Euro Cup 2012: Varela stunner gives Portugal 3-2 win over Denmark

Lviv: Paulo Bento`s men threw away a comfortable lead following a battling fightback by the Danes, but came good in the end to stay in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals Pepe headed the Seleccao into the lead from a corner, before Helder Postiga put them further in control with a confident finish from close range. But, Bendtner, on his 50th appearance for Denmark nodded one back for his side four minutes before half-time before completing the comeback with another header nine minutes from the end. The action was not over, however, as Silvestre Varela had the last laugh, grabbing the winner with a sublime effort in the 87th minute to put Portugal level on three points with the Danes, and take the race for a quarter-final spot into the final matchday. Denmark started the brighter of the two sides, and forced a flurry of corners early in the game to keep the Portuguese under pressure. Despite their lack of initial enterprise, Bento’s men threatened first, Miguel Veloso whipping in a devilish ball from a short corner that was capably punched away by Stephan Andersen. And there was bad news for the Danes just past the quarter-hour mark when Niki Zimling was forced off through injury, with Jakob Poulsen coming on as his replacement. Portugal improved shortly after, and slowly began to play their way back into the game. Cristiano Ronaldo, as ever, was at the heart of everything, dragging a one-two with Veloso wide before hammering a free-kick into orbit. The Iberian nation would strike first after 24 minutes. Joao Moutinho took charge of a corner, and Pepe stole a march at the near post to plant a header past Andersen into the roof of the net. And they made the most of their momentum, and doubled their advantage in the 37th minute. Nani found himself with time and space on the right flank, and squared low to Postiga, who ghosted ahead of Simon Kjaer to lash into the top corner. Denmark were quick to react though, and halved the deficit within four minutes. Kvist Jorgensen clipped towards Michael Krohn-Dehli at the far post, who nodded back across the six yard box for Bendtner to head into an empty net. Portugal almost replicated their second goal on the stroke of the interval, but this time Kjaer was able to slide ahead of Postiga to hack away another dangerous cross from Nani. Cristiano Ronaldo then had a glorious chance to put Portugal 3-1 up four minutes into the second half when clean through on goal, but his attempted slot into the bottom corner was read well by Andersen. The chances keep on coming for the Seleccao with Postiga gifted the opportunity to pounce after terrible giveaway from Simon Poulsen, but the striker was then flattened by Agger to snuff out the chance. Denmark were then forced into another change on the hour mark, as Dennis Rommedahl hobbled off in obvious discomfort, with Tobias Mikkelsen coming on in his stead. Despite the setback, the Danes were inching their way back into the match. Kvist caused a few hearts to flutter with a thunderous drive from the edge of the area that whistled inches away from the top corner. Bendtner was next to try his luck after plucking a pass out of the air at the corner of the box, but his finish did not match his control, and was scuffed wide of the mark. The Danes should have been dead and buried on 78 minutes, but were spared thanks to another awful miss from Cristiano Ronaldo. The 27-year-old found himself one-on-one again with Andersen, but his side-footed finish was comfortably wide of the mark. Within three minutes, Denmark would make him pay. Lars Jakobsen lifted a cross towards the far post over the head of Pepe, where Bendtner was waiting to head home via the woodwork. However, just when it looked like they had thrown the game away, Varela rescued all three points with a well-taken half-volley from a Fabio Coentrao cross to settle the game in Portugal’s favour.

Read more »

Euro 2012: Early strikes from Jirácek, Pilar give Czech Republic 2-1 win over Greece

