With the exception of Daniel Jensen, who beat Germany 1:0 with Denmark in a friendly international in Duisburg, Wednesday was not an especially happy night for Werder’s internationals. Aside from Clemens Fritz, who played the full 90 minutes for the German eleven, only Petri Pasanen was in action on Wednesday night. Markus Rosenberg (Sweden) and Hugo Almeida (Portugal) both watched their respective national sides from the bench.

Finnland, Portugal and Sweden all disappointed on the night. In a shock result, Pasanen’s Finnish side were beaten 1:0 by Group A’s bottom side, Azerbaijan and missed the opportunity to secure their position as second in the group. Portugal drew 1:1 with Serbia in Belgrade at the same time meaning Serbia, Portugal and Finnland are now all on eleven points behind group leaders Poland.

In Group F, Markus Rosenberg and Sweden suffered a set-back in qualifying as they were beaten 2:1 by an impressive Northern Ireland team in Belfast. The Swede’s took the lead in the first half but had their advantage cancelled out by Leeds United’s David Healy before the break. The front man struck again in the second period to turn the tie and put his side on top of the group.