The good, bad and barely acceptable
There were plenty of surprise results on the second matchday of Euro 2012 qualifying, not least France returning to winning ways, so we've picked out the biggest winners and losers, as well as those nations who have some improving to do...
THE GOOD
France
We thought it would be a long while before Les Bleus made an appearance in this column, however Laurent Blanc was able to celebrate his first victory as national team boss after a brilliant 2-0 success in Bosnia. Late goals by Karim Benzema and Florent Malouda helped them to finally stop the rot.
Montenegro
Defeat in Montenegro persuaded John Toshack that his time as Wales manager is up but their conquerors showed it was no fluke by achieving their first competitive away win against Bulgaria. Defender Elsa Zverotic scored the goal that saw Bulgaria lose their first home qualifier in over five years.
THE BAD
Portugal
Carlos Queiroz was hardly doing a spectacular job, yet Portugal have completely capitulated since their coach received a six-month ban for disrupting an anti-doping test. The 4-4 draw with Cyprus was followed by a 1-0 reverse in Norway, though they are still somehow [1.75] Group H favourites.
Czech Republic
Any hopes that Czech Republic had recovered from a World Cup qualifying campaign littered with rubbish results and off-field scandal were thwarted with a 1-0 home loss to unfancied Lithuania. The result was great news for Scotland, who will consider Michal Bilak's side their main rivals for second.
THE BARELY ACCEPTABLE
Denmark
Okay, so we may be being a bit harsh here given that the Danes triumphed in their group opener, but the fact they required an injury-time Thomas Kahlenberg winner to put away Iceland, arguably the weakest team in Group H, wasn't too encouraging. Despite that, they are [2.18] to take top spot.
Belarus
A 0-0 home draw with Romania is no disaster, however having just beaten France away, it was a bit underwhelming and squandered their chance to open up an early advantage. Belarus are [5.1] to win Group D, though that price may come in as their next four games are against Luxembourg and Albania.
Disagree with our conclusions? Then shout us down in the box below...
Published: 8 Sep 2010
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