Montenegro in dreamland after winning start

"This is an unbelievable feeling," said Montenegro captain Mirko Vučinić after a 1-0 win in Bulgaria continued their dream debut, and coach Zlatko Kranjčar believes they will improve further.

Montenegro's introduction to UEFA European Championship football could not have been better – and coach Zlatko Kranjčar thinks they are not yet at their peak.

In their first match in this competition since the split with Serbia, Montenegro defeated Wales 1-0 on Friday. Things got even better on Tuesday as Elsad Zverotić's 35th-minute strike gave them victory in Bulgaria, avenging a 4-1 loss at Sofia's Nacionalen Stadion Vasil Levski suffered in FIFA World Cup qualifying a year ago.
Those results have left Montenegro level with England on six points at the Group G summit, and Kranjčar was especially delighted at how his side overcame the absence of injured ACF Fiorentina playmaker Stevan Jovetić. "I always believe in this team, even without Stevan Jovetić," Kranjčar said. "Now everyone can see that this team have quality. After two consecutive wins our aim must be second place in the group."
Certainly, the coach – appointed earlier this year to a side that won just once in World Cup qualifying – believes there is more to come. "We haven't shown everything we can," Kranjčar added. "Later on in qualifying we will be even stronger, as I believe Jovetić and Nikola Drinčić will be back from injuries."
Goalkeeper Mladen Božović, an immense presence in Sofia, particularly enjoyed the victory. "In World Cup qualifiying we got only one point in two games against Bulgaria, but deserved much more," the Videoton FC custodian said. "This is our revenge, but the most important thing is that we took a big step forward. After the Jovetić injury, no one believed that we could beat Wales and Bulgaria, but we played with confidence and deserved both victories. Sometimes we had luck, but luck must be deserved. And we deserved it."
One Serie A player who was involved this week, AS Roma winger Mirko Vučinić, is thrilled by results so far but is keeping his feet grounded. "This is an unbelievable feeling, but now we must focus only on our next game, against Switzerland in Podgorica on 8 October," said the Montenegro captain, who scored in Wales. "If we already start thinking about second or first place in the group, we will have problems. But we are in a great position now and our ambitions must be high."
Striker Radomir Djalović cannot wait for the visit of Switzerland. "Before these two matches, we thought about four points and dreamt of six," the HNK Rijeka forward said. "Our dream came true. We fought bravely against Wales and Bulgaria, believed in ourselves, had tactical discipline and mental strength from the first to the last minute in both matches. Now anything is possible. We can beat Switzerland at home, because I am sure that we will have better support than ever after this great start."   sourcewww.uefa.com

France and Blanc up and running in Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-2 France

Goals from Karim Benzema and Florent Malouda kick-started the visitors' Group D campaign and earned Laurent Blanc his first win as coach.

Holders Spain too strong for Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein 0-4 Spain


Fernando Torres struck twice and David Villa and David Silva once each to get the holders' Group I campaign off to an ominous start.

Reigning European champions Spain started their campaign to reach the 2012 finals with an emphatic 4-0 away win against Liechtenstein.

Spain travelled to Vaduz on a high following their FIFA World Cup triumph this summer and duly strolled to victory thanks to goals from David Villa, David Silva and a double from the rejuvenated Fernando Torres. That assured Vicente del Bosque's side of a winning margin double the one they mustered on their last visit three years ago and strong start to Group I.
Indeed, had it not been for local hero Peter Jehle, the FC Vaduz goalkeeper who was winning his 80th cap in his home stadium, Spain might have struck six before half-time. Within three minutes of kick-off the 28-year-old had already denied Spain's World Cup final hero, Andrés Iniesta, and clutched a dangerous Villa header.
Del Bosque had emphasised that goal difference "could be crucial" to group victory but Jehle refused the visitors a free ride. Although Liechtenstein were organised and stubborn in their blanket defence, the clever movement and passing of Xavi Hernández and his FC Barcelona team-mate Iniesta consistently gave Torres and Villa chances to test Jehle.
Spain were relentless. Villa and Iniesta's 18th-minute combination freed Liverpool FC striker Torres and his exquisite lob nestled in the far corner. The visitors' metronomic passing continued to wear the hosts down and Villa made it two eight minutes later with a right-footed drive which leaves him one short of Raúl González's record 44 goals for Spain.
Bidu Zaugg's valiant side carved out opportunities of their own and Iker Casillas needed to be alert to save from David Hasler before the break and also to block at the feet of Liechtenstein captain Mario Frick early in the second half.
Torres, however, made it 3-0 with a rasping shot nine minutes after the break for his third goal in two games for club and country after a drought which had stretched back to March. His replacement Silva added the fourth after only five minutes on the pitch. As full time approached Silva set up Villa for what would have been his record-equalling goal only for the striker's shot to come back off the crossbar. The striker will have another chance in next week's friendly against Argentina, while Liechtenstein travel to Scotland on Tuesday.

