Norway, Romania serenely through Group 2
Saturday, August 3, 2013
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Norway and Romania made smooth progress through qualifying round Group 2 in Estonia – needing just two games each to advance at the expense of the hosts and Croatia.
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Norway emerged as the dominant force in qualifying round Group 2 of the 2013 UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship, finishing the six-day event in Estonia with a 4-0 thrashing of their fellow qualifiers, second-placed Romania.
Both the Scandinavian outfit and Romania were assured of progress going into Saturday's third and final round of matches, yet Norway's resounding victory in Tallinn – secured by second-half goals from Marie Markussen (2), Siw Døvle and a Beatrice Tărășilă own goal – underlined their table-topping credentials.
In the day's other game, a meeting between two hitherto point-less sides, Croatia registered two stoppage-time goals – through Melanie Zrno and Melani Mihić – to overturn Lisette Tammik's strike for Estonia and beat the hosts 2-1. Their reward was third position in the section.
The mini-tournament had begun on an equally unhappy note for Estonia last Monday when two-goal substitute Anamaria Vasile helped Romania to a 5-0 triumph. Also on the scorecard for 29 July was Norway's 5-1 dismantling of the Croats, a fixture in which five different players found the net for Jan-Roar Saltvik's team: namely Cecilie Dekkerhus, Vilde Fjelldal, Karoline Haugland, Synnøve Hafnor and Markussen.
Remarkably, the Norwegians were able to improve on that showing on Wednesday when the action resumed, defeating Estonia 7-1 courtesy of strikes from Mariken Kleppe, Hafnor, Karoline Haugland, Døvle, Nora Eide Lie and Markussen (2). Estonian spirits would sink even further following Saturday's dramatic late turnaround against the Croats.
That result was consolation for the Balkan country's 2-1 loss to Romania on matchday two, when Mihić's second-half riposte was outweighed by Mihaela Ciolacu and Beata Ambruș goals for Mirel Albon's charges. Sixteen-goal Norway and Romania will join Group 9's Italy and Switzerland in the second qualifying round draw on 15 August.
The other eight mini-tournaments are scheduled to conclude by 11 August. A total of ten group winners, ten runners-up and the third-placed side with the best record against the top two in that pool will go into the second-round draw together with Germany, Spain and France – the competition's Nos1–3 seeds.
The elite round will determine the seven teams that proceed to the final tournament in host nation England from 26 November to 8 December.