Portugal, Greece and Slovenia all through
The road to South Africa is over
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Wednesday, 18, Nov 2009 09:57
By Darren Estwick.
Portugal, Greece and Slovenia all made it through the World Cup playoffs and secure their place at this summer's finals in South Africa.
The Portuguese survived a tricky assignment in Bosnia by securing a 1-0 away win and a 2-0 aggregate score to ensure Cristiano Ronaldo will grace the end of season showpiece event.
A goal by Raul Meireles in the 55th minute killed the game for the hosts and relieved some of the pressure on Portugal manager Carlos Quieroz.
Guus Hiddink may fancy a return to the Premier League as he witnessed his Russian side fall at the final hurdle and crash out to Slovenia who will play at their first World Cup event.
Zlatko Dedic scored the only goal of the game to send the home team through on away goals after a 2-1 loss in Moscow and ensure a miserable summer ahead for Andrey Arshavin and co.
Former European champions Greece will also grace the big event after they saw off the challenge of Ukraine.
The only goal of the entire tie came in the 31st minute by Dimitris Salpigidis who finished well.
Ukraine who finished behind England in their qualifying group pressed as the home side but could not get the goals needed to turn the tie around.
The results conclude the qualifying campaign for the European zone with the draw planned for a fortnight tonight.