Wroclaw: Huge win for Czech Republic and they get three crucial points courtesy two goals from Jirácek (3`) and Pilar (6`). Even after the small hiccup by Petr Cech, Czech Republic hold on to their slender lead against Greece. The Czech Republic put Greece on the brink of elimination from Group A of Euro 2012 after a 2-1 victory over the Ethniki at the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw. Michal Bilek`s men hit the Galanolefki with a first-half double salvo courtesy of goals by Petr Jiracek and Vaclav Pilar, and it looked as though the Narodak had done enough to emerge winners. After the break, however, a howler from Petr Cech allowed Theofanis Gekas to claw one back, but it was too little too late as the Czechs claimed an important victory in their quest for a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. The game got off to the worst possible start for Greece; by the sixth minute they were trailing by no less than two goals. The makeshift defensive pairing of Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Kostas Katsouranis was struggling right from the off, and the Czech Republic wasted no time in punishing them. First, Tomas Hubschman exploited the space between the two central defenders to pick out Jiracek just outside the box, and the Wolfsburg midfielder slotted home easily under little pressure from the Greek rear guard. Then, three minutes later, Theodor Gebre Selassie showed Jose Holebas a clean set of heels on the right wing before whipping in a cross, which was rather fortunately met by the feet of Pilar, who netted his second goal in as many matches. Greece managed to shake off the early shock, but were soon dealt yet another blow as goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Michalis Sifakis. Still, with the Czechs taking their foot off the gas, Fernando Santos` men began to gather momentum. In the 40th minute, Greece had the ball in the net as Giorgos Fotakis finished past Cech with a skillful header, following a cross from the right flank by Vasilis Torosidis, but the assistant referee had his flag up for offside. The flow of play hardly changed after the break as Bilek`s men were dominating the proceedings, allowing Greece chances only on the break. Out of nowhere, however, the Ethniki managed to score following a horrible error by Cech. A stray cross by Georgios Samaras was inexplicably dropped by the goalkeeper straight into the path of Gekas, who had no trouble converting with the open goal at his mercy, halving Greece`s deficit and giving them a way back in the game. The goal gave Fernando Santos` men some much-needed momentum and the Czechs soon found themselves pinned back in their own half. Greece bombarded the penalty area with crosses, but Michal Bilek`s players were doing their best to hold onto their lead. The Ethniki threw everything forward in the final minutes of the game, but were ultimately denied an equaliser by their resilient opponents, who claimed a crucial victory in their battle for a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

Read more »

Euro 2012: England-France 1-1

Donetsk: Steven Gerrard hailed England's "unbreakable" defence after managing to frustrate France to earn a crucial 1-1 draw in their Euro 2012 opener.

The England captain led from the front with a tirless performance in central midfield as Roy Hodgson's side dug deep to hang on for a share of the points in sweltering conditions in the Donbass Arena.

Joleon Lescott had headed England into the lead before Samir Nasir fired home a long-range equaliser.

France went on to dominate for long periods in the second half as England faded but Gerrard believes his team-mates' defensive resilience augurs well for the remainder of the tournament.

"I thought we defended really well and were resolute. When we turned over possession, we looked really dangerous so I'm satisfied," Gerrard said.

"Considering we haven't been together so long, I think the lads have taken the tactics on board really quickly.

"We're happy with the point but it only becomes a good point if we go and build on it now and try and we'll try to take the three points against Sweden."

Gerrard meanwhile praised Hodgson for managing to gel the squad together despite only having been in charge for just over a month.

Asked if he was surprised by the speed of England's progress, Gerrard replied: "I'm not, because I know the manager really well and he puts the message across really well.

"But the boys have got to listen and take it on board and I thought tonight, we were unbreakable at times.

"It's a very good sign. To do well in these tournaments, you have to be good defensively and we were tonight."

Gerrard's central midfield partner Scott Parker, who also put in a huge shift in the English engine room, praised the "heart and commitment" of his team-mates.

"I think the one thing we showed today was that we brought a lot of heart and a lot of commitment," the Tottenham midfielder said.

"I don't know if that wins you tournaments but it's certainly a base for us to build on.

"It was a very solid performance against a team that have undoubtedly very, very good individuals who seem to get into pockets all over the pitch; they're very free off their formation.

"It was big hearts and a lot of courage from everyone out there, man to man. Hopefully we can now build on that and get more going forward. The formation stayed tight and we limited them to not a lot of chances, which was pleasing."

Goalscorer Lescott meanwhile said the result would allow for England to look ahead to Friday's clash with Sweden with confidence.

"We can build on this," he said. "It is always nice to score and this was extra special. It is the sort of goal you dream about.

"It is nice to keep clean sheets. We had a gameplan today and we are confident going into every game. We should be confident of getting a win. Our work ethic was important tonight."

France's left-back Patrice Evra said Les Bleus were left frustrated at their failure to break down England, comparing their performance to Chelsea's defence-based victory against Barcelona in the Champions League.

"We are frustrated. I think we played much better. In the end it was a draw and we are a little bit frustrated," the Manchester United star said.

"At times it was like there were 15 bodies on the time at times. It was really difficult for us to find the space.

"They played in the way that Chelsea played against Barcelona. Maybe they want England to play more football but if they win the tournament like that, they will be happy."

