DUSSELDORF: Germany beat Belgium 3-1 to complete their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a perfect ten wins from ten games and end the visitors’ hopes of reaching next year’s finals.
Mesut Ozil, Andre Schuerrle and Mario Gomez all scored for Joachim Loew’s side, who will be one of the favourites to win the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine after taking 30 points in group A.
In contrast, a talented young Belgian team — for whom Marouane Fellaini netted a late consolation — must now focus on reaching the next World Cup in Brazil after this defeat saw them finish in third place.
Guus Hiddink’s Turkey will go into next month’s playoffs after snatching second place with a 1-0 home win against Azerbaijan.
Belgium started well at the Esprit Arena but never troubled Manuel Neuer in the German goal in the early stages.
The first chance of note fell to Schuerrle, who sent a curling shot just wide of the far post midway through the first-half.
Belgium goalkeeper Simon Mignolet then raced off his line to deny Gomez, before the hosts took the lead half an hour in thanks to a sensational strike.
The visiting defence failed to fully clear a corner, and Real Madrid’s Ozil was on hand to thump home a shot off the underside of the bar from the edge of the box.
Belgium barely had time to regroup before they fell further behind three minutes later at the end of a devastating counter-attack.
Gomez did make it 3-0 shortly after the restart, though, exchanging passes with Ozil before firing across Mignolet and into the net for his 14th goal in 14 appearances for club and country this season.
Spain crush Scotland’s play-off hopes
A night that promised much drama ended in disappointment for Scotland as a 3-1 defeat in Spain left them third in Group I and denied them a chance of a place in the Euro 2012 play-offs.
Two first half goals from Manchester City’s David Silva and a David Villa strike were enough for Spain who top the group with a 100 percent record from eight matches. Scotland’s consolation came from a David Goodwillie penalty on 64 minutes.
Danes beat Portugal
to qualify
The Danish football team qualified for the 2012 European Championship Finals with a convincing 2-1 victory over visiting Portugal.
The first goal was scored by Danish Michael Krohn-Dehli after 13 minutes of play in the first half.
The hosts increased their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Nicklas Bendtner in the second half. (Agencies)