IN an exciting evening of international football last night, Stuart Pearce's England Under-21 team and Billy Stark's Scottish Under-21 side both booked their places in next month's knockout stages of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Romania, Italy, Czech Republic and Sweden joined Scotland in clinching places as group winners, while England were the best runners-up along with Spain, Belarus and Iceland.
The draw for the play-offs will take place this Friday (10 September). The next stage of the qualifying takes place between 9 and 13 October 2010 with the seven winners joining hosts Denmark in the final tournament next June.
England
The Three Lions smashed three goals past Lithuania at Colchester United's stadium which easily saw the English into the next round.
Stuart Pearce was without Watford goalkeeper Scott Loach as he remained with the senior squad for their game in Switzerland.
Two goals from Danny Welbeck and one from substitute Marc Albrighton ensured the English were easily through to the knockout stages.
Former Hornet loanees Tom Cleverley and Danny Rose played the full 90 minutes for England with Jack Cork coming off the bench on 78 minutes.
Scotland
The Scots clinched a late minute winner over Austria in Aberdeen as Chris Maguire netted the winner in the 2-1 home victory.
SV Werder Bremen's Marko Arnautović opened the scoring on 10 minutes with Aston Villa's Barry Bannan equalising just before the half an hour mark.
Watford's Stephen McGinn made a brief appearance for the Scots clocking up his sixth Under-21 cap.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland fell foul to the Germans on Tuesday as they were defeated 3-0 in their final qualifier.
Watford's Lee Hodson and Adam Thompson featured, the latter coming off the field on 72 minutes.
Republic of Ireland
The Irish lost out 1-0 away to Turkey, with both teams failing to qualify for the next stages.
Hornet Rob Kiernan featured in the game, but was substituted due to injury on 58 minutes.
GET THE LATEST NEWS ON YOUR MOBILE!