Read more »

Shevchenko hands Ukraine dream start at Euro 2012

Kiev: Veteran striker Andriy Shevchenko scored twice to give Euro 2012 co-host Ukraine a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Sweden in their first appearance in the championship.

The 35-year-old former Chelsea and AC Milan striker hit the mark with two headers in the second half, cancelling out Zlatan Ibrahimovic's short-range opener for Sweden.

Sweden missed two golden chances to level the score through substitute Christian Wilhelmsson and defender Olof Mellberg.

Ukraine go top in Group D after England and France played out a 1-1 draw in Donetsk.

The Ukrainians face an even tougher test in the shape of France Friday, when Sweden and England clash in Kiev.

Read more »

Euro Cup 2012 Schedule and Results

Euro Cup 2012 Schedule (Fixtures) and Results

Date Match Result Jun 08, 2012 Poland Vs Greece Match Drawn (1-1) Jun 08, 2012 Russia Vs Czech Republic Russia won 4-1 Jun 09, 2012 Netherlands Vs Denmark Denmark won 1-0 Jun 09, 2012 Germany Vs Portugal Germany won 1-0 Jun 10, 2012 Spain Vs Italy Match Drawn (1-1) Jun 10, 2012 Republic of Ireland Vs Croatia Croatia won 3-1 Jun 11, 2012 France Vs England Jun 11, 2012 Ukraine Vs Sweden Jun 12, 2012 Greece Vs Czech Republic Jun 12, 2012 Poland Vs Russia Jun 13, 2012 Denmark Vs Portugal Jun 13, 2012 Netherlands Vs Germany Jun 14, 2012 Italy Vs Croatia Jun 14, 2012 Spain Vs Republic of Ireland Jun 15, 2012 Ukraine Vs France Jun 15, 2012 Sweden Vs England Jun 16, 2012 Czech Republic Vs Poland Jun 16, 2012 Greece Vs Russia Jun 17, 2012 Portugal Vs Netherlands Jun 17, 2012 Denmark Vs Germany Jun 18, 2012 Croatia Vs Spain Jun 18, 2012 Italy Vs Republic of Ireland Jun 19, 2012 England Vs Ukraine Jun 19, 2012 Sweden Vs France Jun 21, 2012 Winner Group A Vs Runner-UP Group B Jun 22, 2012 Winner Group B Vs Runner-UP Group A Jun 23, 2012 Winner Group C Vs Runner-UP Group D Jun 24, 2012 Winner Group D Vs Runner-UP Group C Jun 29, 2012 TBA Vs TBA (SF) Jun 30, 2012 TBA Vs TBA (SF) Jul 01, 2012 TBA Vs TBA (F)

Read more »

