Euro 2016: Winners and Losers from Saturday's Qualification Games
Another night of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying brought with it another round of action and excitement across the continent Saturday night.
The Netherands and Italy scored late goals to rescue results against supposedly inferior opposition. Gareth Bale reminded everyone of his class. Croatia and Belgium notched big wins, while Edin Dzeko hit a hat-trick to give Bosnia and Herzegovina a first victory in the current qualification cycle.
Who were the winners and losers of Saturday's action. Click through the slides for our selections.
Winners: Gareth Bale and Wales
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Life has been difficult for Gareth Bale lately at Real Madrid. The Welsh superstar has endured a poor run of form, prompting outspoken criticism from some of the club's fans. Just this week, Real fined fans who attacked Bale's car (h/t BBC Sport) following the Blancos' loss to Barcelona last weekend in El Clasico.
Bale answered his critics with a fine performance for Wales, scoring two goals and assisting another as the Dragons routed Israel 3-0 and moved to the top of Group B.
It might be a cliche, but in this case, it's true. For a player of Bale's ability, form is temporary, and class is permanent.
"Gareth Bale's not bad, is he? He's got a chance," Wales defender James Collins joked (via BBC Sport). "No, but seriously, he's unbelievable. The lads have made him feel at home."
Collins added: "Me and Ashley Williams were talking near the end and saying that we don't know how to play against him. So we're glad he's moved abroad!"
The win took Wales on to 11 points through five games, two points ahead of Israel and three ahead of Belgium. Chris Coleman's side still have work to do, of course, but qualification for Euro 2016 is now a distinct possibility.
Belgium beat Cyprus 5-0 on Saturday and still have a game in hand. But that extra match is against Israel, meaning at least one of Wales' closest rivals will drop points on Tuesday.
Wales only have to finish in the top two to qualify automatically. Even a third-place finish would secure at least a spot in the play-offs. Coleman and his players must be feeling confident.
Winners and Losers: Netherlands
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Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored the equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time as the Netherlands escaped with a 1-1 draw at home to Turkey. With the point, Holland remained in third place in Group A, two points ahead of the Turks but five behind second-place Iceland.
That second sentence just about says it all for this Oranje side. Through five matches, the Netherlands—who reached the World Cup final in 2010 and the semi-finals four years later—are in real danger of missing Euro 2016 entirely. If not for Huntelaar's late goal, the Dutch would be in fourth place, where there isn't even the possibility of making the play-offs.
As it is, all hope is not lost. Even for a team with as much talent as this one, it will be difficult to make up the five-point deficit against Iceland. But thanks to Saturday's draw, the Dutch still have a chance to qualify.
Winner: Eder
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Italy were in trouble. After surrendering an early lead, the Azzurri trailed Bulgaria 2-1 with 10 minutes left in Sofia. An impressive 44-match unbeaten run in qualifying matches (h/t UEFA.com) seemed set to end.
But then Eder, a Brazilian-born forward, curled in a brilliant equaliser from the edge of the box to draw Italy level and rescue a point in the driving Bulgarian rain. With that, Eder provided the perfect response to Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini, who earlier this week questioned the inclusion of the Sampdoria man in Antonio Conte's squad.
"An Italian player deserves to play for the national team, while someone who wasn't born in Italy, even if they have relatives, I don't think they deserve to," Mancini said, per the Daily Mail, ignoring the fact that several such players have represented Italy in the past.
Whether or not you agreed with Mancini, the comments probably placed an unfair burden on Eder, a naturalised Italian who did nothing wrong and followed the established rules in such instances of shifting football nationalities.
Loser: Antonio Conte
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Italy escaped with a point against Bulgaria in the end, but the Azzurri's performance in Sofia was far from satisfactory.
Antonio Conte's side took the lead in just the fourth minute via an own goal, but they promptly fell behind to strikes from Ivelin Popov and Ilijan Micanski inside 17 minutes. The hosts exploited acres of space in Italy's formation, especially in the area directly in front of deep-lying midfielder Marco Verratti.
Not that it was Verratti's fault. As SB Nation's Kevin McCauley pointed out on Twitter, Conte's strategy tasked Verratti with being both Andrea Pirlo and Claude Makelele all at once. In other words, Verratti had to do double duty as a deep-lying playmaker and defensive-midfield shield for the back four. Verratti is a top-class player, but even for him, that was asking too much.
At half-time, Bleacher Report contributor Adam Digby took aim at Conte's approach. Italy were "wholly unsuited" to their 3-5-2 formation, he tweeted, because of a lack of "in-form strikers (and) fit central midfielders."
In the end, Italy ground out a result, but the performance left plenty to be desired. Both have been constants for the Azzurri during Conte's brief reign. As qualification wears on, the former Juventus boss might have to make a tweak or two.
Winners: Croatia
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Croatia now lead Group H by two points over Italy following a resounding 5-1 victory at home to Norway.
The visitors entered the day just one point behind Italy, but four goals in the second half gave the hosts a comfortable win. Italy, meanwhile, drew in Bulgaria and looked poor for large stretches of the match.
Plenty of football remains in Group H, but at the halfway point, Croatia are at the top of the heap—and deservedly so.
Winner: Edin Dzeko
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Edin Dzeko hit a hat-trick as Bosnia and Herzegovina won 3-0 at Andorra in Group B. Bosnia remain in fifth place following a poor start to qualifying, but Dzeko's goals mean the gap is now only four points to Israel in second place.
Dzeko, 29, has not played regular first-team football with Manchester City this season, and the Daily Mirror recently linked him with a move to Juventus this summer. With City likely set for a squad overhaul after the season, it seems likely that Dzeko could indeed move on. His hat-trick for Bosnia and Herzegovina will have reminded his potential suitors of his value.
As will this stat via Squawka: Dzeko's goals-to-games ratio in international football is better than that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Winners: Eidur Gudjohnsen and Iceland
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Lured out of retirement to play for his country once again, Eidur Gudjohnsen netted a goal as Iceland kept up their fine qualification campaign with a 3-0 victory at Kazakhstan.
Gudjohnsen, 36, announced his international retirement in November 2013, shortly after Iceland lost out to Croatia in a play-off for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. But in his return to the national team, the former Chelsea and Barcelona man scored the opener in the 20th minute to set Iceland on their way to a comfortable victory. Per UEFA.com, it was Gudjohnsen's 26th international goal and first since September 2009.
With the win, Iceland moved onto 12 points through five matches in Group A, momentarily six points clear of the Netherlands in third place. If current results hold, Iceland would qualify automatically for Euro 2016, which would be the nation's first major international tournament.
That would be a major source of pride for the tiny island nation, and for Gudjohnsen, it could be an ideal way to close out a distinguished career.
