Portugal thrash Bosnia

Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is ecstatic after scoring against Bosnia Herzegovina during their Euro 2012 play off at the Luz Stadium on Tuesday.Photo: AFP

Portugal, Croatia, Ireland and the Czech Republic clinched places at the European Championship on Tuesday to complete the lineup for next year's tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to lead Portugal to a 6-2 win over 10-man Bosnia-Herzegovina in the second leg of the teams' playoff, securing progress by the same aggregate score.
Croatia thwarted Turkey's comeback hopes with a 0-0 draw in Zagreb that secured a 3-0 aggregate win, while the Czech Republic won 1-0 at Montenegro and 3-0 overall. Ireland completed a 5-1 win over Estonia with a 1-1 draw in Dublin.
Playing late in the day, Portugal clinched the last of 16 places for next year's competition in Poland and Ukraine.
Ronaldo settled his team's nerves with an eighth-minute free kick and Nani made it 2-0 to the 2004 European Championship runner-up with a long-range shot 16 minutes later.
Zvjezdan Misimovic got a goal back for Bosnia with a penalty awarded for a handball by Fabio Coentrao but Ronaldo restored his team's two-goal advantage shortly after halftime, beating the offside trap and rounding the goalkeeper to tap the ball into the net.
Senad Lulic was sent off for dissent a minute later and Emir Spahic trimmed Bosnia's deficit again from what may have been an offside position, but two goals from Helder Postiga and another from Miguel Veloso ended any doubts in the last 18 minutes.
Croatia qualified for the fourth time since becoming an independent nation in 1991 courtesy of a comfortable 3-0 lead from Friday's first leg.
The 0-0 draw preserved Croatia's perfect playoff record--it qualified against Ukraine for the 1998 World Cup and against Slovenia for Euro 2004--and restored pride after it was eliminated from the Euro 2008 quarterfinals by Turkey, conceding in the last seconds of extra time before losing a shootout.
Ireland qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 10 years, adding to its 4-0 first-leg advantage in the 32nd Tuesday when Stephen Ward smashed in a rebound after Estonia goalkeeper Pavel Londak spilled Kevin Doyle's initial header.
Estonia salvaged some pride in the 57th when Ireland keeper Shay Given was beaten by a long-range shot by visiting captain Konstantin Vassiljev slip through his hands.
The Czech Republic qualified for its fifth straight European Championship when, against the run of play in Podgorica, Petr Jiracek surged past two defenders and scored with a low shot from 10 meters (yards).
The 81st-minute goal helped maintain the Czechs' record of reaching every European Championship since Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
The quartet of new qualifiers join Germany, Russia, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Greece, England, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and the two host nations in next year's tournament.
RESULTS
Portugal 6 (Cristiano Ronaldo 8, 53, Nani 24, Helder Postiga 72, 82, Veloso 80) Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 (Misimovic 41-pen, Spahic 65)
Portugal win 6-2 on aggregate
Croatia 0 Turkey 0
Croatia win 3-0 on aggregate
Montenegro 0 Czech Republic 1 (Jiracek 81)
Czech Republic win 3-0 on aggregate
Ireland 1 (Ward 32) Estonia 1 (Vassiljev 57)
Ireland win 5-1 on aggregate