Euro 2012 Qualifying: Denmark, England, Italy And...Armenia Notch Victories

Italy had the majority of chances against Slovenia, but it took until the 84th minute for substitute Giampaolo Pazzini to find the back of the net. The azzurri then managed to hold on through four minutes added time to earn a 1-0 win, first place in Group C and a trip to Poland and Ukraine. Meanwhile, Slovenia's only hope lies in the last round, where they'll need a dramatic win against Serbia, as well as for Italy not to go easy on them in the match beforehand. If Serbia win against Italy, or Estonia beat Northern Ireland, Slovenia are disqualified.

While Italy played well enough throughout the match, they often had trouble connecting up with the front three of Riccardo Montolivo, Antonio Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi. It was when Cesare Prandelli introduced Giampaolo Pazzini, and then, more significantly, Mario Balotelli, that the azzurri really got dangerous. Balotelli used his strength to knock down a beautiful cross while holding back the Slovenian defender, allowing Pazzini to pounce and send the ball through to the near post. 1-0 and it was good enough.

"Fourth in the world? You're having a laugh!" That was the chant heart 'round Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night from the Wales supporters in the building. Yes, England eventually won the match 1-0 to secure all three points and a likely place in Euro 2012, but they were hardly convincing in the process. Honestly, the Wales fans had a point.

Aaron Ramsey was easily the best player on the pitch, while England lacked invention. Stewart Downing and Ashley Young did well to connect for a goal, but it was England's best move of the night. They were lackluster, and though three points is all that really matters in the end, it wasn't encouraging. 

Late in the game, substitute striker Robert Earnshaw missed an absolute sitter for Wales, more or less illustrating the difference between the two teams. Aaron Ramsey can create all the chances in the world, but there's no one there to finish them off. Just like Arsenal, when Robin van Persie inevitably gets injured next month.

0-0. Zero shots on target. Pitch looks like the moon.

We shall never speak of this again.

Nicklas Bendtner scored a brace and guided a team to a huge victory in a must-win game. I just checked my 'Life Drinking Game' poster and that event is labeled 'Finish your drink.' Denmark are now tied with both Norway and Portugal in Euro 2012 qualifying after defeating Norway 2-0 on Tuesday night. The second half of the game was rather uneventful, but that's just because Denmark is great at keeping their shape and defending when they have to. After Bendtner made it 2-0 in the first half, all they had to do was sit back.

Norway came to defend and when they had to chase the game, they had little response. Group H is suddenly extremely interesting, with three quality teams all having a great chance to advance. One of Denmark, Norway and Portugal will miss out on Euro 2012, and based on current form, the odd team out appears like it's going to be Norway.

Antonio Cassano had a great chance. Daniele De Rossi should've tapped in another from Cassano, just two feet from goal, but a Slovenian defender got a touch and the ball deflected for a corner. De Rossi also missed a clear header, as did Riccardo Montolivo. This list could almost continue for the entire page, but then there wouldn't be room to talk about Italy's shaky defending. Both Robert Koren and Andraž Kirm have come close with their chances, breaking through the Azzurri defense and revealing Gigi Buffon's weaknesses. Perhaps it's time to give Morgan De Sanctis a start, Cesare Prandelli?

Despite the fact that Italy can clinch their trip to Poland / Ukraine with a win today, it appears they're trying to make their trip to Euro 2012 as challenging as possible. Despite making just two changes from the team that beat the Faroe Islands 1-0, this looks like a team that hasn't played together before -- the midfield unable to link up play, the attackers not quite sure where a pass is meant to go.

(In other news relevant only to yours truly, Armenia are up 1-0 over Slovakia in Group B qualifying).

If you can figure out why Ashley Young was not previously first choice for England, you win a cookie. The former Aston Villa, now Manchester United man is having another fantastic game, netting the only goal of the match to put England up 1-0 at halftime. Stewart Downing has been good as well, while Frank Lampard is starting again. After being dropped for being old or not good or something. Fabio Capello is weird.

England actually haven't been that good and Wales are defending well. The bad news for Wales is that Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale are kind of on a level above their teammates, and it's not like anyone is going to finish off the chances that they could hypothetically create. You know, if they hypothetically had possession and their teammates hypothetically ran into good spaces.

The Three Lions would have to really, really screw up to not qualify for Euro 2012.

I honestly do not have positive words to say about the Euro 2012 qualifying match between France and Romania. It is possible that it could improve in the second half, but a variety of factors lead me to believe that it will not improve. I will continue to watch it anyway because i hate myself.

Here's a quick recap of everything that sucks about this game:

• France are basically just walking
• There has already been one injury that caused a substitution
• There was another injury that looked like it was going to cause a substitution, but it turns out Patrice Evra was just being a complete baby
• There have been two shots
• This pitch is absolutely horrific. Someone will probably break their ankle in a divot. I am not kidding.

In a development that is sure to both confuse and piss off Arsenal fans who have been waiting for this for five years, Nicklas Bendtner has Denmark ahead of Norway by two goals at halftime of their Euro 2012 qualifier. "A brace to give his team a 2-0 lead" is about the last thing most people ever expected to read about Nicklas Bendtner, though Sunderland fans will be encouraged.

