Euro 2016 Qualifiers: Winners and Losers from Friday's Matches
There were plenty of goals in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifiers as some of the big names survived scares.
Italy and the Netherlands both had some worrying moments in their respective matches but did enough to record wins.
Israel, Iceland, Norway and the Czech Republic, meanwhile, all notched up valuable away victories.
Here are the winners and losers from Friday's round of matches.
Winner: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
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Robin van Persie is one of the world's premier strikers, but it must still be extremely difficult for Netherlands coach Guus Hiddink to leave Klaas-Jan Huntelaar out of his starting lineup.
While Van Persie is tremendously talented and capable of scoring some remarkable goals, Huntelaar is more of an old-school striker, and sometimes that is just what a match situation calls for.
The Netherlands were trailing Kazakhstan 1-0 and in deep trouble when "The Hunter" entered the fray just before the hour mark, and he did not take long at all to turn the match on its head.
His strike in the 62nd minute drew the men in orange level, and his mere presence ensured Van Persie, who had previously been ineffective, was able to find much more space.
The re-invigorated Dutch found two more goals to win the game 3-1 and pick up their first points of the qualifying campaign.
Losers: Turkey
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Things have started very poorly for Turkey, who lost their second straight qualifier and are still pointless after two games.
The Turks held the lead against the Czech Republic at home in Istanbul after an early Umut Bulut goal but were unable to turn a wealth of possession into more goals and ultimately paid the price.
Tomas Sivok powered in a header in the first half before Borek Dockal scored the winner just before the hour mark.
While the Czechs are soaring with two wins, Turkey are now under immense pressure to start picking up points, not least of all from their own fans.
Winner: Andrea Pirlo
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Italy almost shot themselves in the foot against Azerbaijan in Palermo, but fortunately for the Azzurri, two of Giorgio Chiellini's three goals went in at the right end.
Though the Italians were completely dominant for most of the 90 minutes, they conceded a surprise equaliser in the 76th minute. Antonio Conte's side were able to recover from the blow, however, to score a second time and record a 2-1 victory.
The Azzurri could have wrapped up the game much earlier, though, if they hadn't been so wasteful in front of goal.
Midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo created a host of clear-cut chances for his teammates, but the side's big centre-backs kept missing from point-blank range until Chiellini finally put one away.
The bearded veteran showed why Conte was so keen to ensure his continued involvement in the national team setup.
Pirlo may be getting slower and slower as he moves deeper into his 30s, but his immense class is still apparent.
Losers: Latvia
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Iceland was the first country to recognise Latvia's independence back in 1991, but no such goodwill was shown when the two nations' football teams met in Riga on Friday.
It took until the second half for the Icelandic attacking machine to fully kick into gear, but when it did, the Latvian defence was left in tatters.
Artjoms Rudnevs was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 55th minute, tipping the balance of the match firmly in the visitors' favour.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson and Rurik Gislason did the damage to send Iceland to the top of Group A and ensure Latvia, with only one point from two games, have some catching up to do.
Winners: Belgium
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It may have only been against lowly Andorra, but Belgium confirmed they are a major power in European football at present by putting in a commanding performance to get their qualifying campaign off to the perfect start.
The Red Devils poured forward with attacking intent right from the opening minutes of the game and were rewarded for their ruthless attitude with a 6-0 win.
Kevin de Bruyne helped himself to a double, as did Dries Mertens, while Nacer Chadli and Divok Origi grabbed a goal apiece.
Perhaps the most telling statistic was the shot count, which favoured the Belgians 26 to one.
Coach Marc Wilmots will be pleased his side have three points in the bag and a healthy goal difference to boot before their trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday.
