Full-time: Ukraine 0-1 Spain
So Spain and Slovakia qualify automatically from Group C, while Ukraine are consigned to the play-offs after finishing third. In Group E, Slovenia have made sure of their play-off place. Night.
GOAL! Luxembourg 2-4 Slovakia (Hamsik, 90 min)
Slovakia are going to France.
De Gea makes another save. He will not be beaten.
Ukraine are throwing all they’ve got at Spain. But it’s looking like the play-offs for them.
“Luxembourg aren’t all that,” says Simon McMahon. “I reckon Scotland could give them a game.”
GOAL! San Marino 0-2 Slovenia (Pecnik, 75 min)
Drama.
Luxembourg haven’t scored for a while.
GOAL! Luxembourg 2-3 Slovakia (Gerson pen, 66 min)
It actually might be on.
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GOAL! Luxembourg 1-3 Slovakia (Mutsch, 62 min)
The comeback is on!
“I know that Ukraine are having to leave space open as they work for a goal, but this Spain side seem to be more disposed to rush through it faster than their seniors,” says Charles Antaki. “In less controlled fashion perhaps, but faster. What Iniesta does with a subtle ball, Isco does by rushing about. It seems to be working, at the moment.”
Konoplyanka shoots. De Gea saves.
Garmash heads towards the top corner. De Gea tips the ball over the bar, because.
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GOAL! San Marino 0-1 Slovenia (Cesar, 54 min)
Slovenia took their time.
Spain have the ball in the Ukraine net at the end of a stunning rat-a-tat move, Isco and Thiago, combining absurdly. Showboating, quick passing, movement, the lot. San Jose slams the ball into the net but it’s disallowed because of a foul by Nacho. Ukraine hang on.
Ukraine continue to waste chances. Yarmolenko jinks inside and zaps one past the near post and holds his head and looks anguished.
It’s time for the second half. It’s time.
Half-time: Ukraine 0-1 Spain
The sides are separated by Mario Gaspar’s goal. Ukraine are heading for the play-offs.
It turns out that Jose Mourinho is at the Ukraine v Spain game, glaring, glowering, seething at Cesc Fabregas. He looks cold.
GOAL! Luxembourg 0-3 Slovakia (Mak, 30 min)
No favours at all. Robert Mak scores the third.
GOAL! Luxembourg 0-2 Slovakia (Nemec, 29 min)
Adam Nemec doubles Slovakia’s lead. Ukraine are getting no favours from Luxembourg.
Ukraine are surely going to score. Now San Jose clears off the line. Neither side can defend.
GOAL! Luxembourg 0-1 Slovakia (Hamsik, 24 min)
Ukraine are still in this game but Slovakia are in control of theirs. Marek Hamsik gives them the lead and they are edging closer towards automatic qualification.
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CESC FABREGAS'S PENALTY IS SAVED!
Cesc Fabregas just can’t catch a break. Before he takes the penalty, he beckons the referee over and points out that someone in the crowd is pointing a laser pen at him. Is Jose Mourinho present? Eventually the lights disappear. Fabregas lifts his penalty towards the left corner but Pyatov guesses correctly and palms the ball over the bar! Ukraine are still alive.
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PENALTY TO SPAIN!
It’s all gone very wrong very quickly for Ukraine. Fabregas bursts into the area and Kucher scythes him down with a ludicrously inept attempt at a challenge. He’s booked.
GOAL! Ukraine 0-1 Spain (Mario, 21 min)
Ukraine are in big trouble now. Nolito dribbles down the left flank, assesses his options and then tucks a pass down the outside, through to the overlapping Thiago. His firm cross is met by Mario Gaspar at the far post and the ball flies into the empty net! That’s the young right-back’s first international goal.
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“This is no reflection on you but do you think this may be the most meaningless clockwatch in history?” says JR in Illinois. “I actually would watch the totally 100% meaningless England match but I don’t get the channel it is on and I’m damn sure not going to go out to a bar to watch it so I’m stuck with the slightly less meaningless match in Ukraine. To tell the truth mostly what I will probably be watching is the group of about 10 eight year old children running around outside completely unsupervised. I will report the worst injury I see. Right now they have found a five foot long wooden rod of some sort and they are fighting over who gets to wield it. And if you’re wondering why these children aren’t in school in the middle of the afternoon (here), which I’m sure you aren’t, it is because schools are closed today to celebrate the birthday of Christopher Columbus who, as we all know, discovered America.”