Norway's lineup suggests that they headed to Denmark looking for a 0-0 draw, a strategy which failed miserably. Denmark are playing playmaker Christien Eriksen in front of a double pivot, while 33-year-old Dennis Rommendahl continues to baffle everyone by still being really fast. He set up the first goal - a close-range finish for Bendtner - while the second was a long shot from 25 yards out.

Should Denmark win this game, three teams would be tied at the top of qualifying Group H with 13 points.

It's an absurdly empty stadium in Florence tonight, but Italy have a chance to qualify for Euro 2012 with a win, or by matching Serbia's result against the Faroe Islands (they're currently 1-0 up). Slovenia, meanwhile, are even with Serbia on points in Group C, with 11, so they're certainly hoping to pull out some sort of impressive result in Italy tonight. Or crossing their fingers that the Faroes will come back and find some goals against Serbia. Either one seems slightly impractical. However, the top scorer for Slovenia, Tim Matavž, does have five goals to the four of Italy's Antonio Cassano. So that's...something.

Italy Starting XI: Buffon; Cassani, Ranocchia, Chiellini, Balzaretti; Thiago Motta, Pirlo, De Rossi; Montolivo; Cassano, Rossi
Italy bench: De Sanctis, Criscito, Pazzini, Marchisio, Balotelli, Bonucci, Nocerino

Slovenia Starting XI: Jasmin Handanovic; Brecko, Cesar, Suler, Jokic; Birsa, Koren, Vrsic, Kirm; Radosavljevic, Novakovic
Slovenia bench: Belec, Ilic, Pecnik, Dedic, Ilicic, Mavric, Matavz

Grazie Football Italia for the lineups!

After being completely battered for 90 minutes, the Republic of Ireland have somehow pulled off one of the most undeserved points in football history. Russia absolutely battered them for the entirety of the match, but somehow failed to score a goal as the match ended 0-0. Ireland created absolutely no clear cut chances in the match and did not manage a shot on goal in the second half.

Andrei Arshavin, Igor Semshov, Roman Shirokov and Konstantin Zuryanov were brilliant throughout the match, but Shay Given and Richard Dunne were just a little bit better. Despite the fact that Ireland's midfield was hardly even there, their back line and goalkeeper didn't allow any of Russia's two dozen chances to turn into goals.

Russia almost took advantage of a situation where a ball re-arranged Dunne's face, causing him to have to leave the pitch for a couple of minutes, but Ireland's defense held up. Hilariously, the referee would not let Dunne back on the field with a plain shirt; Ireland did not have a replacement for his bloodied No. 5. The Ireland staff then drew a No. 5 on his shirt with a marker.

Russia are currently on top of the Group B table with one more game played than Slovakia, who are behind them by three points. Slovakia can go top of the group tonight, but only if they win by five goals. All of Russia, Ireland, Slovakia and Armenia still have a chance to qualify for Euro 2012.

Russia have unsurprisingly been the better side than Ireland in the first 45 minutes of their Euro 2012 qualifying match in Moscow, but the score is tied up at 0-0 at the end of the first half. Russia has been very good in midfield as Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews look a bit overmatched, but the Ireland back line and Shay Given have been fantastic so far.

Without Given's saves, Ireland would already be down a couple of goals with no way back into the match. They've done almost nothing to create quality chances, but Russia have hit the target five times in the first half while blasting a couple of good chances just wide. Given made spectacular saves on Andrei Arshavin and Igor Semshov, while Damien Duff had one spectacular clear off of the line.

At the moment, Ireland aren't doing anything more than just hanging on. Giovanni Trapattoni is going to have to make some serious halftime adjustments to get his team into the match.

Russia and Ireland are both in control of their own destinies in Euro 2012 qualification, but that's unlikely to be the case after today. Even if this match ends in a draw, Slovakia becomes the team in the driver's seat if they're able to win their match against Armenia later today. Russia currently leads the group, while Ireland and Slovakia are tied on points. Ireland will go top if they're able to get the upset win tonight in Moscow. Here are the lineups.

Russia lineup (4-4-1-1): Malafeev; Anyukov, A. Berezutsky, Ignashevich, V. Berezutsky; Zhirkov, Semshov, Shirokov, Zyryanov; Arshavin; Kerzhakov

Substitutes from: Shunin, Pogrebnyak, Torbinskiy, Pavlyuchenko, Bilyaletdinov, Glushakov, Shiskin

Ireland lineup (4-4-2): Given; Kelly, Ward, O'Dea, Dunne; Whelan, McGeady, Andrews, Duff; Doyle, Keane

Substitutes from: Westwood, Foley, Delaney, Lawrence, Hunt, McCarthy, Cox

The match kicks off at 11:00 am ET, 7:00 pm local time. It's not available via conventional means in the USA, which is, quite honestly, enough reason for neutrals to cheer for Ireland in this one. I apologize to this website's one and only Slovakia supporting editor.