Euro 2016 Qualifiers Results: Cristiano Ronaldo Breaks European Championship Scoring Record
Cristiano Ronaldo's record-breaking goal helped Portugal beat Armenia in their Euro 2016 qualifier Friday afternoon.
Despite pressing hard early in the match, Armenia's failure to clear the ball in the box in the 71st minute allowed for Ronaldo to chip the ball past keeper Roman Berezovsky and the defense for the 1-0 victory. The goal, Ronaldo's 23rd career European Championship (qualifying and finals combined), puts the Real Madrid forward ahead of Denmark international Jon Dahl Tomasson.
"The record? It's just another one I knew it would come sooner or later," said Ronaldo after the win at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria, Portugal. "I still have a lot of games to play. I'm happy, mainly because I broke the record in front of our fans. It's a special moment."
Portugal (six points) finished the day in second place in Group I of the Euro 2016 qualifier, one point behind Group I leader Denmark (seven points). Denmark defeated fourth-place Serbia (one point) 3-1 on the road at Red Star Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia to keep their lead in the group. VfL Wolfsburg striker Nicklas Bendtner scored two goals to keep the Danish team ahead in Group I. Albania rounds out the group, currently in third place with four points.
Germany head coach Joachim Low was unhappy with his team after the newly-crowned World Cup champions beat lowly Gibraltar 4-0. Thomas Muller, who nailed two goals in the match, and Mario Gotze all scored while Gibraltar's Yogan Santos own-goal in the 67th sealed the deal, playing at home at Grundig-Stadion in Nuremberg, Germany.
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"I am everything but satisfied with this," said Low about his team performance against UEFA's newest member nation that has allowed 21 goals in the qualifiers. "The team did not do what we wanted to do. We wanted to play as world champions and four goals are too few."
Germany is currently in third place with seven points, three points behind Group D leader Poland (10 points), who defeated fifth-place Georgia 4-0. Georgia's head coach Temuri Ketsbaia, with his team stuck in fifth-place having only earned three points, resigned after the match.
"Unfortunately my tenure has ended in a sad manner," said Ketsbaia. "From now on I will be supporting the team as an ordinary fan."
Group D second-place team, Republic of Ireland (seven points), was stunned by Scotland (seven points) on Friday, ending the day in fourth-place after beating Ireland 1-0 in front of their home crowd in Celtic Park. Scott Brown's heel-kick pass found an open Shaun Maloney, catching Millwall's keeper David Forde off-guard and giving Scotland the key win.
"That was like one of those big heavyweight boxing matches," said Scotland Gordon Strachan about the physical match. "We've played in football games and believed in that and we've played in a more physical dual tonight and dealt with that as well."
The biggest surprise of the day was the Faroe Islands, whose Joan Edmundsson scored a goal in the 61st minute that silenced the Greek crowd at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Greece, the only team in Group F that went to Brazil for the World Cup, sits in last place in Group F with one point while the Faroe Islands get out of the cellar in fifth place with three points.
Romania maintained their first-place team spot, holding down the top spot with 10 points and defeating second-place Northern Ireland 2-0 while Hungary jumped into third place with seven points over after defeating Finland (fourth-place with four points) on the strength of Zoltan Gera's game-winning late goal in the 84th minute to give Hungary the 1-0 win.
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