Ronaldo poker, five England goals in 38 minutes and a sensation in Albania: review of Euro 2020 qualification matches

Eight goals at St. Marys

One of the most anticipated matches of the day took place at the St. Marys Stadium, where the England team hosted the Kosovo team. Before the reporting game, the teams led group A, and the guests did have an unbeatable series of 15 meetings. At the same time, the founders of football, who in case of victory were four points away from their opponents, were considered to be favorites.

The match began for the wards of Gareth Southgate with a cold shower. Just 34 seconds later, the Kosovars came forward. Distinguished Valen Berisha, who went down in history as the author of the fastest goal against the “three lions” since 1993. Then the players of San Marino took only eight seconds to leave David Seaman out of work.

However, this failure only angered the hosts. Within 38 minutes, they upset the goalkeeper of the rival Aryanet Murich five times and resolved all the questions about the winner. Jadon Sancho took the double, once Harry Kane and Rakhim Sterling lit their name on the scoreboard, and Mergim Voivoda sent another ball into his own goal. It is noteworthy that Stirling has eight goals in his last eight meetings for the national team.

In the second half, the Kosovo team tried to organize a comeback. All the same, Berisha and Vedat Muriki won two goals by the 55th minute, but could not achieve more. And this despite the fact that England had the right to a penalty, but Kane was inaccurate.

Extravaganza Ronaldo

The current European champions did not lag behind the British. The Portuguese national team initially looked like a clear favorite in the confrontation with the Lithuanian team, but during the meeting experienced serious problems. Already in the seventh minute, Ronaldo with an accurate kick from the penalty kick put the guests ahead, however, on the 28th, the hosts restored the status quo. Vytautas Andryushkevichus distinguished himself.

Fernando Santos wards could regain leadership only in the middle of the second half. From the 62nd to the 76th minute, Ronaldo threw the ball three times into the net of the hosts' goal and left no doubt as to the winner of the match. Moreover, one of the goals turned out to be rather curious: Ernestas Shetkus managed to hit the Juventus striker, but the ball treacherously hit his shoulder and crossed the goal line.

Thus, Ronaldo became the first footballer in the history of the “team of the elect”, who twice in his career scored at least four goals in official matches for the national team. At times, the legendary Eusebio (1966) and Nun Gomes (2002) succeeded.

The final result was set by William Carvalho in the second compensated minute. The Portuguese national team won the second consecutive victory in the Euro 2020 qualification and approached the leader of Quintet B - Ukraine. The assets of Santos wards are eight points, their opponents - 13.

Turkey Leadership

From the point of view of intrigue, the most interesting was the sextet H, which in its entirety spent its matches on September 10th. The leader of the group, the national team of Turkey, met with Moldova and did not experience any problems. Wards of Shenol Gunesh sent four unanswered goals into the goal of Alexei Koshelev and remained on the first line.

The main character was Jenk Tosun, chalked up two accurate hits. Moreover, the first goal of the Everton striker became a real masterpiece: he elegantly threw the ball over the goalkeeper who advanced towards him, after which he sent the shell into the net from the summer.

Deniz Tyuryudzh and Yusuf Yazidzhi once again distinguished themselves, who helped the team win the fifth victory in six matches of the Euro 2020 qualifying tournament. At the moment, the team has 15 points.

Griezmann failure

The same number of points in the asset of the current world champions. The French also won five victories in six qualifying rounds, but are inferior to the Turks due to defeat in the full-time meeting. This time, the team of Didier Deschamps easily prevailed over Andorra and extended their successful series to three games.

In 90 minutes, the three-color ones delivered 29 shots on goal, and 12 of them hit the target. It is noteworthy that each of the field players (with the exception of Leo Dubois) noted at least one attempt to upset Jose Gomez. The defender of Lyon was the only one to ever touch the ball. For the last time, 12 football players of the French team for the match were hit on goal by rivals in a game with Cameroon in May 2016.

Kingsley Coman, Clément Längle and Wissam Ben-Yedder were noted for accurate strikes, and Antoine Griezmann tried on the role of a loser. So, the forward of “Barcelona” was the first player in the last 10 years, who failed to realize two penalties in a row. And this despite the fact that before that he had accurately performed seven hits from the “point”.

The French extended the successful series in the confrontation with Andorra. Since 2000, the blues have won four victories without losing a single goal (14: 0).

Albania's first triumph in 28 years

The most intense meeting of the day was the duel at the Elbasan Arena. Before this match, the Albanian team ranked fourth in the group and, in the event of a defeat, practically lost the chances of winning a ticket to the European Championship. And in the light of the unsuccessful performance in the League of Nations, she can only hope for success in qualifying.

The main events began to unfold after half an hour of play. From the 32nd to the 58th minutes, the home team twice went ahead, but the guests both recouped. Gilfi Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson answered Kastriot’s goal with Dermaku and Elseid Hüsai.

However, this evening, luck was on the side of the team of Edoardo Rey. In just three minutes, Odise Roshi and Sokol Chikaleshi beat Hannes Halldorsson twice and helped Albania win their first victory over Iceland in 28 years. The last time the "mountain eagles" prevailed in 1991 - in the framework of qualification Euro 1992.