London/Faro (Portugal)/Paris: England manager Gareth Southgate revelled in his side’s ruthlessness as a 7-0 thrashing of Montenegro sealed qualification for Euro 2020 in style in the Three Lions’ 1,000th match even as Cristiano Ronaldo scored his ninth international hat-trick as Portugal moved to the brink of qualifying for Euro 2020 with a 6-0 thrashing of Lithuania in Faro on Thursday..
Even without Raheem Sterling, who was dropped by Southgate earlier in the week after a physical altercation with teammate Joe Gomez, England displayed the firepower that will make them one of the favourites for next year’s European Championship. Harry Kane moved into sixth in the all-time list of England goalscorers with a first half hat-trick to take his tally for the qualifying campaign to 11 in seven games.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marcus Rashford, Aleksandar Sofranac’s own goal and Tammy Abraham’s first at international level rounded off the scoring as Southgate’s men sealed top spot in Group A with a stunning record of 33 goals in seven games.
Portugal inch closer
The reigning European champions, Portugal, were made to wait for qualification, however as Serbia battled to a 3-2 win over Luxembourg in the other game in Group B. Ronaldo had been substituted in his last two club games by Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri, with the Italian claiming the striker had been struggling with a knee injury.
He reportedly left the stadium before the final whistle after being taken off by Sarri during Juve’s 1-0 Serie A win over AC Milan at the weekend. “I knew he (Ronaldo) was able to play,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos told Portuguese TV channel RTP.
“His match put an end to the doubts about his physical condition, for those who had doubts. I personally had none, and I said that.”
Portugal sit second in the standings behind Ukraine, who have already qualified, and one point clear of Serbia, but can secure their spot at next year’s finals with victory in Luxembourg on Sunday. Ronaldo has now scored 98 international goals and will be hoping to become the second-ever player to reach 100 this weekend.
France beat Moldova
Olivier Giroud converted a late penalty as France staggered to a 2-1 win against a Moldova side ranked 175th in the world on Thursday hours after securing a place at Euro 2020.
World champions France, who lost the Euro 2016 final as hosts to Portugal, were guaranteed a ticket to next year’s tournament before kick-off in Paris following a 0-0 draw between Turkey and Iceland.
France round out their qualification campaign away to Albania on Sunday in what will be Deschamps’ 100th match in charge while Turkey travel to Andorra.
Deschamps recalled Kylian Mbappe and N’Golo Kante from injury here while Steve Mandanda retained his place in goal with Hugo Lloris ruled out until next year after elbow surgery. (AFP)
