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Group G round-up

Image: Kishishev: Own goal

Romania have booked their place in Euro 2008 and Holland look certain to join them after Bulgaria could only draw away to Albania.

Victories for Romania and Holland as Bulgaria held

Romania have booked their place in Euro 2008 next summer and Holland look certain to join them after Bulgaria could only manage a draw away to Albania in Group G.

Top-of-the-table Romania started the day five points clear of third-placed Bulgaria, and their 2-0 win over bottom-placed Luxembourg proved enough to guarantee they will appear at their first major tournament since Euro 2000.

A 41st-minute goal from veteran midfielder Florentin Petre followed by a second-half effort from Stuttgart striker Ciprian Marica secured all three points for the group leaders.

Holland, meanwhile, will fully expect to join them as they extended their lead over Bulgaria to four points thanks to a 2-0 victory over Slovenia.

Real Madrid star Wesley Sneijder opened the scoring with a close-range finish after 14 minutes, before Ajax striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar wrapped things up two minutes before full-time following an assist from Ryan Babel.

With just Luxembourg and Belarus left to play, Marco van Basten will be extremely confident of qualification.

The same cannot be said of Bulgaria, who went into their game at Albania in desperate need of a win as they looked to make up the ground on the top two.

But, despite fielding a star-studded line-up including Dimitar Berbatov, Martin Petrov and Stiliyan Petrov, they spent the majority of the game behind after an own goal from Leicester defender Radostin Kishishev in the 32nd minute.

Berbatov gave the visitors hope in the 87th minute when he pulled them back level, but they were unable to find a winner.

The Bulgarians must now rely on Holland failing to win either of their final two games if they are to have any chance of making it to Euro 2008.

Albania 1 Bulgaria 1
Holland 2 Slovenia 0
Luxembourg 0 Romania 2

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