adminPARIS. — An electric performance by France and a hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal lifted the two European football heavyweights across the line in the race to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals on Tuesday.
A gripping conclusion to European qualifying also saw Croatia and Greece secure their passages to the 2014 finals in Brazil.
France took on Ukraine at a tense Stade de France, the scene of the hosts’ 1998 World Cup win, with their backs to the wall after last week’s 2-0 first leg defeat in Kiev.
But Les Bleus banished the blues that had descended on their supporters with a remarkable show of resolve.
Didier Deschamps’ men took the lead on the night midway through the first half through Mamadou Sakho and levelled the tie on aggregate when Karim Benzema netted from an offside position on 34 minutes.
That strike came shortly after the Real Madrid man had seen a perfectly good goal disallowed, and the controversy continued as Ukraine defender Yevhen Kacheridi was sent off early in the second period.
France made their one-man advantage count as an Oleg Gusev own-goal put them ahead in the tie for the first time in the 72nd minute and they saw out the rest of the game to win 3-2 on aggregate.
An ecstatic Benzema said: “We qualified in style.
“The match was tough, we had to turn the situation around — we did it.
“We had pressure, of course, but we never doubted ourselves — I’m extremely proud.
“You can see when the fans are superb and behind us like this evening we can raise our game.”
Deschamps told French television: “Four days ago, we were in a bad position but the players were fantastic tonight.
“I didn’t have doubts but we played a huge match and this qualification is very important for French football.
“It’s a bit of a tradition that when French teams have their backs against the wall, they perform and we had a lot of heart and determination today.
“Now we’ve qualified, we’re capable of some great things.”
Over in Solna it was a case of Ronaldo taking on Sweden’s star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Ronaldo had given Portugal the edge with the only goal in last week’s first leg, and he put them into the lead five minutes after the restart.
Ibrahimovic rattled off a quick fire double to set the tie alight only for Ronaldo to hit back with two more goals to steal the show.
Portugal coach Paulo Bento praised Ronaldo who became his country’s all-time leading scorer with a tally of 50 goals.
“A player who scores a hat-trick in a game of this dimension of course that has an effect that is very influential on the final result,” he said.
In Zagreb, Croatia ended Iceland’s hopes of becoming the smallest ever nation to dine at the World Cup table with goals from Mario Mandzukic and Darijo Srna.
Croatia made it hard for themselves when Mandzukic got sent off for a dangerous tackle not long after his goal.
“My respect goes to the players who left their souls and hearts on the pitch, they all made me proud,” Croatia coach Niko Kovac said.
“We had a vision and a goal. We insisted on that and we succeeded. We showed a modern football,” the 42-year-old added.
Croatia, prevailing 2-0 on aggregate, are appearing at their fourth World Cup finals after the editions of 1998, 2002 and 2006.
In Tuesday’s fourth play-off Greece faced Romania in Bucharest with one foot in the World Cup door after last week’s 3-1 first leg win.
And the 2004 European champions duly finished off the job, with a 1-1 draw for a 4-2 aggregate win to seal their ticket to a third World Cup after 1994 and 2010.
Meanwhile, France coach Deschamps admitted that leading his side to the World Cup soccer finals in dramatic fashion in their play-off against Ukraine on Tuesday ranked as one of his finest achievements in football.
Les Bleus defied expectations to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit and advance to next year’s finals in Brazil with a remarkable performance at the Stade de France, triumphing 3-0 on the night.
It was the first time that any nation had recovered from a two-goal first-leg loss in a European play-off to qualify for the World Cup, as Sakho and Benzema hit the target before Gusev’s 72nd-minute own-goal decided the tie, and Deschamps was keen to savour the moment.
“I have lived through some great moments in my long career,” said the 45-year-old, who skippered France to victory in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 during his playing days, while also captaining the Marseille side that won the 1993 Champions League.
“To take France to a World Cup is fabulous, especially after the first leg, where the result was not favourable.”
Deschamps was thrown into the air by his players in the centre-circle of the Stade de France at the end of the game, bringing back memories of the 1998 World Cup final, but he was determined that all the credit for the result should go to his team.
“We had to turn it around and the merit goes to the players evidently because what they did was great,” he went on. “I told them beforehand that we needed two great games. We failed in the first one but the second one was tremendous. — AFP.
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