QUALIFIED TEAMS:
Seedings:
- Poland (co-hosts), Ukraine (co-hosts), Spain (holders), and Netherlands
- Germany, Italy, England and Russia
- Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Sweden
- Denmark, France, Czech Republic, and Republic of Ireland
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND qualified for a major championship finals for the first time in 10 years after a convincing 5-1 aggregate win over Estonia in the Euro 2012 playoffs.
Two years on from their heartbreak in Paris, the Irish made sure to do most of hard work in the first leg, away in Tallinn where they won 4-0.
Keith Andrews gave the Irish a perfect start with a header after 13 minutes and Estonia went into half time a man down as well as a goal behind after Andrei Stepanov was sent off for a second booking.
Midway through the second half, Ireland made their numerical advantage count when Jonathan Walters headed a rebound after Aidan McGeady's free-kick had been parried, and Robbie Keane quickly added a third goal.
Incredibly, it got worse for the hapless Estonians, whose first ever playoff appearance had become a nightmare when Raio Piiroja was dismissed for handball.
And, with just a couple of minutes remaining, the evergreen Keane punished the nine men with his 53rd international goal from the penalty spot after Ats Purje's foul on Stephen Hunt.
Giovanni Trapattoni attempted to warn his team that the tie was not over but an expectant crowd in Dublin were already in the mood to party.
Feeding off the support, Ireland started brightly to crush any Estonian hopes of a memorable comeback, and Keane should have added to his goal tally but missed two good chances.
His profligacy mattered little, of course, and the Irish did still eventually stretch their advantage to five goals when Wolves' Stephen Ward prodded in a rebound from club mate Kevin Doyle's header.
Estonia gave the impression of a side who knew their Euro 2012 journey was at an end but the men from the Baltic played better in the second period.
Indeed, Konstantin Vassiljev levelled the game on the night when his shot squirmed under Shay Given but that only made it 5-1 and Ireland were easily able to see out the rest of the match.
The first leg results also proved decisive in two of the other ties as Croatia crushed Turkey and the Czech Republic ended Montenegro's dream.
It was not too long ago that Turkey was seen as a tough place to go but Croatia made a mockery of that with a 3-0 away win as they gained revenge for their Euro 2008 quarter final defeat to the same opponents.
Of course, an early goal always helps and Slaven Bilic's men got the perfect start through Ivica Olic's strike inside two minutes.
By half time, Croatia had silenced the crowd in Istanbul with Mario Mandzukic having doubled the lead on 32 minutes before the tie was effectively settled six minutes into the second half.
Tottenham Hotspur full-back Vedran Corluka made it 3-0 on 51 minutes and a soporific 0-0 in the second leg in Zagreb meant that the Croats' first leg performance had been more than sufficient.
The Czech Republic also put themselves in control of their tie after victory in the first leg but they took their time to shrug off Montenegro in Prague.
At 0-0 on the hour mark, the Montenegrins were still in with a good shout but Vaclav Pilar hit an important opener before a real hammer blow from Tomas Sivok. The Besiktas midfielder struck in the 92nd minute and left Montenegro with it all to do in the second leg.
In the end, it was too much to ask and the Czechs made sure of qualifying for their fifth straight European Championship finals with a late away goal from Petr Jiracek.
But, while Montenegro's dream was over, the identical hopes of a first major finals for Bosnia-Herzegovina were very much alive going into their second leg against Portugal.
A 0-0 draw in the first leg in Zenica had seemed to leave the tie in the balance but, once again, the favourites eventually prevailed by a comfortable margin.
Two super strikes by Manchester United wingers past and present - Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani - looked to have put the Portuguese on their way.
Bosnia were not giving up the fight easily, though, and they halved their deficit at half time thanks to a Zvjezdan Misimovic penalty, needing just one more goal to go through.
Instead, Ronaldo restored Portugal's two-goal lead shortly before the decisive moment when Senad Lulic was sent off for dissent.
That left the Bosnians with the figurative mountain to climb but they threatened briefly again when Emir Spahic scored against the run of play to make it 3-2 on 66 minutes.
But, from then on, Bosnia were powerless to stop the Portuguese from becoming the 16th and final country to qualify for Euro 2012 next summer.
Former Spurs striker Helder Postiga netted twice either side of Miguel Veloso's goal as Portugal ended up hitting Bosnia for six in a thumping win.
EURO 2012 PLAYOFF RESULTS:
First leg
11 November 2011
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-0 Portugal
Czech Republic 2-0 Montenegro
Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland
Turkey 0-3 Croatia
Second leg
15 November 2011
Portugal 6-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Portugal won 6-2 on aggregate)
Montenegro 0-1 Czech Republic (Czech Republic won 3-0 on aggregate)
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Estonia (Republic of Ireland won 5-1 on aggregate)
Croatia 1-0 Turkey (Croatia won 4-0 on aggregate)
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