Colchester

England are through to the Play-Off Round of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers, after their 3-0 win over Lithuania in Group 9 secured their spot as one of the 4 best 2nd-Place finishers from across the 10 groups.

In a must-win game for the home team, there was no breakthrough in the first half at the Community Stadium, with the visitors coming closest by hitting the post. In the second half though, England would rally, and goals from Danny Welbeck (62′), Marc Albrighton (79′), and another late on from man-of-the-match Welbeck (90+1′), would give them a win that would prove to be crucial in the final standings.

For the other contenders from the British Isles, Wales came desperately close to winning Group 3, despite a 1-0 defeat in Italy, and even though they had a higher goal difference than the Italians, UEFA rules dictated that they missed out on top spot based on the away goals scored in the two nation’s head-to-head fixtures. To add insult to injury, Wales would finish 6th in the ‘best runners-up’ table, missing out on that by goal difference. It was better news for Scotland, though, who claimed a late 2-1 win over Austria to book their place as a group winner.

It will now be a few day’s wait before the 14 teams find out who they face in the two-legged Play-Off Round in early October, with the draw being made in Herning (Denmark) on Friday.

The nations that have qualified for the Play-Off Round are:

Group Winners:

Romania, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine, Greece, Scotland

Best Runners-Up:

Spain, England, Belarus, Iceland

London

England have put their World Cup disappointment behind them with an emphatic 4-0 triumph over Bulgaria in their opening UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifier at Wembley.

Sporting a new kit, England used the opportunity of a fresh start to spring into the lead, with Jermain Defoe smashing in from close range (3′). Despite good chances for both teams throughout, it would be England who seized the game, first through Defoe (61′), then a long-range effort from substitute Adam Johnson (83′), and another late on from Defoe (86′) to complete his hat-trick, and put him joint top of the top scorers chart at this early stage, with the team surging straight to the top if Group G on goal difference.

The next fixture for England is a Quaifier away to Switzerland on Tuesday evening in Basel.

Ramat Gan

A hat-trick from new Chelsea signing Yossi Benayoun has edged his country to a victory over Malta, in what was only the second in a long line of UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying fixtures over the next year-and-a-half.

Like Estonia and the Faroe Islands a few weeks ago, the two teams would have had a boost in the amount of international attention that they recieve due to being the only game of the day. Israel would want to win this match to make a statement about their ability to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since 1970 and their first-ever European Championship, and got off to a flying start through Yossi Benayoun (7′). Malta, though, would want to prove that they are no pushovers, and an equaliser would come via Jamie Pace’s header (38′). The second half would see the better opportunities go to the home team though, and it was the captain Benayoun who grabbed two more goals for his country (64′(p), 75′). The result, for a day at least, sends Israel top of Group F, and Malta bottom.

The other teams in Group F, Croatia, Greece, Latvia, and Georgia, will play their matches tonight, alongside no less than 20 other fixtures to be played this evening in the Qualification campaign. For the teams on the British Isles, Republic of Ireland will start the evening with an early kick-off away to Armenia, while Wales will visit Montenegro. Lithuania play host to Scotland, while England begin their campaign at home to Bulgaria, and Northern Ireland visit Slovenia. For almost all of the teams, it will be the first of 8 or 10 games (with two more shoud they be in the Play-Off Round) that will form the result of their efforts to reach the tournament in Ukraine and Poland in 2012.

It was a move that looked set to happen for a long time throughout the summer, and on deadline day it was finally pushed through, with Steve Bruce probably set to use him as a replacement for recent Stoke recruit Kenwyne Jones.

In the World Cup, Gyan was one of the stars of a Ghana team which impressively made their way to the Quarter-Finals. Gyan got 3 goals, which included a late penaly winner against Serbia, an early penalty against Australia, and an extra time goal that saw off the USA in the Round of 16. In the Quarters against Uruguay, Gyan had the chance to make history, after Dominic Adiyiah’s goal-bound header in the last minute of extra time was denied with a deliberate handball from Luis Suarez. With the last kick of the match, Gyan had the opportunity to score from the penalty spot to put his country into the Semi-Finals, but unfortunately his shot hit the crossbar, and although he would score in the penalty shoot-out that followed, it was not enough to prevent Uruguay from winning.

Gyan will have to wait at least another four years to have another go at the World Cup, but for now the 24-year-old Ghanaian will want to help his new club to success.

Argentine winger Varallo, aged 20 at the time of his country’s 4-2 defeat to host nation Uruguay all those years ago, has recently been referred to as the last surviving reference as to what it was like to play in that historic occasion, and due to special circumstances this year (he, the last surviving player, had turned 100, and it had been 80 years since the 1930 Final), was giving plenty of interviews to websites and magazines to share his experiences.

Varallo was also a success at club level, and until recently held the record for being all-time top goalscorer at Boca Juniors (the record of 190 goals was broken by Martin Palermo) to go with his World Cup silver medal.

It has been said that Varallo nearly missed out on the famed inagural final through injury, but he insisted on playing, saying that he “Wouldn’t miss it for the world”. The history books seem to be thankful of this decision, and although the subsequent defeat was his “biggest regret”, his mere presence in the match meant that he would be an ambassador of the game for many years to come.