Final four places at Euro 2012 booked

The final four places at Euro 2012 have been claimed as the playoff round ended today.  Ireland, Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic were the victors.

Ireland did their work in the opening leg of their series against Estonia.  After several failed playoff rounds in the past Ireland made sure not to mess this one up as they cruised to a 4-0 away win in the opener.  It left little more to do at home than manage the match and celebrate with the home fans.  The score ended 1-1 and Ireland qualified for their first major tournament in 10 years.

Portugal and Bosnia had everything to play for heading into todays final match after a scoreless draw to open the series.  Cristiano Ronaldo got the home side off to a wonderful start and the goals flowed from there.  Postiga and Ronaldo both scored twice as Portugal ran out 6-2 winners in a wild game.  A dominant performance from a side that could be dangerous at Euro 2012.

The Czech Republic claimed there spot beating Montenegro in both logs of their series.  After a 2-0 win in the opener, Petr Jiracek scored a late goal to end any drama and send the Czechs back to the Euros.

Croatia was in a similar position to Ireland as they won 3-0 in Turkey in their opening leg.  They cruised to a scoreless draw in the return leg to book a 3-0 aggregate win over a Turkey side that had expected more.