Former champions Italy frustrated by Northern Ireland; Spain, Germany, Portugal power on in Euro qualifiers
Former champions Italy frustrated by Northern Ireland; Spain, Germany, Portugal power on in Euro qualifiers |
| u00a0Italy midfielder Simone Pepe in action during the Euro 2012 qualifying football match against Northern Ireland on Saturday. Italy were held 0-0. Pic/AFP |
Italy were held to a goalless draw by Northern Ireland in their Euro 2012 qualifying match on Saturday, dropping their first points of the campaign in a dour battle.
The four-time world champions enjoyed the lion's share of possession and by far the better goalscoring opportunities, but ultimately had to settle for only a point in front of a spirited Windsor Park crowd.
The result left Italy top of Group C with seven points from three matches. It was a disappointing outing for Italy, who dominated for large parts of the game but were unable to find the goal which would have taken them four points clear at the top of the group.
Spain wins
Meanwhile, World champions Spain went on top of Euro 2012 qualifying with a 3-1 win at home against Lithuania. Fernando Llorente was Spain's match-winner, putting them in front early in the second period and then restoring their lead two minutes after Darvydas Sernas had equalised in the 54th minute. David Silva made doubly sure an upset was avoided with a header 11 minutes from time.
Oezil stars for Germany
World Cup semi-finalists Germany roared to the top of Euro 2012 qualifying Group A with a 3-0 win at home to Turkey. Boisterous Turkish fans made up almost half of the 74,244-crowd at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, but were silenced by an influential performance from Germany's Mesut Oezil. ufffd Agencies