Avraam earns Cyprus a point in Portugal

Portugal 4-4 Cyprus


An 87th-minute goal from the visitors' Andreas Avraam ensured a pulsating Group H game in Guimaraes ended all square.

Portugal were denied an opening UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying victory by a late Andreas Avraam goal that gave Cyprus a memorable draw on the opening night of Group H action.

In a pulsating encounter the visitors led twice early on but went in at half-time level at 2-2 and Portugal looked to have quelled their resistance when Danny struck early in the second period. Instead Yiannis Okkas equalised and even when Portugal's Manuel Fernandes made it 4-3 on the hour, that only set the scene for Avraam's dramatic late intervention.
Cyprus had scored just twice in eight previous meetings with Portugal but they doubled that tally inside the opening 11 minutes in Guimaraes as a thrilling game started at breakneck speed and barely relented. Angelos Anastasiadis's side combined last-ditch defending with incisive counterattacking, a strategy which paid off as early as the third minute as Efstathios Aloneftis raced on to Michalis Konstantinou's intuitive reverse pass and calmly lifted the ball over the advancing Eduardo.
Hugo Almeida's deft near-post header from a teasing Nani delivery restored parity, but Cyprus were undaunted and regained the lead through their captain, the alert Konstantinou reacting quickly to Raul Meireles's miscontrol to push the ball around Eduardo and sweep into the empty net. Meireles atoned for his slip in the 29th minute, his low left-foot effort eluding Antonis Georgallides to bring Portugal level again. The home team began to gain the upper hand as the interval approached, Konstantinou clearing Almeida's header off the line before Georgallides dived to tip Fábio Coentrão's drive around the post.
Portugal continued to press after the break and took the lead for the first time in the 50th minute. Coentrão set up Danny to head in at the far post, providing a cushioned pass after the visitors had failed to clear Ricardo Quaresma's corner. Now it was Portugal's turn to be pegged back. Substitute Okkas came on in the 56th minute and within a minute finished coolly after being released by Constantinos Charalambides's perfect through ball.
Portugal swiftly regrouped and promptly moved in front again in spectacular fashion, Fernandes finding the top corner of the net with a thunderous effort from range. That looked to have secured victory but, with the final whistle approaching, the industrious Avraam stooped to head in after Eduardo could only parry Siniša Dobrašinović's shot to ensure a gripping encounter ended all square. Portugal visit Norway on Tuesday, while Cyprus's next fixture is at home to Norway on 8 October.

Belarus stun France in Paris

France 0-1 Belarus


Sergei Kislyak's late strike stunned Group D favourites France in Laurent Blanc's first competitive game in charge.

Belarus secured a famous victory after Sergei Kislyak's late goal stunned UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group D favourites France in Laurent Blanc's first competitive game in charge.

