ENGLAND qualified for the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine after early goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent secured a 2-2 draw against Montenegro.
The good news ends there, though - and, on the second half performance, England will do well to play any more than their three group games next summer.
Worst of all tonight, Wayne Rooney 'earned' a deserved second international red card - and a ban which will extend into the summer tournament - after an impetuous kick.
Meanwhile, Rooney's team mates let themselves down by contriving to concede a goal at the end of both halves to lose a 2-0 lead.
On the stroke of half time, Elsad Zverotic was given too much space on the edge of the box and then, in stoppage time, Andrija Delibasic headed an equaliser, sparking off a wild, celebratory invasion of the soaked Podgorica pitch.
Montenegro had done it - the tiny Balkan nation, with a population of 625,000, had securing an unlikely playoff spot from Group G.
And it was no more than they had deserved having launched a succession of second half attacks on the England goal, undoubtedly buoyed by the fact that rivals Switzerland were surprisingly losing 2-0 in Wales.
However, such an outcome looked impossible after all-but the last attack of a first half which England had completed controlled.
Fabio Capello's men took the lead on 10 minutes when a delicious cross from Theo Walcott gave Young an unmissable header.
Then, just past the half hour mark, Young turned provider after crossing from the left to give Bent an equally simple finish.
But, from that point onwards, it all went horribly wrong for the Three Lions - and particularly badly for Rooney.
His brainless swipe at Miodrag Dzudovic on the halfway line completed a terrible week, coming just days after his father was arrested as part of a probe into betting irregularities.
Rooney senior's arrest specifically related to a sending off in a Scottish Premier League match and, inevitably, it was joked that he had been at it again tonight.
This was no laughing matter for Capello, though, as he is now deprived of his talisman for part of the finals campaign.
At least, England have got there this time after the haunting failure to qualify for the last European Championships under recently-deposed Nottingham Forest boss Steve McClaren.
Indeed, the Three Lions finished the group unbeaten with five wins and three draws from their eight games and so perhaps my earlier assessment was harsh.
Then again, Capello's men qualified for the World Cup convincingly but thoroughly failed to impress in the finals in South Africa.
And, of course, this time, they cannot rely on getting Algeria and Slovenia in their group in their quest to scrape it through to the knockout stages.
England are no way in a position to get ahead of themselves and their qualification summed up perfectly exactly the sort of team which they currently are. Underwhelming.
QUALIFIED TEAMS:
Poland (co-hosts), Ukraine (co-hosts), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain (holders), England
EURO 2012 FIXTURES
7 October 2011
GROUP A
Germany, who sealed qualification to Euro 2012 last month, continued their 100% record in qualification with a 3-1 win over Turkey. Goals from Mario Gomez, Thomas Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger made it nine wins out of nine for the Nationalmannschaft. Manchester City's Vincent Kompany was among the scorers as Belgium took advantage of the Turks' defeat by recording an easy home win over Kazakhstan.
That win puts the Belgians a point clear of Turkey in the race for the playoff spot - however, Belgium face Germany away in the final qualifier while Turkey play at home to Azerbaijan and they also have a better head-to-head record.
Azerbaijan 1-4 Austria
Belgium 4-1 Kazakhstan
Turkey 1-3 Germany
GROUP B
Russia took full control of Group B after Alan Dzagoev scored the only goal in a tight match against Slovakia in Zilina. The Russians now need only avoid defeat at home to Andorra and they will be into next year's finals; meanwhile, Slovakia's dreams of a second successive major championships are over.
Assuming Russia qualify top, then the playoff spot is settled by what is effectively in itself a playoff as Republic of Ireland host Armenia in Dublin, requiring just a draw to make it through. Both teams go into the game on the back of a positive result. Early goals from Kevin Doyle and Aiden McGeady were enough for the Irish to beat Andorra 2-0 while the Armenians struck four past FYR Macedonia.
Andorra 0-2 Republic of Ireland
Armenia 4-1 FYR Macedonia
Slovakia 0-1 Russia
GROUP C
Estonia completed the double over Northern Ireland to give themselves a feasible chance of making it to the Euro 2012 playoffs. Konstantin Vassiljev scored a late double as the Estonians came from behind to inflict more pain on the Northern Irish. Nigel Worthington's men were humiliated in a 4-1 loss in Tallinn last month, and it is difficult to see how much longer he can continue in his role after yet another defeat.
