The race is over in Group D of the UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifiers. Germany and the Czech Republic have won the top two spots of Group D, and are assured of a trip to the Euro 2008 Finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Germany hosted the Czech Republic at the Munich Football Arena just recently where the Czech Republic upset Germany 3-0, to earn the Czech Republic 3 points to assure them a trip to the Euro 2008 Finals. Germany, who already qualified for the Euro 2008 Finals even before their match against the Czech Republic, may have played a little too cautiously, but that doesn't discount the fact that the Czech Republic played some amazing football.

The Czech Republic were off to a flying start with a goal as early as the 2nd minute of the match when Czech Republic's Jan Koller had beaten the German offside trap and was able to pass it to an unguarded Libor Sionko who slotted past Germany keeper Timo Hildebrand.

On the 23rd minute, the Czech Republic doubled their advantage when Czech Republic's Marek Matejovsky was able to beat the German defenders and finished with a wonderful chip to put the score at 2-0. On the 63d minute, Czech Republic's Jaroslav Plasil was able to break away on a counter-attack and beat Germany keeper Timo Hildebrand to make it a 3-0 victory for the Czech Republic.

Germany had their chances through Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger, but they weren't able to get past the supreme goalkeeping of Czech Republic's Petr Cech, who is also the top keeper for English Premiership Club Chelsea.

The Czech Republic can now relax in their last two Euro 2008 qualifiers against Slovakia on November 17 and Cyprus on November 21 since they are already assured a spot in the Euro 2008 Finals. Likewise, Germany look to take it easy when they host Cyprus on November 17 and Wales on November 21. Ireland, who are 3rd place in Group D of the UEFA Euro 2008 with 16 points no longer have a chance of catching up to Group D leaders Czech Republic and Germany who each have 23 points. The only question that remains is who will finish at the top of Group D - will it be Czech Republic or Germany?

Russia's chances for qualifying to the UEFA Euro 2008 Finals are still alive after coming from behind to beat England 2-1 in their recent Euro 2008 qualifying match held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia this October 17. It wasn't an easy task though for Russia with England playing top form. In fact, it was England who struck first to silence the Russian home fans when England striker Wayne Rooney of English Premier League champions Manchester United chested a flick pass from teammate Michael Owen and slammed a powerful volley into the goal of Russia past Russian goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov.

Russia were struggling to get an equaliser, and Russia's head coach Guus Hiddink made some adjustments with key substitutions, bringing in midfielder Dmitri Torbinskiy to replace defender Vasili Berezutski in the 46th minute, and then brining in forward Roman Pavlyuchenko to replace a tired Aleksandr Kerzhakov in the 58th minute.

10 minutes after the substitution, England striker Wayne Rooney gets yellow-carded for a foul in the penalty area against Russia's Konstantin Zyrianov. Russia's substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko took the penalty kick and beat England keeper Paul Robinson to put the game level at 1-1.

4 minutes after, on the 73rd minute, Russia's Roman Pavlyuchenko was able to poke in a rebound from an initial shot made by teammate Aleksei Berezutski. England keeper Paul Robinson did well to parry the first shot, but Roman Pavlyunchenko was the first to get to the ball and poke it in the unguarded England goal to give Russia a 2-1 advantage and send the Russian home fans to a frenzy.

England coach Steve McLaren made last minute gambles by bringing in Frank Lampard, Stuart Downing and Peter Crouch from the bench, but Russia was able to hold off the England offensive to book the win and collect all 3 points. Russia's win over England improves their point standings in Group E to 21 points, just 2 points behind England who maintain the number 2 spot with 23 points. Croatia lead Group E with 26 points, and look to be assured of a spot in the Euro 2008 Finals in Austria and Switzerland this June 2008.

England must win their last Euro 2008 qualifying match at home against Group E leaders Croatia on November 21 if they hope to make it to the Euro 2008 finals. Meanwhile, Russia have two away matches for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying stages against Israel on November 17 and against Andorra on November 21. Russia still has the opportunity to collect 6 points if they win both matches, and those 6 points could indeed earn them a trip to the Euro 2008 Finals. Russia drew with Israel at home 1-1 back in October 2006, and they crushed Andorra at home 4-0 back in June 2007.

England lost to Croatia 2-0 when they were visitors at Croatia back in October 2006. Come November 2007, England will be hoping that the home pitch advantage and the home crowd support at the New Wembley Stadium can help them get a win against the Group E leaders Croatia in order to ascertain a spot for the Euro 2008 Finals.

Just last month, the France national football team was looking dismal at third place of Group B in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying stages. With only the top two teams of Group B qualifying for the Euro 2008 Finals, it looked like France needed to produce some amazing football in order to keep in contention with Scotland and Italy, who were leading Group B at that time. A recent 6-0 away win against the Faroe Islands restored some confidence for France, and France was looking to carry over that momentum going into a tough match against Lithuania at La Beaujoire in Nantes, France.