Euro 2012: England vs France - As it happenend

Zeenews Sports Bureau Donetsk: 90 + 3 min Benzema tries for a goal after the French held on to possession for the whole of the last minute, Hart stops the weak shot and that is the end of it. It is 1-1 for France and England in the opening Group D fixture. 90 + 2 min Three minute of stoppage time, as French defense looks tired. 90 + 1 min SUBSTITUTION Walcott (in) - Welbeck (out) (England). 89 min Mexes slides to stop a Milner cross, concede a corner, Gerrrard takes it, is cleared away by French defense. 87min Foul by Ben Arfa on Gerrrard. 86 min Benzema's powerful strike is headed to safety by Gerrard. 85 min SUBSTITUTION Ben Arfa (in) - Cabaye (out) (France) and Martin (in) - Malouda (out) (France). Nasri takes the corner. 84 min Defoe into the attack now, but fails to get the ball in side the area. 83 min Opportunity for Debuchy at the right flank, sniffed out by Terry. 81 min Welback deflects an attempt on goal by Cabaye, crucial one at that. 80 min Free kick to France as Johnson fouls Ribery, Nasri takes the free kick, good ball in. French corner now. 77 min SUBSTITUTION Defoe (in) - Oxlade-Chamberlain (out) (England). and Henderson (in) - Parker (out) (England). 76 min Benzema tries one on goal and it is Lescott who blocks the shot. 75 min Ribéry has an attempt on goal. Hart makes a save. 73 min Free kick for England, as Oxlade-Chamberlain is pushed over. by Ribéry. 71 min Yellow card for Ashley Young on a lunging tackle on Benzema. 69 min Malouda has an effort on goal. Parker blocks a shot. 66 min Johnson misses the target. Glen Johnson cuts inside from the right and tries a trademark effort on his left foot from range, but the ball flies over. 65 min Attempt on goal by Benzema, powerful drive after a one touch paly with Nasri, Hart stops it with ease. France 1 : 1 England 63 min Terry concedes a free-kick for a foul on Rami. Lloris takes the free-kick. 60 min Corner awarded in favour of England even though Ribery was down on the ground. 58 min Ribery makes a clean challenge on Oxlade-Chamberlain. 54 min French march on, as Evra's pass into the area is sniffed out by Gerrard. It was great little play by Nasri, Benzema as Ribery palyed a dummy for Evra to put the ball in only for Gerrrard to concede a corner. Corner cleared away easily. 53 min Theatrical tumble by Gerrard right at the edge of the obx, ref says play on. 51 min Oxlade-Chamberlain pushes over by Nasri, Free kick, Gerrars delivers again into the area, Evra clears away. 49 min England on the attack and corner for England, Gerrard takes it, straight into the hands of Hugo Lloris. 48 min Ashley Young dispossess the ball. 46 min So we are underway for the second half. With the first goal by Joleon Lescott for the Three Lions courtesy an inch perfect free kick by Gerrard, England took the lead in the 31st minute only to see that being cancelled out by a spectacular low drive to the far post past Hart by Samir Nasri in the 39th minute. At half time the scoreline is 1-1. A well organised England defense sniffed out the menacing French attacks for most of first half as Ribery and Nasri took the play to the England. Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed with his outwork making Diarra work harder. But, the first half belonged to France as Ribery, Nasri and Benzema gelled together to find big open spaces. The Les Bleus completed 299 passes to England's 171, and six shots on target compared to England's sole effort on goal. 45+ 1 min French throw in, Evra tries to move forward, Refree signals the end of play. First half over. 45 min Nasri takes it, Hart punches it away, Ribery takes it back as Benzema wins a corner with a driving effort stopped by Hart. 44 min Cabaye takes a long range, is deflected. Corner. 42 min Ribery threatens again with a menacing run inside the angle , Terry concedes corner, Nasri takes it, cleared easily by England. 39 min Nasri scores, GOOOOOAAL , all the class in the world, powerful drive but a precision one at the far post by the Manchester City player. Low shot into the bottom left corner from just outside the area after a good passing game between Ribery, Malouda, Evra and Nasri. 36 min Cabaye penalised for a foul on Parker. 35 min SPECTACULAR save by Hart, Diarra's powerful header off Nasri's free kick is stopped by the gaolkeeper, instinctive by Hart. 34 min Yellow card for Oxlade-Chamberlain for a rash tackle on Debuchy. 30 min Evra concedes a free-kick for a foul on Milner. Gerrard takes the free kick, GOOOOOAAL by Lescott. England 1 up. Inch perfect free kick by Gerrard to the far corner from the right flank, Lescott rises high and connects with the head. First ever goal for the defender for Three Lions. 27 min Nice touch by Welback, but his surge is stopped by Mexes. 26 min Flag up, Milner offside. 24 min Debuchy puts the bal lin the area, Terry clears for a throw in. 23 min French attack, as Nasri dribbles across, Cole beats Ribery in the air. 21 min Rami steps on the ankle of Welback, the forward is down. 20 min Foul by Diarra. England get a free kick. 18 min Young flagged for offside, as Oxlade-Chamberlain impresses again with his footwork to dance past Alou Diarra. 16 min Good low effort by Cabaye, Hart manages to get his hands to it. 14 min Milner misses the target, Great opportunity for England as he shoots wide. 11 min Nasri shoots, wide of the post. 10 min WSpace for Ribery as he cuts in, wins a corner, Nasri takes it, Hart fumbles but Johnson clears. Nervous times for England. 7 min Cole fouls Nasri, free kick to France, Malouda takes it, loopy one to far corner, defense does a sloppy work but Hart gets to the ball and clears. 6 min Evra penalised for a foul on Young (England). 5 min Corner for France, Nasri takes the corner, headed to safety by Gerrard. 3 min Oxlade-Chamberlain steals the ball from Mexès and takes it to the area, attack sniffed out by the French defense. 2 min Welback offside. 1 min: It is underway, England take the ball and have the possession. England national anthem first up followed by France's. God Save the Queen' and 'La Marseillaise'. Danny Welbeck is chosen ahead of Carroll and Jermain Defoe. Wil lthe youngster keep the faith of Roy Hodgson. During their last Euro meeting Zinadine Zidane scored two injury time goals to give France the victory by 2-1. So we are just 30 minutes away from the game, Roy Hodgson would have his fingers crossed as Laurent Blanc wil lhope that the 'Les Bleus' can put upa good show. England: Hart, Johnson, Cole, Terry, Lescott, Gerrard, Young, Milner, Parker, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck SUBS: Green, Butland, Baines, Jones, Jagielka, Walcott, Henderson, Downing, Carroll, Defoe. France: Lloris, Debuchy, Evra, Rami, Mexès, Cabaye, Ribéry, Nasri, Malouda, Diarra, Benzema SUBS: Mandanda, Carrasso, Réveillère, Koscielny, Clichy, Valbuena, Matuidi, Ménez, M'Vila, Martin, Ben Arfa, Giroud. Welcome to the live coverage of the Group D fixture between England and France. Les Bleus had beaten the Three Lions in their opening fixture of Euro 2004 in Portugal. Here is a brief Preview: France coach Laurent Blanc is unlikely to risk midfielder Yann M`Vila against England as deputies Alou Diarra and Blaise Matuidi have recovered well from respective knee and hamstring problems. M`Vila has struggled with a thigh injury but otherwise Blanc has had few fresh concerns to deal with since Loic Remy dropped out of the squad with a thigh problem of his own at the end of May. Karim Benzema will start ahead of Olivier Giroud in attack following his dazzling display in Les Bleus` final pre-tournament friendly against Estonia. Philippe Mexes is likely to retain his place despite pressure from backup Laurent Koscielny.

