Berlin - Greece and Russia took giant steps Friday toward next year's Euro finals with victories in their qualifying games. The only team through on the night were England, who drew 2-2 in Montenegro.
In Group F, Greece managed to beat their closest rivals, Croatia, 2-0 in Piraeus to move two points ahead. The 2004 Euro champions now need just one point from their final match in Georgia to qualify for the finals in Ukraine and Poland.
Georgios Samaras and Theofanis Gekas scored the goals for the home side midway through the second half to put their nation in the driving seat ahead of their final game on Tuesday.
In the other group game, Latvia beat Malta 2-0.
Russia, meanwhile, secured a 1-0 victory in Slovakia and lead Group B with 20 points, while Ireland beat Andorra to move to 18 points. Armenia thumped Macedonia 4-1, and plays Ireland in Dublin Tuesday for what could be a second-place decider.
In Group C, Estonia moved ahead of Serbia into second place behind the already-qualified Italians.
Estonia won 2-1 in Northern Ireland, while the Serbs played a 1-1 draw at home against Italy and now need to win their final match on Tuesday to qualify for the play-offs.
Germany maintained their 100 percent record in Group A with a 3-1 victory in Turkey. The Germans, who were the first side to qualify for the finals, have 27 points from their nine matches.
Belgium, who beat Kazakhstan 4-1, are second in the group, while Turkey are third but still have a chance to qualify for the finals via the play-offs (Belgium must play Germany in their final match ). The other game in the group saw Austria beat Azerbaijan 4-1.
Group D will be decided on Tuesday in the match in France between the hosts and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The French, who are a point ahead of their rivals, secured a 3-0 victory against Albania, while Bosnia won 5-0 against Luxembourg. Romania drew 2-2 with Belarus in the other group match.
In Helsinki, Sweden secured a 2-1 victory against Finland to move to 21 points - six behind the Netherlands, who have already qualified for the finals and won their ninth game of the qualifiers with a 1-0 victory against Moldova.
Sebastian Larsson gave the Swedes the ideal start in the eighth minute, and Martin Olsson added a second shortly after the restart. Joona Toivio gave the home crowd some hope midway through the second half, but the Swedes held out for an important victory that secured their play-off place.
In Group G, England secured the point they needed to qualify for the finals with a 2-2 draw in Montenegro, courtesy of goals by Ashley Young and Darren Bent.
England's qualification joy was overshadowed, however, by a red card for Wayne Rooney, which means the striker will miss their first game at the finals - at least.
England coach Fabio Capello said he was surprised that Rooney kicked an opponent, just in front of the England bench.
"I think the red card for Rooney was right. The next game he will be suspended, so we will try to find new solutions," Capello said. "Rooney is an important player, but sometimes important players don't play well and make mistakes. It will be good lesson for him and the team."
Wales' 2-0 victory against Switzerland in the other group game secured a play-off place for Montenegro.
Group H saw Denmark beat Cyprus 4-1 to move to 16 points. They were joined at the top by Portugal, who beat Iceland 5-3. Norway, who have 13 points, could move to 16 points on Tuesday, when Denmark face Portugal in Copenhagen.
In Group I, where Spain had already qualified, the defending champions won 2-0 against the Czechs, who were overtaken by Scotland, who beat Liechtenstein 1-0 last night.
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