The match had a shaky start for both Lithuania and France. France saw a lot more attempts at the goal of Lithuania during the first half through the efforts of Florent Malouda, Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery, William Gallas and Thierry Henry, but they weren't to capitalize on their effortsto get past Lithuania keeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas. The closest France could get were hits at the crossbar care of Florent Malouda of English Premiership club Chelsea and Karim Benzema of French Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais.

Lithuania almost came close to breaking the deadlock when Lithuania's Audrius Ksanavicius was able to avoide the French defenders and curled a kick that beat France's goalkeeper Mickael Landreau, but went off the post.

The deadlock was broken until the 80th minute when France's Ben Arfa supplied a left-wing cross that was deflected and landed into the path of Thierry Henry, who made no mistake on pouncing at the ball from close range to beat Lithuania keeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas, and give France a much-deserved 1-0 advantage. The French fans went delirious as Thierry Henry's goal gives him a record total of 42 goals for France, surpassing the French record held by French football great Michel Platini, who is also the current UEFA President.

The French fans weren't even done with their celebrations when France was able to steal the ball from the Lithuania and launch a quick counter attack. French midfielder Jeremy Toulalan played a perfectly timed through-ball that Thierry Henry was able to race to beating out the Lithuanian defenders and side-footing it just past the reach of Lithuania keeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas to give France a 2-0 advantage.

When the final whistle blew, the French fans were in a party mode with France collecting the 3 points to overtake Italy in Group B. France has now a total of 25 points and are at the top of Group B. Scotland failed to collect any points after suffering a major upset in their 2-0 defeat against Georgia, and remain with 24 points to hold the second spot in Group B. Group B's Italy did not have a Euro 2008 qualifier that day, and their point standing remains unchanged at 23 points.

A crucial match for Group B takes place on November 11, 2007 when Italy visits Scotland. Italy won against Scotland 2-0 earlier this March 2007, but Italy are entering the Scottish territory, and Scotland has won 4 of 5 home matches with their only loss being a 1-0 home defeat against France back in October 2006. The November 11 Euro 2008 qualifier between Italy and Scotland will be the last group stage qualifier for Scotland, and it will also be their last chance to earn the points to be among the top 2 in Group B, and advance to the Euro 2008 Finals. A win by Italy means Scotland will not be advancing to the UEFA Euro 2008 Finals. A win by Scotland means that Italy will have to win against the Faroe Islands on November 21, and hope that France will not win in their last Euro 2008 qualifier match against Ukraine on November 21, 2007.

Defintely, everything is crucial now in Group B for France, Scotland and Italy next November 2007 in the final stages of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Portugal recently defeated Azerbaijan 2-0 for Euro 2008 group stage qualifying match to improve t0 20 points to share the 2nd place in Group A with Finland. Portugal’s first goal came from from a corner kick set by Deco and was headed in by Portugal’s keeper Bruno Alves past Azerbaijan goalkeeper Farkhad Veliyev. On the 29th minute, Azerbaijan captain Aslan Kerimov was given a red card after elbowing Portugal super star Cristiano Ronaldo of English Premier League champions Manchester United. With 10 men down, Portugal was eventually able to capitalize near the end of the first half when Portugal’s Hugo Almeida was able to stretch a volley from Luis Miguel.

Poland leads Group A with 24 points. However, with only 2 teams from Group A moving on to the Euro 2008 Finals in Austria and Switzerland on June 2008, it looks like the race will be tight between Portugal and Finland.

Portugal hope to improve their record this October 17 with an away match against Kazakhstan. Portugal has beaten Kazakhstan 3-0 back in November 2006, and are confident that they can produce another winning result to give them a full 3 points, and improve their standing to 23, just one behind Group A leaders Poland. Finland was only able to improve their standings by 1 point after drawing with Belgium 0-0. Finland does not have a match on October 17, and won’t have the opportunity to improve their standings in Group A of the UEFA Euro 2008.

Finland’s next match won’t be until November 17 when they host Azerbaijan, and then a crucial match against Portugal on November 21 which might be the defining match to find out if it will be Finland or Portugal who will advance.

Portugal’s will be relying on their star studded line-up to deliver, which includes the likes of Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo from English Premier League champions Manchester United, Deco of Spanish La Liga club Barcelona, and Nuno Gomes of Portuguese La Liga club Benfica. Portugal’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari won’t be at the bench as he will be forced to watch from the stands to serve the second game of a three-match suspension

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The UEFA Euro 2008 group stage qualifier between Romania and the Netherlands was indeed a closely fought match. After all, the fierce competition is to be expected from the two leaders of Group G. However, the day went to Romania who held on to a 1-0 advantage to earn the full 3 points, and give them the solo lead in Group G of the UEFA Euro 2008 with 23 points. The Netherlands have a lock on the 2nd spot with 20 points, followed by Bulgaria with 18 points.

Romania was able to earn their goal through the efforts of FC Steaua Bucharest defender Dorin Goian, who tapped in the lone goal of the game with 19 minutes remaining in the match. Netherlands goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was able to parry a header from Romania's Paul Codrea, but the rebound was collected by Dorin Goian who was able to tap in the back of the Netherlands net. The Romanian fans at the Lia Manoliu stadium in Bucharest cheered on as the home side broke the deadlock.