Read more »

Stubborn England keep France at bay

Donetsk: England opened up their Euro 2012 campaign with a cagey 1-1 draw against France at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk. Laurent Blanc`s team controlled much of the Group D fixture but Joleon Lescott headed the Three Lions into the lead after 30 minutes. Les Bleus were level before half-time thanks to Samir Nasri`s 39th minute strike but could not unlock England`s defence after the break. France looked to generate their first attacks down the left flank, with Franck Ribery finding space behind Glen Johnson early on and Samir Nasri, drifting across the edge of the penalty area, shooting just wide of Joe Hart`s right post. Les Bleus were level before half-time thanks to Samir Nasri`s 39th minute strike but could not unlock England`s defence after the break. France looked to generate their first attacks down the left flank, with Franck Ribery finding space behind Glen Johnson early on and Samir Nasri, drifting across the edge of the penalty area, shooting just wide of Joe Hart`s right post. It was Roy Hodgson`s men, though, who created the best chance of the opening quarter of an hour. Ashley Young found enough space to turn and pick out the slanted run of James Milner, who rounded Hugo Lloris with his first touch but could only hit the side netting with his second. In the next 15 minutes the Three Lions were to carve out very little more but just as France seemed to be tightening their grip on proceedings, England jumped into the lead. Gerrard brought back memories of David Beckham with a sublime delivery from the right-hand side that Lescott powered past Lloris from close range. Alou Diarra was beaten in the air in that instance but the Marseille midfielder very nearly made amends when he forced Hart into an excellent save from a free kick before nodding a second attempt inches wide after Ribery had returned the ball to the danger zone. Ribery was at the centre of all things positive for Les Bleus and as Laurent Blanc`s team cranked up the pressure towards the end of the half, he played a part in their deserved equaliser. The Bayern Munich star teed the ball up for Nasri, who rattled a 20-yard shot inside Hart`s near post. England had more of a say early in the second half, with both teams trading blows without creating too much in the way of clear cut chances. Gerrard was denied a clear free kick in a good position on the edge of the France penalty area before the Liverpool captain cut out Patrice Evra`s threatening cross at the other end. With Scott Parker seemingly struggling with either an injury or fatigue, France began to exploit more space in front of the England defence and Karim Benzema, hitherto a subdued presence, found enough room to unleash a powerful shot that Hart matched. Parker`s situation was not helped when he felt the full force of Florent Malouda`s attempted shot with a brave block. Yohan Cabaye might have hit the back of the net with a neat volley if Danny Welbeck had not stuck out a leg to register an important block before Gerrard diverted Benzema`s curling shot to safety as France continued to search for a decisive goal. England added Jermain Defoe and Theo Walcott to their attack while France looked to Hatem Ben Arfa and Marvin Martin for inspiration but while Les Bleus remained well on top, Hodgson`s team defended bravely to secure a valuable point.

Read more »