THERE was a poetic justice about Samir Nasri’s late penalty for France against Bosnia last night, with the strike not only ensuring France qualify automatically for the Euro 2012 finals but also helping the Republic of Ireland out in the process.
Leading 1-0, Bosnia had threatened to throw the cat amongst the pigeons with regards to Ireland earning a play-off seeding. A win for the visitors would not only have relegated the French to second place in Group D but also denied the Republic of Ireland a place among the seeded teams when they go into the hat tomorrow afternoon.
Nasri’s late intervention changed all that, with Ireland now certain to be seeded – the final Uefa rankings which determine the seeds will be published this morning – among the top four nations when the draw is made shortly after noon at the Sheraton Hotel in Krakow.
That means avoiding the likes of Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic, with Ireland now likely to be pitted against either Bosnia, Turkey, Estonia or Montenegro for a place in Poland and Ukraine next summer.
There had been some confusion as to whether the seeded team will have a home tie for the second leg, but that will also be decided at tomorrow’s draw. The draw will not only define the four pairings, but also the order of the home and away ties, according to Uefa.
The first legs will be played over the nights of Friday, November 11th and Saturday, November 12th, will all return legs the following Tuesday. The draw for the finals will take place in Kiev on December 2nd.
Given the sense of injustice that still lingers after events in Paris and a certain French striker’s handball two years ago, there was a sense that France owed us one with at least a draw at the Stade de France.
Edin Dzeko’s first-half strike looked to have done enough to send Bosnia through, until Nasri picked himself up after being brought down inside the box to earn a draw that will have been cheered almost as loudly in the hostelries around the Aviva Stadium.
Portugal’s shoot-out with Denmark for top-spot in Group H saw Paulo Bento’s side come off second best, their makeshift defence unable to cope as Michael Krohn-Dehli and Nicklas Bendtner sent the Danes through.
Ronaldo did manage a consolation for Portugal but they will have to make do with a place in the play-offs. So too Croatia, whose hopes of a best runners-up spot were dashed by Sweden’s win at home over the Netherlands despite their 2-0 win over Latvia.
Serbia were the big losers on the night, their defeat in Slovenia seeing them miss out as Estonia took their place in the play-offs and move the side to within touching distance of qualifying for the finals of a major tournament for the first time.
