France, Portugal reach World Cup after heroics
LONDON (Reuters) – France produced one of soccer’s most famous comebacks on Tuesday to scrape into next year’s World Cup finals via the playoffs while Portugal blazed through after Cristiano Ronaldo conjured up a sensational hat-trick.
Mandzukic and Srna steer Croatia to World Cup
ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia hit top gear at crunch time to beat Iceland 2-0 in the return leg of their World Cup playoff on Tuesday and qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil despite playing nearly an hour with 10 men.
Mitroglou shines as Greece qualify for World Cup
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Greece qualified for a second successive World Cup after another Kostas Mitroglou goal secured a 1-1 draw with Romania in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday and a 4-2 victory on aggregate.
Belgium get World Cup reality check in loss to Japan
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium’s World Cup ambitions received another reality check on Tuesday when they suffered a second defeat in five days with a 3-2 loss to an impressive Japan in a friendly in Brussels.
French musketeers in thrilling World Cup rally
PARIS (Reuters) – France came back from the brink to overcome 10-man Ukraine 3-0 in a thrilling playoff return match and qualify for the 2014 World Cup with a 3-2 aggregate victory on Tuesday.
Stunning Ronaldo hat-trick fires Portugal to World Cup
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A sublime second-half hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo took Portugal to the World Cup finals with a 4-2 aggregate victory in their World Cup playoff against Sweden on Tuesday.
Spain’s defeat in South Africa may be expunged
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Spain, back at the scene of their 2010 World Cup title triumph, suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat by South Africa on Tuesday but the result could be expunged by FIFA.
Dutch end 2013 unbeaten after Colombia stalemate
(Reuters) – The Netherlands ended the year unbeaten after being held to a 0-0 draw with Colombia in an international friendly in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
Austria hand U.S. controversial 1-0 defeat
(Reuters) – Austria handed World Cup qualifiers the United States a controversial 1-0 friendly defeat in Vienna on Tuesday after the visitors had a goal disallowed because the referee ruled the ball had not crossed the line.
Three more Barca players hit by injuries
MADRID (Reuters) – Barcelona’s injury woes deepened on Tuesday when tests showed Xavi had a hamstring strain, Victor Valdes limped out of Spain’s friendly in South Africa and Cristian Tello suffered ankle ligament damage in training.