Netherlands had their chances through Ruud van Nistelrooy, Clarence Seedorf and Rafael van der Vaart, but none of their attempts could get past Romania goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont.

With only 3 qualifying matches left in the group stage of the UEFA Euro 2008, it's pretty certain that Romania will be one of two Group G teams who will earn a spot in the Euro 2008 Finals to be held in Austria and Swtizerland on June 2008. Romania will have to face Luxembourg on October 17, Bulgaria on November 17 and Albania on November 21. They've defeated Luxmebourg back in March 2007 3-0, and Romania is pretty confident that they can do it again in order to maintain their position at the top of Group G. The November match against Bulgaria might be a little tougher as Bulgaria has drawn with Romania 2-2, despite having the disadvantage at the Romania home pitch.

Meanwhile, the remaining matches of the Netherlands national football team include a matches against Slovenia on October 17, against Luxembourg on November 17, and against Belarus on November 21. Netherlands have defeated every of these teams, and will be playing hard to beat them again if they wish to claim the second spot in Group G to make it to the UEFA Euro 2008 Finals.

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The England national football team cruised to an easy 3-0 victory against Estonia to the delight of a full-capactiy crowd in the New Wembley Stadium in London, England.

In the 11th minute, England midfielder Shaun-Wright Phillips put England 1-0 up against Estonia when he drilled a shot between the legs of Estonia's keeper Mart Poom. In the 32nd minute, England striker Wayne Rooney of English Premier League champions Manchester United made it 2-0, grabbing his first international goal in eleven months. One minute after that, Ashley Cole sent in a deep cross that was headed by Estonia defender Taavi Rahn into his own net. Rahn's own goal gave the English home side a 3-0 advantage, which they maintained throughout the match.

It was the 5th successive 3-0 victory of England, who collected 3 points for the win against Estonia to improve their standings in Group E of the UEFA Euro 2008 to 2nd place with 23 points. Croatia leads Group E with 26 points, collecting 3 more points following a 10 home victory against Israel. Russia are in 3rd place in Group E with 18 points, and must perform well in their last 3 matches. Russia will go up against England on October 17, against Israel on November 17 and against Andorra on November 21. Russia must win against England if they still hope to make it to the Euro 2008 Finals. Otherwise, a win by England will certainly stretch their lead over 3rd place Russia.

The last time England met Russia was just last September 2007 when Russia were visitors at the New Wembley Stadium. England defeated the Russian side 3-0. Russia will be looking to capitalize on their home pitch advantage when England visit them on October 17. Russian soccer stars hoping to provide that much needed spark include Aleksandr Kerzhakov of Spanish Super Cup and UEFA Cup champions Sevilla FC.

England, of course, has an impressive lineup that includes Steven Gerrard of Liverpool, Frank Lampard of Chelsea and Michael Owen of Newcastle United. However, England will not have the services of Ashley Cole, who suffered a serious ankle injury in the match against Estonia.

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It was an easy match for the French national football team, who visited the Faroe Islands and beat them with an astounding 6-0 result.

Two goals in the first half of the match by French forwards Nicolas Anelka of English Premier club Bolton Wanderers and Thierry Henry of Spanish La Liga club Barcelona looked to be good enough to give France a convincing win against the Faroe Islands in Group B of the UEFA Euro 2008 group stage qualifiers. However, France kept the pace going in the second half and added 4 more goals to their tally in a show of football supremacy.

French substitute Karim Bebzema of French Ligue 1 team Lyon scored two goals, proving the awesome goal-scoring ability of the French Ligue's top scorer. Karim Bebzema has racked up 10 goals in the French Ligue 1 in just 10 matches played so far, giving Olympique Lyonnaise, or Lyon, the lead in the French Ligue 1 standings with 22 points.

France's Jerome Rothen of French Ligue 1 team Paris Saint-German also scored from a wonderful curling free-kick, and Hatem Ben Arfa of French Ligue 1 team Lyon also added a goal in second-half injury time to make the final score of France 6 against the Faroe Islands.

While France's win over the Faroe Islands has improved its standings in Group B of the Euro 2008 to 22 points, they still stand in 3rd place behind Italy with 23 points and Scotland with 24 points.

Italy was able to win 2-0 at home against Georgia and Scotland was able to win 3-1 at home against Ukraine to give them 3 points to stay at the top of Group B. With only the top two teams of Group B advancing to the Euro 2008 Finals in Austria and Switzerland, France must win their next match against Lithuania on France's home pitch at the Stade de France on October 17.

France must win in order to overtake Italy at the second spot , and keep their hopes alive for a spot in the Euro 2008 Finals. Meanwhile, France will be also hoping that the Group B match between Scotland vs. Georgia at the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Georgia will favor the Georgia national football team, so that Scotland won't pull too far away in the standings. Of course, that's highly unlikely as the Scotland national football team, led by the talents of JamesMcFadden and Kenny Miller, are red hot.

Following the France vs. Lithuania match at France, the last group stage qualifier for the France national football team will be on November 21 against Ukraine.

To bet on the October 17 match of France vs. Lithuania and other group stage qualifiers of the UEFA Euro 2008, click here.