I couldn’t possibly comment. I definitely wouldn’t rather be playing football right now. But wait...
Ukraine cannot believe they’re not ahead. But that’s David de Gea for you! First he saves with his feet from Kravets, who was played through on goal by Konoplyanka. It was a simple save by De Gea’s standards but then came a moment of pure brilliance from the Spain goalkeeper. The ball was hooked into the area from the left and Rotan’s sharp volley looked certain to fly into the net, only for De Gea to show incredible reactions and divert the ball over the bar with his right foot!
A couple of Chelsea players in this Spain side tonight, so there’s no chance of them winning. Slovakia had better hope they beat Luxembourg.
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Spain suddenly rumble through the gears. Isco skips through the middle and tees up Fabregas, who pulls back his right foot. In another season, this would go again. Instead, just as he’s poised to shoot from 20 yards, Garmash slides in and his challenge prangs the ball on to Fabregas’s shin and wide for a goal-kick.
“Evening Jacob,” says Simon McMahon. “You missed one permutation in the preamble. If Scotland get their arses into gear, they might qualify for a major finals some time this millennium. But don’t hold your breath.” Please accept my humble apologies.
Ukraine press again. Garmash shoots from long range. He’s going to have to do better than that to beat David de Gea from there.
Ukraine almost score! Kravets - I wonder what his nickname is - hustles and bustles down the left and drives a cross shot towards the far post, where Rotan stretches and prods wide.
Off we go! There are 90 minutes left.
Teams are emerging. Anthems are being sung. Balls will be zipping around pitches soon.
Another group was sorted out earlier. And that group was ... Group G. Austria had already qualified in first place and it’s Russia rather than Sweden who have followed them through in second place, the Russians confirming their place in the draw with a 2-0 victory over Montenegro that rendered Sweden’s 2-0 victory over Moldova immaterial. Into the play-offs with you, Sweden! Austria also polished off an outstanding qualifying campaign by beating Liechtenstein 3-0.
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The teams
Estonia v Switzerland
Estonia: Aksalu, Teniste, Jaager, Klavan, Pikk, Puri, Mets, Antonov, Kallaste, Zenjov, Vassiljev. Subs: Meerits, Lindpere, Barengrub, Jurgenson, Dmitrijev, Gussev, Purje, Teever, Luts, Kams, Baranov, Londak.
Switzerland: Hitz, Lang, Djourou, Lustenberger, Moubandje, Inler, Xhaka, Shaqiri, Dzemaili, Mehmedi, Derdiyok. Subs: Sommer, Klose, Widmer, Embolo, Steffen, Zuffi, Kasami, Drmic,
Schar.
Referee: Pol van Boekel (Holland)
Belarus v FYR Macedonia
Belarus: Gorbunov, Palyakow, Politevich, Sivakov, Valadzko, Stasevich, Dragun, Bressan, Nekhaychik, Gordeichuk, Signevich. Subs: Zhevnov, Sachivko, Yanush, Balanovich, Putsila, Kislyak, Burko, Chernik.
FYR Macedonia: Nilsson, Ristovski, Sikov, Mojsov, Zuta, Brdarovski, Petrovic, Stjepanovic, Trickovski, Ibraimi, Trajkovski. Subs: Pacovski, Alimi, Ristevski, Nestoroski, Cikarski, Abdurahimi, Ilijoski, Ivanovski, Askovski, Dimitrievski.
Referee: Christian Dingert (Germany)
San Marino v Slovenia
San Marino: Aldo Simoncini, Valentini, Brolli,
Davide Simoncini, Palazzi, Battistini, Alex Gasperoni,
Chiaruzzi, Matteo Vitaioli, Hirsch, Selva. Subs: Benedettini, Fabio Vitaioli, Della Valle, Berardi, Golinucci, Berretti, Coppini, Mazza, Tosi, Rinaldi, Stefanelli, Muraccini.
Slovenia: Oblak, Struna, Samardzic, Cesar, Jokic, Kurtic, Birsa, Krhin, Kirm, Beric, Ilicic. Subs: Handanovic, Krajnc, Trajkovski, Ilic, Lazarevic, Rotman, Pecnik, Skubic, Matavz, Vidmar.