Estonia, who are currently in second place on 16 points, have now completed their programme. Serbia are just a point behind with a game in hand but they will require a win over Slovenia in their final match due to their worse head-to-head record after Estonia won 3-1 in Belgrade.
The Serbs will be confident, though, after Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic helped them to a 1-1 draw at home to unbeaten group winners Italy. Claudio Marchisio had given the Azzurri an early lead.
Northern Ireland 1-2 Estonia
Serbia 1-1 Italy
GROUP D
Edin Dzeko and Florent Malouda both scored as Bosnia-Herzegovina and France enjoyed comfortable wins to set up a dramatic group decider in Paris in four days' time. As well as enjoying home advantage, Les Bleus also hold a one-point lead at the top of Group D meaning they only need to avoid defeat to qualify.
The loser of this head-to-head battle will definitely finish in second place in the group after Romania could only draw at home to Belarus despite two goals from Adrian Mutu.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 5-0 Luxembourg
France 3-0 Albania
Romania 2-2 Belarus
GROUP E
Netherlands, who had already qualified last month as a best runner-up at least, have now won Group E - though it is fair to say their 1-0 home win over Moldova was no classic. Nevertheless, the three points ensured the Dutch retained their 100% record while Klaas-Jan Huntelaar extended his lead at the top of the goalscoring charts with his 11th goal in qualifying.
Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson and Blackburn Rovers' Martin Olsson were on target as Sweden scored early goals in both halves to secure the runners-up spot with a 2-1 win over Finland.
Finland 1-2 Sweden
Netherlands 1-0 Moldova
GROUP F
Georgios Samaras and Theofanis Gekas are the toast of Athens as they scored late goals in Greece's 2-0 home win over group rivals Croatia. The Croatians had held a two-point lead going into the match but the unbeaten Greeks have now overturned it and they hold a one-point lead of their own after the late surge.
The home win also means Greece now hold a better head-to-head record so Croatia will need to beat Latvia to take advantage of a Greek tragedy in Georgia.
Greece 2-0 Croatia
Latvia 2-0 Malta
GROUP G
England secured their place in the European Championship finals for an eighth time but they produced another worrying performance in Podgorica against Montenegro. It all started well enough with goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent but the game changed in Montenegro's favour when Elsad Zverotic scored on the stroke of half time. Wayne Rooney was then stupidly sent off before Andrija Delibasic headed an injury time equaliser for the hosts.
That goal ensures the tiny Balkan state has made it into the playoffs after their only rivals for second place, Switzerland, lost disappointingly against Gary Speed's rejuvenated Wales in Swansea. Aaron Ramsey's penalty and a rasping left-foot drive by Gareth Bale gave the Welsh a deserved win and helped them off the bottom of the group. The wooden spoon decider will take place against Bulgaria in Sofia in four days.
Montenegro 2-2 England
Wales 2-0 Switzerland
GROUP H
Portugal were involved in their second eight-goal thriller of the qualifying campaign as they beat Iceland 5-3 in Porto to stay top of Group H on 16 points.
Manchester United winger Nani scored the first two goals for the Portuguese who were 3-0 up at half-time before their lead was reduced to 3-2 early in the second half. Joao Moutinho and Eliseu scored late goals to make it 5-2 before former Reading midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Portugal drew 4-4 earlier in the campaign with Cyprus but it is another previous match, the 3-1 victory over Denmark, which puts them top as the Danes are also on 16 points after their easy 4-1 win over Cyprus. Dennis Rommedahl scored twice as Denmark led 4-0 inside 22 minutes before stepping off the gas. A winner-takes-all clash between Denmark and Portugal takes place in Copenhagen on Tuesday, the Portuguese will qualify with just a point.
Cyprus 1-4 Denmark
Portugal 5-3 Iceland
GROUP I
European Championship holders and Group I winners Spain kept their 100% record and did Scotland a huge favour as first half goals from midfielders Juan Mata and Xabi Alonso showed Vincent del Bosque's men could easily cope despite the absences of key men Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas. A 2-0 win over Czech Republic in Prague means Scotland can - and should - go second in the group as long as they can find a way past Liechtenstein on Saturday.
The Scots' only problem then is that the last fixtures on Tuesday pit them against the Spanish while the Czechs go to Lithuania. The most realistic scenario that sees Scotland reach the playoffs is if they beat Liechtenstein and the Czechs lose in Lithuania, rendering the Scots' result in Alicante as irrelevant.
Czech Republic 0-2 Spain
Liechtenstein 0-1 Scotland
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