Northern Irish secure famous point against Italy as Wales go down

Following a 1-0 victory against Slovenia last month, Nigel Worthington's side picked up a point at Windsor Park in this Euro 2012 qualifier.

Northern Ireland boss Worthington could not hide his delight at the final whistle in front of a capacity crowd.

And it could have been even better had David Healy not squandered a great chance in the first half.

However there was much to be cheerful about - not least the performances from goalkeeper Maik Taylor and defenders Aaron Hughes and Stephen Craigan.

They built a solid wall and the youthful Italy side were left frustrated following victories against Estonia and the Faroe Islands.

Meanwhile, Ivelin Popov struck the only goal as Lothar Matthaus's Bulgaria delivered a huge blow to Wales' hopes of qualifying.

The Bulgaria striker lashed in a shot off the post after 48 minutes at the Cardiff City Stadium to condemn Brian Flynn to defeat in his first match as caretaker manager.

Welsh woes were compounded in injury time when Chris Gunter was sent off for a cynical foul on Dimitar Rangelov.

The result will not help Flynn's chances of landing the job on a permanent basis, with a theoretically trickier task ahead in Switzerland on Tuesday.

After two defeats from two games in a group that also includes England, Wales' chances of finishing even second look slender.

Montenegro produced the best result of their short existence when they beat Switzerland 1-0 in the same group with goal scorer Mirko Vucinic earning a yellow card after a bizarre celebration.

Vucinic scored the winner in the 67th minute, chipping the ball home from a narrow angle. He was then booked for taking his shorts off and putting them on his head. The win gave Montenegro, whose national team was formed only three years ago, top of the group - which also contains England - with a maximum nine points from three games after beating Wales and Bulgaria.

Switzerland, who have been on a downhill run since beating eventual winners Spain at the World Cup, have lost their two matches so far.

A Swiss television commentator immediately compared the result to their home defeat by Luxemburg in a World Cup qualifier two years ago.

Montenegro, who leaped into the top 50 of FIFA's world rankings last month, dominated the first half in a battle of two teams who are expected to fight for the runners-up spot behind England in the group.

Germany striker Mirosalv Klose scored two goals to help beat Turkey 3-0 in Group A and become his country's second highest scorer. Klose scored late in either half to reach 57 goals, 11 behind Gerd Muller.