Serbia sink Norway to reach Euro 2020 playoff finals

LONDON: Serbia reached the Euro 2020 playoff finals after a double from second-half substitute Sergej-Milinkovic Savic gave them a 2-1 win away to Norway after extra time on Thursday while seven other nations joined them on a night of nerve-wracking action.

Scotland will face the Serbians in Belgrade in one of four playoff finals on November 12 for a berth at next year’s 24-nation tournament to be held across Europe following a 5-3 penalty shootout win at home to Israel as the game finished 0-0 after extra time.

The eight playoff semi-finals played on Thursday included four nations that will host games at the Euro 2020 tournament. Hungary and Scotland stay in contention for getting two home games in the group stage next June. Ireland and Romania were eliminated.

Northern Ireland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-3 on penalties after holding them to a 1-1 draw in regular time, with no goals in the extra period, and they will host Slovakia, who needed a 4-2 shootout win over visitors Ireland following a 0-0 draw after extra time.

The playoffs involve teams who won their Nations League groups, or had a high placing, two years ago but did not advance to Euro 2020 directly from the traditional qualifying groups last year.

The games were originally scheduled in March before UEFA shut down its competitions and postponed Euro 2020 by one year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Serbia, who played at the 2018 World Cup, were outliers in the Nations League third tier two years ago and proved too strong for a young Norwegian team. They kept Norway’s feared forward Erling Haaland quiet and found their own unlikely threat in Lazio midfielder Milinkovic-Savic who had not previously scored for the national team.

Milinkovic-Savic was on hand to score from close range after a free kick into the penalty area in the 82nd minute in Oslo. Norway’s Mathias Normann equalised in the 88th with a crisp low shot before Milinkovic-Savic struck in the first period of extra time with a sublime finish, dinking the ball over goalkeeper Rune Jarstein from a tight angle.

“I am still pinching myself as I scored my first goal for Serbia and then the second in a game as big as this one too,” Milinkovic-Savic told Serbian media.“It will be a joyous trip back to Serbia but we know the job is not done yet and we’ve got an even bigger game ahead of us.”

SCOTLAND SURVIVE ISRAEL SHOOTOUT

Scotland are now one game away from their first major tournament in 22 years, but were pushed all the way after neither side could find the net in 120 minutes at Hampden in Glasgow.

“It its another step forward to hopefully making a bit of history for the country,” said Scotland boss Steve Clarke. “Qualification is still in our hands. We know we’ve got a tough game but it is one that we’ll look forward to. I can feel there is something building. It’s another game unbeaten and you can feel the elation in the dressing room.”

Clarke’s preparations were thrown into chaos on Wednesday when three key players were ruled out. Stuart Armstrong tested positive for coronavirus, while Kieran Tierney and Ryan Christie were forced into self-isolation for being in close contact with the Southampton midfielder.

The goal-threat and creativity offered by Armstrong and Christie was badly missed as Scotland laboured to breakdown an Israeli side that has won just one of their last 10 internationals, including a 1-1 draw when they visited Hampden in the Nations League last month.

Manchester United’s Scott McTominay spurned the best chance of the game when he headed wide when completely unmarked from a corner just before half-time and Liam Cooper’s header hit the post with the last action of extra-time.

However, McTominay redeemed himself in the shootout as all five of Scotland’s penalty takers found the net, while David Marshall saved from Eran Zahavi.

“Saving the first penalty breaks them a bit and gave us confidence,” said Marshall. “The last four penalties from us were a real high standard — the lads have practiced every day. It’s more relief than anything.”

Iceland recaptured the feel-good spirit of their run to the Euro 2016 quarterfinals in beating visiting Romania 2-1. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored twice with low, left-foot shots in the first half, before Romania closed the gap with a penalty midway through the second.

Iceland go to Hungary, who eased to a 3-1 in at Bulgaria with goals from Willi Orban, Zsolt Kalmar and Nemanja Nikolic, for the top-tier League A playoff final at the Puskas Stadium in Budapest.

NORTHERN IRELAND ALSO ADVANCE

Rade Krunic put Bosnia in the driving seat with a 13th-minute goal but Niall McGinn hit back for Northern Ireland, robbing two defenders of the ball before steering a low shot past keeper Ibrahim Scekic in the 53rd.

Both sides missed chances before the shootout, with Liam Boyce drilling in Northern Ireland’s final spot kick to put them through after Bosnia’s Haris Hajradinovic and Edin Visca missed.

“We didn’t start anywhere near the way we wanted to, but when we got to grips with it and everything fell into place,” said Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis, who became his country’s most-capped player on his 120th appearance.

Ireland failed to capitalise on Slovakia’s own problems with coronavirus absentees as Stephen Kenny’s men were left to rue a host of huge chances in Bratislava.

Allan Browne and Tottenham’s Matt Doherty then failed to score from the spot and the Slovaks made no mistakes to win in the shootout.

“It’s a hard one to take at the minute and it is heartbreaking,” said Ireland captain Shane Duffy.

Kosovo’s quest to reach the European Championship at the first attempt ended with a loss at North Macedonia.

World football’s newest national team, joining UEFA and FIFA in 2016, were beaten 2-1 in Skopje with all the goals coming in the first half.

North Macedonia next travel to Georgia in the Path D final to see which country will make a Euros debut. Georgia held off Belarus 1-0 after getting a seventh-minute penalty earned and scored by Tornike Okriashvili.