Portugal scored six goals against Bosnia including a Cristiano Ronaldo double to grab a ticket to the Euro 2012 finals while Ireland, Czech Republic and Croatia completed the lineup without the need for a frenzied finale to their playoff wins on Tuesday. Portugal's second leg was the only tie still finely balanced following a goalless draw in the first match and, after letting Bosnia back into the game twice, it finally ran out 6-2 winner after the visitors were reduced to 10 men. It was a lot easier for the other three qualifiers, who had established comfortable first-leg cushions with Ireland beating Estonia 5-1 on aggregate and the Czechs and Croats overcoming Montenegro and Turkey by the same 3-0 aggregate scores. While celebrations were in full swing in Dublin before the Irish had even kicked off holding a 4-0 lead from the first leg, there was everything to play for in Lisbon. Early goals by Ronaldo and Nani put the 2004 runner-up 2-0 ahead midway through the first half before Bosnia got a lifeline when Zvjezdan Misimovic converted a 41st-minute penalty. The visitors' hopes were short-lived though as Ronaldo's second goal eight minutes after the break restored Portugal's two-goal advantage and a minute later Bosnia were reduced to 10 men when Senad Lulic was sent off. Being a man down did not put them off as Emir Spahic cut the deficit in the 65th, prompting Portugal to at last take the game by the scruff of the neck by scoring three goals in 10 minutes with two for Helder Postiga and one for Miguel Veloso. Ireland had already done the hard work in their first leg and any lingering Estonian thoughts of a comeback were wiped out when Stephen Ward swept in a rebound after visiting keeper Pavel Londak parried a Kevin Doyle header in the 31st minute. Estonia got a 57th-minute consolation through Konstantin Vassiljev to make it 1-1 but the night belonged to the Irish, who will appear at its first major finals since the 2002 World Cup. Slaven Bilic's side exacted revenge on Turkey with a 3-0 aggregate win over the country that knocked it out of the Euro 2008 quarterfinals on penalties after equalising with the last kick of extra time. Tuesday's match in Zagreb ended goalless but the damage had already been done in Friday's first leg. Another team whose first-leg advantage proved to be enough were Czech Republic who reached its fifth successive European championship finals by beating Montenegro 1-0 in Podgorica to complete a 3-0 aggregate victory. Midfielder Petr Jiracek struck in the 81st minute to make sure of qualification after Montenegro, who like Estonia was looking to reach its first major tournament, had pushed the Czechs hard in the second half of the return leg. Czech Republic had their goalkeeper Petr Cech, wearing a specially designed mask after breaking his nose, to thank for pulling off a series of saves to keep the hosts at bay.
