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Rediff.com  » Sports » Euro Roundup: Ruthless England complete perfect 10

Euro Roundup: Ruthless England complete perfect 10

October 13, 2015 10:03 IST
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Alex Oxlade Chamberlain

IMAGE: England's Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in action with Lithuania's Linas Klimavicius. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

England became only the sixth team to end a European qualifying campaign with a 100 percent record when they beat Lithuania 3-0 in their final Group E match on Monday.

England, showing eight changes from the team that started Friday's 2-0 win over Estonia at Wembley, put themselves into a commanding position after scoring two goals which went in off the same right-hand post inside the opening 35 minutes.

The first, after 29 minutes, was a powerful long-range strike from Ross Barkley that took a deflection off a defender before flying into the net.

Six minutes later another well-struck shot from Harry Kane hit the post and struck the back of keeper Giedrius Arlauskis who conceded an own goal as the ball rebounded into the net.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain blasted England's third at Arlauskis's near post after 62 minutes as they became the only team in this qualifying competition to win all their matches.

England coach Roy Hodgson said he was proud of his squad's achievement, but was not getting carried away with far tougher opposition to come in next year's finals.

"Of course to get 10 wins out of 10 in these qualifying groups is never easy so we have to satisfied with it and be proud, it was a nice way to end what has been an excellent qualifying campaign for us," Hodgson told ITV Sport.

England sealed their place at Euro 2016 last month and never remotely looked like squandering the chance of joining France (1992 and 2004 qualifying), Czech Republic (2000), Germany and Spain (both 2012) as the only countries to achieve a perfect qualifying record.

Russia beat Montenegro to qualify for Euro

Russia booked their place in the Euro 2016 finals with a 2-0 victory over Montenegro at the Otkrytie Arena in Moscow on Monday ensuring they were spared the drama of a playoff.

Oleg Kuzmin scored his first goal for his country after 33 minutes and they went 2-0 up when Vladimir Rodic sent Dmitry Kombarov tumbling in the penalty area four minutes later and Alexander Kokorin stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way.

Russia qualified in second place from the group, behind unbeaten Austria, with Sweden finishing third and heading for a two-legged playoff.

Swiss complete qualifiers with last-gasp win in Estonia

Switzerland played like a team already eyeing next year's Euro 2016 finals as they rounded off their qualifying campaign with a listless 1-0 win in Estonia on Monday.

The Swiss, who sealed their place in next year's finals with 7-0 win over San Marino on Friday which guaranteed second place in Group E, made chances but lacked urgency against a side needing a freakish set of results to claim a playoff spot.

Switzerland ended with 21 points, nine behind group winners England who won all 10 of their games.

Estonia ended with 10 points, six behind Slovenia who will enter the playoffs.

Slovakia book Euro trip as they beat Luxembourg

Marek Hamsik scored twice and Slovakia netted three goals in a six-minute span to beat Luxembourg 4-2 in Group C on Monday as they booked a place at Euro 2016 in France.

The Slovaks are set to make their first trip as an independent nation to the European Championship after finishing second in Group C behind leaders Spain, who beat third-placed Ukraine 1-0 to end their hopes of an automatic berth.

Ukraine, who finished with 19 points, three behind Slovakia (22), will now feature in next month's playoffs.

European champions Spain topped the group with 27 points from their 10 games.

Slovenia beat San Marino 2-0

Slovenia secured a Euro 2016 playoff berth after second-half headers by captain Bostjan Cesar and Nejc Pecnik gave them a 2-0 win at San Marino in a dour Group E qualifier on Monday.

Slovenia finished third in the section on 16 points from 10 games, behind winners England and second-placed Switzerland who qualified automatically for next year's tournament in France.

Needing only a draw to avoid any possibility of a last-minute fiasco, Slovenia produced a largely tepid performance against the group's bottom team.

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Source: REUTERS
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