VICTORY FOR IRVINE AND METCALFE IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER - EURO EXIT FOR VASILJ, METS AND SINANI
Friday, 22. March 2024, 19:05 Uhr
The six EURO 2024 play-off semi-finals took place on Thursday evening. For Greece and Manolis Saliakas the dream of qualifying for Germany lives on, but Nikola Vasilj's Bosnia and Herzegovina and Karol Mets's Estonia were both knocked out, as were Luxembourg and Danel Sinani. Elsewhere, Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe helped Australia make it three wins out of three in World Cup qualifying, while Aljoscha Kemlein and Eric da Silva Moreira have also enjoyed success in Germany colours.
Goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj was an unused substitute as Ukraine scored twice late on to end Bosnia and Herzegovina's hopes of qualifying with a 2-1 victory in Zenica. The same fate befell Estonia captain Karol Mets, who started in Estonia's 5-1 defeat in Poland, and Danel Sinani, who missed Luxembourg's 2-0 reverse in Georgia due to suspension. Manolis Saliakas is thus the only one who can still dream of making it to EURO 2024. He looked on from the bench as Greece cruised to a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan. Georgia now await the Greeks in Tuesday's play-off final (20.45 CET), with a place in Group D alongside England, Croatia and Czechia at stake.
The six defeated teams will also be in action on Tuesday. Bosnia and Herzegovina go up against Israel, Estonia take on Finland and Luxembourg meet Kazakhstan. Having served his ban, Sinani will be eligible to play in that game.
Jackson Irvine (seen above celebrating with Bread Rowles, the scorer of Australia's second goal) and Connor Metcalfe featured from start to finish as the Socceroos maintained their 100% record in World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 defeat of Lebanon. The two teams meet again in the reverse fixture in Canberra on Tuesday (9.45 CET). Australia top the Group I table in the second phase of the Asian qualifiers with nine points ahead of Palestine (4), Lebanon (2) and Bangladesh (1).
Germany's Under-18s made a successful start to the four-nation tournament in the Spanish town of Pinatar, with Eric da Silva Moreira featuring in the starting lineup in a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands. Germany then played out a scoreless draw with England on Friday, only to lose 5-3 in the penalty shootout. Da Silva Moreira started again but was substituted just before the end. His tournament ends with a matchup with Czechia on Monday (10.45 CET).
Aljoscha Kemlein is also in Spain with the Germany Under-20 side that beat France 3-1 in the first of two meetings in Oliva on Friday. Kemlein began on the bench but came on as a substitute in the 32nd minute. The two sides lock horns again on Monday (15.00 CET).
Elias Saad has since hooked up with Tunisia for their four-nation tournament in Egypt after initially being prevented from travelling by a dental issue. The Tunisians kick off against Croatia on Friday (19.00 CET), with hosts Egypt and New Zealand kicking off at the same time. The two losers will then contest the match for third place on Monday, with the two winners meeting in the final on Tuesday.
Photo: Aleksandar Jason