Les Bleus rarely clicked into top gear but were nevertheless dominating proceedings when substitute Kislyak struck the killer blow on 86 minutes. The FC Dinamo Minsk midfielder had been on for 11 minutes when he collected Vyacheslav Hleb's cross and side-footed coolly into the top corner. The hosts had been foiled on numerous occasions by Belarus's inspired goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov, but they have now lost four straight games and will need to stop the rot away against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, when Belarus play host to Romania.
There was a buzz of anticipation at kick-off as the former world champions looked to usher in a new era, yet the home fans had little to cheer in a subdued first half. Blanc picked five survivors from France's FIFA World Cup campaign, but it was two new faces who first combined to dangerous effect, Loïc Rémy nodding Jérémy Menez's 17th-minute corner wide.
While there was little fluency from Les Bleus, Belarus defended tenaciously and worried Blanc's new-look backline at times. Adil Rami twice saved his team with last-ditch blocks, the LOSC Lille Métropole defender keeping out Aleksandr Kulchiy's drive early on then getting in the way of Vitali Rodionov's dangerous header on 18 minutes.
Zhevnov must have arrived in Paris expecting a busy night but he was not called into action until first-half added time, when he parried a Florent Malouda drive. Belarus's captain needed to be far sharper after the interval, however, conjuring a fine save from a powerful Menez attempt three minutes in. With the visitors struggling to clear, substitute Mathieu Valbuena then cut the ball back neatly only for Guillaume Hoarau to scoop over.
Yann M'Vila was the next to sting Zhevnov's hands as the chances began to pile up, although the visitors might have opened the scoring on 51 minutes. Vyacheslav Hleb's perfectly timed ball split the France defence, but Rodionov shot wide with only Hugo Lloris to beat. It looked like Bernd Stange's men might rue that miss, yet Hoarau headed off target and Valbuena saw his dipping volley pushed over by the superb Zhevnov on 71 minutes.
Indeed, the goalkeeper's heroics seemed to inspire his team-mates, who silenced the Stade de France with Kislyak's clinical goal. Kevin Gameiro almost salvaged a point in added time, but when his strike flew fractionally over the game was up for France.

EURO hopefuls on their marks

Spain will launch the defence of their European title with a visit to Liechtenstein as UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying begins in earnest with 23 matches across the continent.

Seven weeks and five days after capturing the FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg, Vicente del Bosque's all-conquering Spain side return to competitive action in rather more modest surroundings with a visit to Liechtenstein's Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz – a venue whose 6,127 capacity could fit 14 times over into Soccer City.

For Spain, it is the start of their defence of the European title they won in Vienna two years ago. With the world crown now theirs too, Spain's aim is to become the first team to retain the Henri Delaunay Cup – something West Germany came closest to doing in 1976 when, after European and world triumphs, they lost out on a third successive tournament victory by the finest of margins in a penalty shoot-out defeat by Czechoslovakia.
Spain will be confident of a positive opening to their Group I programme, having won all four previous meetings with Liechtenstein without conceding a goal. The same applies for the Netherlands, their vanquished final rivals in Soccer City on 11 July, who start their Group E campaign away to San Marino – opponents, as with Spain and Liechtenstein, whom they have beaten four times without shipping a single goal to date.
Runners-up to Spain at UEFA EURO 2008, Germany will attempt to go one better in Poland and Ukraine in 2012, buoyed by their promising displays in South Africa and the influx of young talent that lifted last year's UEFA European Under-21 Championship title. Joachim Löw's charges launch their Group A campaign with a trip to a Belgium side for whom this is the first serious test since coach Georges Leekens embarked on his second spell at the helm. In the same section, Guus Hiddink makes his competitive bow with Turkey in Kazakhstan while his former team Russia begin life under another Dutchman, Dick Advocaat, by travelling to Andorra in Group B.
Group C is the one pool already under way and it almost opened with an upset, Estonia scoring two injury-time goals in Tallinn on 11 August to beat Faroe Islands 2-1. Now it is Estonia's turn to assume the underdogs' role when Italy visit in what is the Azzurri's first competitive run-out under Cesare Prandelli – the new coach will want an improvement on his debut defeat by Ivory Coast. Like Italy, France are also seeking to put World Cup disappointment behind them under a new coach. Laurent Blanc selected an entirely new squad for the friendly loss in Norway but will welcome back some familiar faces for Les Bleus' Group D curtain-raiser against Belarus in Paris.
The first of the week's 23 ties is scheduled for Thursday night when Group F rivals Israel and Malta meet. Twenty-four hours later, 2004 champions Greece take their first steps under Otto Rehhagel's replacement, Fernando Santos, with a home fixture against a Georgia team now under the tutelage of Temuri Ketsbaia. Among the fixtures in Groups G and H, England will look to lift the post-World Cup blues with a home victory over Bulgaria while Portugal will target a winning start when Cyprus come to Guimaraes