have a really designated winner was the one that many expected to have one: Bosnia and Herzegovina's hosting of Portugal. Despite the fact that Portugal had the better at most parts of the game, Vedad Ibisevic couldn't take his golden opportunity late in the 2nd half to actually give Bosnia some footing for the 2nd leg. Portugal on the other hand could do nothing with their 9 corners and 5 shots on target. Stay tuned for the 2nd legs!