International
farewell...Burak
Yilmaz reacts after
missing his penaltyTop bins...Gareth Bale scores
his free-kick against Austria
Dispatched...Robert Lewandowski scores from the penalty spot against SwedenJob done...Bruno
Fernandes and
Cristiano Ronaldo
celebrate against
North MacedoniaWORLD SERVICEIf Portugal rode their luck somewhat
at the semi-final stage, the Path C
decider versus North Macedonia in
Porto was a much less complicated
affair for Cristiano Ronaldo and company
with Bruno Fernandes scoring in each
half as theSelecaoran out comfortable
2-0 winners. Unsurprisingly, North
Macedonia looked jaded in the wake
of their exertions against Italy and
barely troubled novice Diogo Costa
in the Portuguese goal.
While Poland went straight to
thePathBfinal–handedawalkover
following Russia’s
invasion of
Ukraine – in the
opposite half of
the draw, hosts
Sweden needed
an extra-time
winner from Robin
Quaison to see off the Czech Republic
in a dour, evenly-matched game in
Solna. That120 minutes of play only
producing one goal was not exactly
a surprise. Individual quality was few
and far between and both sides were
missing an ace striker: Sweden’s Zlatan
Ibrahimovic (suspended) and Czech
Republic’s Patrik Schick (injured).Sweden only had themselves to
blame for their 2-0 defeat to Poland
in the Path B tie-breaker in Chorzow,
always a lucky venue for the Poles.
The Swedes had more of the ball on
the night and more shots, but were
simply not clinical enough and were
finally undone by two instances of
self-destruction. First, they clumsily
conceded a penalty, which Poland
captain Robert Lewandowski converted
shortly after the restart, then a mix-up
between Kristoffer Olsson and Marcus
Danielson allowed Piotr Zielinski to
run through and double the lead.
Wales appear to be the team to beat
in Path A, which has been delayed by
the war in Ukraine. Inimitable Welsh
talisman Gareth Bale was once again
the hero of the hour in the 2-1 victory
over Austria in the play-off semi-final in
Cardiff, netting a brilliant brace. Not bad
for a player who had previously only
completed 267 La Liga minutes for
Real Madrid this term.
Wales will now take on Scotland or
Ukraine for that final, all-important Qatar
2022 ticket. The Scotland-Ukraine semi-
final fixture is scheduled forJune, with
the final set to follow the same month.
Full line-ups and results on page 94.disappointment. Football is like this.
Sometimes the incredible happens.
“The boys don’t deserve to be out of
the World Cup. What can you say about
a game in which we had 40 shots? We
conceded at the end and we don’t even
know why. The players aren’t to blame.
The responsibility is mine.”
North Macedonia executed their
game plan to perfection. Happy to
sit back and defend in numbers, they
were dogged, resilient and impressively
disciplined, never losing their shape.
Very rarely did they venture forward,but when their moment to strike
came, they grabbed it with both hands.
“We won Italian style against the Italians,”
smiled North Macedonia manager
Blagoja Milevski. “A goal with two
shots on target.”
In the other Path C semi-final,
Portugal recorded a 3-1 home victory
over Turkey. Two goals up at the break
(thanks to strikes from Otavio and
DiogoJota), the Portuguese must
have thought they were home and
dry. However Stefan Kuntz’s Turkey are
made of strong stuff and, after veteran
striker Burak Yilmaz reduced the
arrears midway through the second
half, the visitors had a gilt-edged
chance to restore parity with the clock
ticking down, only for Yilmaz to miss
from the penalty spot. It would prove
to be his last action in a Turkey shirt,
announcing his international retirement
after the final whistle.
Just to rub salt into Turkish wounds,
Portugal put the result beyond doubt
in stoppage time, substitute Matheus
Nunes slipping the offside trap to finish
smartly - his first goal for his country.Unsurprisingly, North Macedonia looked
jaded in the wake of their exertions
against Italy and barely troubled novice
Diogo Costa in the Portuguese goal