World Cup Qualifiers

Here are the results of some of the World Cup 2014 Qualifiers:
Rep.Of Ireland 3-0 Faroe Islands.

Robbie Keane marked his record 126th cap for the Republic of Ireland by hitting a hat-trick in the World Cup qualifying win over the Faroe Islands.

Keane, 32, fired in an early opener from Aiden McGeady's cross before he wasted a clear opening as the minnows frustrated the dominant hosts.
Seamus Coleman provided the cross for Keane to slot home the second goal 10 minutes into the second half.
Keane then netted from close range to complete a memorable treble in Dublin.

It was a perfect start for the Republic and Keane, who passed Shay Given to become the country's most capped player.

McGeady sent in a low cross and the LA Galaxy striker neatly stroked the ball beyond keeper Gunnar Nielsen and into the bottom corner after just five minutes.
The Republic were stifled for the remainder of the first half as the visitors packed their defence in a simple gameplan of damage limitation.
Keane was guilty of poor finishing on 26 minutes, a well-worked free-kick putting the skipper clear on goal but he hesitated before a weak shot was saved by Nielsen.
Nielsen also tipped over a powerful volley from Keane and kept out efforts from Jonathan Walters and the impressive McGeady.
Wes Hoolahan, who was making his first start for the Republic at the age of 31, headed over from a McGeady cross three minutes after the restart.
The Norwich midfielder started the move for the first goal and he was again involved as the Irish doubled their lead after 55 minutes.
Hoolahan's pinpoint pass put Seamus Coleman through on the right and the full-back's first-time cross was slid in by the alert Keane.
The Faroes created a rare threat on goal when Atli Gregersen's header from a free-kick landed on the roof of the net.
Keane chalked up a 59th international goal as he completed his hat-trick on 80 minutes with a simple side-foot finish past Nielsen from substitute Conor Sammon's lay-off.

Croatia 0-1 Scotland.

Scotland gave their best performance in several years to beat the world's fourth best team on their own turf.

It was a display full of self-belief, guts and quality from Gordon Strachan's men to record their first win of the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Robert Snodgrass scored the crucial goal, latching onto a loose ball to prod it past Stipe Pletikosa.
Croatia pressed for an equaliser, but failed to bring out a save of any note from Allan McGregor.
The contrast between this Scots performance and those that have preceded it was remarkable, with Russell Martin, James McArthur and Alan Hutton perhaps the pick of a heroic bunch.
Of course, it comes much too late to make any impact in the group, but it ensures Scotland will be in pot four for the draw for Euro 2016 and gives the Scotland management team something concrete to build on for the future.
They set the tone in the opening stages with some confident passing and dogged closing-down to ensure the Croatians were unable to seriously threaten McGregor's goal.
The same could be said of Pletikosa - the home keeper barely touching the ball before his side found themselves a goal down after 26 minutes.
The goal had a touch of fortune about it, but Scotland will feel they were rewarded for their endeavour, as Shaun Maloney's attempted pass broke off a Croatian leg and the ball fell kindly for Snodgrass, who stretched to nudge it past Pletikosa.
The keeper took an accidental boot in the face as Snodgrass beat him to the ball and required lengthy treatment before continuing, but he was rattled, much like the rest of his team-mates.