But minutes after Nikica Jelavic had missed from six yards, the Croatian scored the decisive goal from 10 yards.
Rankin scored the decisive goal just after the break when he headed home Stuart Talbot's corner at the far post.
The Celta Vigo forward headed home the decisive goal just before half-time.
The Italians simply wouldn't let the Irish breathe, and the pressure led to Cassano's open strike, the corner kick, and the decisive goal.
Danny Murphy struck the decisive goal in the 57th minute, driving home Andrew Johnson's superb pull-back for his third goal of the season.
The decisive goal came when Dalsuke Matsui's cross looped over Stephane Mbia and was met by Keisuke Honda, who fired in coolly at the back post.
Striker Rory Fallon scored the decisive goal at the Westpac Stadium in the final minute of the first half with a header from a Leo Bertos corner.
The decisive goal came on 68 minutes, with Ledley taking advantage of some sloppy defending to saunter into the danger zone and heading in a free kick from Ki.
The Elephants are packing their trunks for South Africa following Saturday's 1-1 draw in Malawi, with captain and top scorer Drogba fittingly grabbing the decisive goal (his fifth of the campaign).
Hernan Losada scored the decisive goal in the 36th minute before his team had substitute Darryl Janmaat red-carded on 76 minutes, then Patrick Ebert received his second yellow three minutes into second-half injury-time.
The decisive goal came in the 78th minute when Priskin ran on to a through ball from Colin Healy and took one touch before drilling his strike into the bottom corner beyond Gunners goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
But it was Bayern who found the decisive goal at the death when Robben broke forward and unleashed a strike from just outside the box, which Julio Cesar parried into the path of Gomez who tucked gleefully home.
The ball pounded off the grass and slipped over the fingertips of Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech and into the net for the decisive goal in Portugal's 1-0 win, sending Ronaldo sprinting into the arms of his teammates and over to the television cameras for a primal scream at close range.
WSJ: Euro 2012: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal Show Czech Republic the Exit
Arsenal continued to press forward looking for a way back into the match, but once again they were caught on the break as this time Korean Ji-Sung Park burst through a huge gap in the home defence to slide home the decisive third goal early in the second half.
But the decisive third goal came from Tottenham, with Crouch enjoying the easiest of finishes after a low pass across goal from Lennon.
Germany skipper Ballack headed the decisive third goal after 61 minutes to end Ronaldo-inspired Portugal's interest in a tournament they had threatened to take by storm.
Poor officiating and sloppy play had nothing to do with the decisive third goal, which came shortly after the restart when Tevez rifled the ball into the top corner with an unstoppable long-range effort.
The decisive second goal came deep into the half when Lionel Messi (who came on as a second-half substitute) bagged his 17th consecutive league goal in the 88th minute, deftly putting the ball over goalkeeper Aranzubia.
The decisive third goal came minutes after the restart, when the home side's failure to clear their lines was punished by Graham, who took one touch to steady himself after collecting a through ball before shooting beyond Kenny.
James, who had stood firm, then blocked Corluka from point-blank range before Pompey broke again to score the second and decisive goal.
Predictably, the home response was led by the irrepressible Odemwingie, who had already missed an opportunity to score for the sixth successive game when he set up the Baggies' decisive goal.
The Republic of Ireland lost out on a place in South Africa when former Arsenal striker Henry handled the ball in the build-up to the decisive extra-time goal which earned France a 1-1 draw on the night and an aggregate 2-1 win in last year's play-offs.
Baros converted a penalty in the 69th minute, beating his Czech Republic team-mate Jaroslav Drobny in the Hertha goal for the game's decisive moment.
Josh Bailey got two of them on his decisive goal in the second period that gave the Islanders a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
But just as the visitors' hopes of an unlikely equaliser began to soar, the Blues notched a decisive second goal - after another easy penalty decision for referee Atkinson.
The goal floored Stoke, and Healy, who had only been on the pitch 10 minutes, provided the decisive knock-out blow four minutes into injury time when Jones cut the ball across goal for the Northern Ireland striker to slot in.
The Bruins then staged a three-goal comeback in the third period of the decisive game to get to overtime.
Arsenal snatched a 3-2 win at second division Brighton as France striker Olivier Giroud scored twice and fellow forward Theo Walcott came off the bench to strike a decisive late goal.
Shortly afterwards, the Yorkshire side appeared to take a decisive grip on the contest when Becchio headed his 17th goal of the Championship season after Bromby's initial effort cannoned off the post.
Giggs scored the second goal in United's title-clinching win at Wigan last season before converting the decisive penalty in the victory over Chelsea in Moscow.
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