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (FYR Macedonia)
Ukraine v Spain
Ukraine: Pyatov, Fedetskiy, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk, Yarmolenko, Rotan, Stepanenko, Konoplyanka, Garmash, Kravets. Subs: Boyko, Kamenyuka, Pylyavskyi, Tymoschuk, Malinovsky, Gusev, Seleznyov, Budkivskiy, Zinchenko, Rybalka, Karavayev, Shevchenko.
Spain: De Gea, Mario, Etxeita, Nacho, Azpilicueta, Isco, Thiago, San Jose, Fabregas, Nolito, Alcacer. Subs: Casillas, Pique, Bartra, Busquets, Pedro, Mata, Juanfran, Jordi Alba, Cazorla, Sergio Rico.
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)
Luxembourg v Slovakia
Luxembourg: Joubert, Delgado, Philipps, Chanot, Gerson, Jans, Bensi, Mutsch, Payal, Martins Pereira, Joachim. Subs: Moris, Janisch, Schnell, Malget, Martino, Thill, Turpel, Deville,
Luisi, Amodio.
Slovakia: Kozacik, Gyomber, Skrtel, Hubocan, Svento, Mak, Pecovsky, Kucka, Weiss, Hamsik, Nemec. Subs: Mucha, Tesak, Durica, Gregus, Sabo, Sestak, Stoch, Hrosovsky, Jakubko, Salata, Duris, Novota.
Referee: Oliver Drachta (Austria)
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“Estonia’s actually got even more of an uphill climb than you mentioned in the Clockwatch,” syas Kevin Costello. “Not only do they have to beat Switzerland and have San Marino beat Slovenia, but they’ve got to make up 10 goals differential in the process (or 9 goal differential and 12 goals scored).”
That’s all well and good, Kevin, but we want to create an illusion of excitement tonight.
Preamble
Hello! Northern Ireland have made it. Wales have made it. Scotland ... Scotland ... Scotland ... Scotland are Lisa Simpson trying to bounce a ball. Let’s move on. The Republic of Ireland have almost made it but they’ll have to go through the play-offs, while mighty England made it ages ago, somehow finishing top of a group that contained your five a side team. England are in action tonight, over in Lithuania, but Scott Murray has that covered here. Lucky Scott.
And lucky me! Because we’ve got the rest of England’s group to sort out, where Slovenia are basically certain to finish third and qualify for the play-offs. They play San Marino, while Estonia, three points behind them, host Switzerland. Hmm.
And that’s not all! We’ve also got Group C to sort out. Spain have already won it, but who’s going to get second? Will it be Ukraine, who host Spain, or will it be Slovakia, who visit Luxembourg? They’re level on points but Slovakia have a better head-to-head record and they’ll probably get the win they tonight. Hard luck, Ukraine. But wait! Ukraine’s other hope is that they can qualify automatically as the best third-placed team. It’s all very confusing and convoluted, so thanks to Uefa for this handy guide.
Group F: finished Sunday
• Hungary have finished their campaign and are the best third-placed team from the three completed groups.
Record: Pd8 W4 D3 L1 F8 A5 Pts15
Group C: finishes Monday
• If Ukraine defeat Spain and Slovakia beat Luxembourg, Ukraine will finish third behind Slovakia on head-to-head record. However, Ukraine will have 16 points (removing matches against whichever side finishes sixth out of Luxembourg and FYR Macedonia) and will move ahead of Hungary in the reckoning.
• If Ukraine win, Slovakia draw and FYR Macedonia beat Belarus to move into fifth place, Slovakia will end in third and have 16 points not counting results against Luxembourg, who will finish bottom. However, if FYR Macedonia do not win, they would finish bottom, and Slovakia would have only 14 points against the top five and would go into the play-offs with Hungary remaining in pole position.
Group A: finishes Tuesday
• If Turkey beat Iceland, they would confirm third place, but to have a chance of avoiding the play-offs they would need Kazakhstan to also defeat Latvia to pip them to fifth position. In that instance, Turkey would have 16 points against the top five in their group, and would have a better record than Hungary.
• Should either Ukraine or Slovakia have overtaken Hungary on Monday, the best third-placed team would be decided on goal difference between Turkey and the hopefuls from Group C (again only counting results against the top five in their group).
And that’s all! The action, as it were, begins at 7.45pm BST.
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