England through, Rooney off in Euro cliffhangers

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Star striker Wayne Rooney was sent off as England reached the Euro 2012 finals on Friday while continental heavyweights France and Portugal were left waiting anxiously on their fates.

Rooney was red-carded in the 73rd minute in Podgorica as Montenegro fought back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw.

A last-minute equaliser from substitute Andrija Delibasic grabbed a share of the points after England had taken the lead with goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent.

The Montenegro fightback was not enough to prevent Fabio Capello's men from earning the point they needed to secure qualification from Group G for next year's finals in Poland and Ukraine, however.

But England's night was so nearly ruined by Rooney's 73rd minute moment of madness, the Manchester United striker sent off for aiming a petulant kick at Miodrag Dzudovic.

Rooney's dismissal capped a miserable week following the arrest on Thursday of his father and uncle in connection with a football betting scam.

Capello hoped that Rooney will learn from his latest dismissal even though the player will miss at least the first match of the finals. "He kicked out at the opponent and the red card was OK. He lost the ball and for the next game he will be suspended," said Capello.

"He is an important player but this will be a good lesson for him and the team. He was just frustrated by what was happening on the pitch and not by anything in his private life."

Montenegro secured their play-off spot when Wales beat Switzerland 2-0 in Swansea.

France win 3-0

France outclassed Albania 3-0 in Paris to go within a point of a place at the finals.

Goals from Florent Malouda and Loic Remy gave the hosts a 2-0 half-time lead, before Anthony Reveillere put the seal on a comfortable night's work with his first international goal in the 67th minute.

"I'm satisfied," said France coach Laurent Blanc. "We wanted to win this match and it's always satisfying to win."

Bosnia-Herzegovina's 5-0 thrashing of Luxembourg prevented France from qualifying automatically, but they are now assured of at least a play-off place.

Bosnia visit Paris for the final match in Group D next Tuesday, when a draw for France will be sufficient.

Second-half goals from Georgios Samaras and Thoefanis Gekas sealed a 2-0 win for Greece over Croatia in Group F.

The win leaves the 2004 European champions needing just a point from their last group game away to Georgia on Tuesday to clinch their place in next summer's finals.

Croatia must now beat Latvia and hope that the Greeks lose in their last match to qualify automatically for the finals.

Portugal win on Nani brace

Portugal crushed Iceland 5-3 in Porto with Manchester United starlet Nani hitting a brace.

The Portuguese stay top of Group H on 16 points, the same as Denmark who beat Cyprus 4-1.

Denmark welcome Portugal on Tuesday where a draw for the Portuguese will seal a finals spot after they defeated the Danes 3-1 in their first clash.

Reigning world and European champions Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, who had already made sure of qualification, maintained their perfect records.

Spain beat Czech Republic

Spain defeated the Czech Republic 2-0 in Prague with first-half goals from Juan Mata and Xabi Alonso.

Spain stay top of Group I with seven wins from seven games. The Czechs are second on 10 points, two ahead of Scotland who have two games to play but the Scots can leapfrog the Czechs with a win at lowly Liechtenstein on Saturday.

Other matches

Germany earned their ninth consecutive win in Group A as Bayern Munich trio Mario Gomez, Thomas Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger all netted in the 3-1 win over Turkey in Istanbul.

The win leaves Germany with 27 points from nine games with Belgium up next in Duesseldorf on Tuesday.

Belgium beat Kazakhstan 4-1 to go second in the pool, a point ahead of Turkey who are at home to Azerbaijan in their last match.

The Netherlands saw off Moldova 1-0 thanks to a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 39th-minute goal in Rotterdam to take their Group E record to nine wins in nine matches.

Sweden made sure of a play-off spot in the same pool with a 2-1 win in Finland with Sebastian Larsson, of English Premier League side Sunderland, and Blackburn's Martin Olsson on target.

Serbia's hopes of securing a place in the play-offs suffered a blow despite a 1-1 draw with already-qualified Italy in Group C in Belgrade.

Claudio Marchisio gave the visitors a first minute lead but a goal from Branislav Ivanovic restored parity before half-time.

However, with Estonia winning 2-1 in Northern Ireland, Serbia must now win their final group game in Slovenia to overtake their rivals for second place in the group.

A draw would see them draw level on points with Estonia but miss out on their head-to-head record.

World Cup 2018 hosts Russia virtually ensured their place at the finals after edging Slovakia 1-0 to stay top of Group B with 20 points, two ahead of the Republic of Ireland who beat Andorra 2-0.