Top Scorer


3 David Villa - Spain
2 Lukas Podolski - Germany
1 Arda Turan - Turkey
1 Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal
1 Deco - Portugal
1 Cesc Fàbregas - Spain
1 Hakan Yakin - Switzerland
1 Petter Hansson - Sweden
1 Zlatan Ibrahimović - Sweden
1 Luka Modrić - Croatia
1 Roman Pavlyuchenko - Russia
1 Pepe - Portugal
1 Ricardo Quaresma - Portugal
1 Raul Meireles - Portugal
1 Semih Şentürk - Turkey
1 Libor Sionko - Czech Republic
1 Wesley Sneijder - Netherlands
1 Václav Svěrkoš - Czech Republic
1 Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Netherlands
1 Ruud van Nistelrooy - Netherlands

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Group A

Team
1 Portugal 2 2 0 0 5 1 +4 6
2 Czech Republic 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 3
3 Turkey 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 3
4 Switzerland 2 0 0 2 1 3 -2 0

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

The full-time score was Switzerland 1-2 Turkey in the EURO 2008 Group A match at the St. Jakob-Park Stadium in Basel on Wednesday.

The game started at a high tempo, with both sides getting in early challenges. Turkey started the brighter, without threatening Diego Begnalio in the Swiss goal.

In a match played in the heavy rain, the first real effort on goal came in the 20th minute with Switzerland’s Gokhan Inler firing a low shot from outside the area which was easily gathered by Volkan Demirel.

The Swiss took the initiative with Hakan Yakin coming close in the 24th minute, before Tranquillo Barnetta forcing Demirel into a fine save from a free kick in the 25th minute.

With the game sparking to life Arda hits hits the post for Turkey after Begnalio pushes it onto him from a free kick in the 29th minute.

Hakan Yakin opened the scoring for Switzerland in the 32nd minute. with an easy tap in from a few yards after a pass from Eren Derdiyok with conditions getting worse. Yakin should have added a second in the 35th minute, somehow shooting wide with the goal at his mercy after being picked out by Valon Behrami.

Aurilio was shown a yellow card for a challenge on Behrami in the 41st minute.

The game went into half-time 1-0 to the hosts, but with the weather conditions playing a major part in the proceedings on the pitch.

The second half began slowly, with the first real incident happening when Hakan Balta got booked for Turkey, after deliberately handling the ball from a free-kick in the 48th minute.

Derdiyok received Switzerland’s first yellow card in the 55th minute for a dangerous lunge.

Turkey levelled in the 57th minute through substitute Semih Senturk, who headed past a stranded Begnalio from a cross by the captain Nihat Kahveci. Switzerland tried to reply straight with Yakin forcing the Turkish defence to scramble clear.

The game started to open up with half chances at both ends, with Swiss substitute Johan Vonlanthon making a good run into the area in the 70st minute. Turkey Nihat almosts puts his team ahead in the 74TH minute, but failed to connect with the cross from Tuncay by inches.

Switzerland almost take the lead in the 83rd minute, but are denied by a fantastic double save by Demirel, first from a shot by Yakin then at the feet of Ilner as he followed up.

Arda secured the win for Turkey in the second minute of stoppage-time, with his deflected shot looping over Begnalio in the Switzerland goal to eliminate the co-hosts from the tournament.

Switzerland v Turkey Full Teamsheets:

Switzerland Team: Diego Begnalio, Ludovic Magnin, Philippe Senderos, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Gokhan Inler, Hakan Yakin, (Daniel Gygax, 85), Eren Derdiyok, Gelson Fernandes (Ricardo Cabanas, 76), Valon Behrami, Tranquillo Barnetta (Johan Vonlanthon, 66), Patrick Muller.

Switzerland Substitutes Not Used: Pascal Zuberbuhler, Eldin Jakupovic, Johan Djourou, Benjamin Huggel, Stephane Grichting, Christoph Spycher, Philipp Deggen.

Turkey Team: Volkan Demirel, Servet Çetin, Hakan Balta, Aurelio, Nihat Kahveci (c) (Kazım Richards, 85), Gokdeniz Karedeniz (Semih Senturk, 46), Tumer Metin (Mehmet Topal, 46), Arda Turan, Emre Asik, Tunçay Sanli, Hamit Altintop.

Turkey Substitutes Not Used: Reçber Tolga, Gökhan, Emreğlu, Emre, Uğur, Ayhan, Sabriğlu, Mevlüt Erdinç.

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal script a 3-1 win over Czech Republic and all but ensure quarter-finals berth, after an entertaining Euro 2008 Group A game at Stade de Geneve, Geneva, on Wednesday.

With both sides having won their respective opening group games, they knew that the winner will be all but ensured the last-eight place, ahead of co-hosts Switzerland’s clash against Turkey later tonight.

Portugal boasting a host of creative talent, got a major contribution from 23-year-old Ronaldo, who scored one and made an assist for another goal, which was scored by substitute Ricardo Quaresma towards the closing stages, after Deco had sent last edition’s losing finalists on their way with an early breakthrough.

Deco scrambled the ball home from close range after a lovely piece of interplay with Nuno Gomes and Ronaldo in the 8th minute. Petr Cech was drawn out of his position, but the sprawling Chelsea keeper’s attempt to block the ball proved futile after initially deflecting the ball into the path of Deco.

The Czechs launched determined attempts to get on parity and succeeded in the 17th minute when Libor Sionko got the better of Portuguese defence, to direct his stooping header into the back of Ricardo’s net following a corner kick by Jaroslav Plasil from the right.

Barcelona midfielder Deco, who is linked with Chelsea and Inter Milan, embarked on an attacking run moving freely through the middle and let go a thundering long-range drive, which however, missed the top right corner narrowly in the 25th minute. Immediately, Ronaldo followed suit, but his low shot was stopped by Cech.

Karel Bruckner’s side got a corner kick in the 29th minute and came close to repeating their success with Plasil delivering from left to Sionko at far post, however the last-named failed to get a meaty shot away and Joao Moutinho cleared the mis-hit in the penalty area.

Portugal defence was all at sea when Portsmouth’s on-loan forward Milan Baros made his way into the 18-yard box with a mazy run from the right in the 35th minute. He, however, failed to make the decisive pass inside the rival territory and was also without much support.

Towards the end of the first half, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side got a couple of corner-kicks in quick succession, but Ujfalusi and Jankulovski put crucial challenges to avert the danger. Cech then, made a fantastic save off a power-packed strike from Manchester United winger Ronaldo, who again failed to beat his Premiership opponent in the stoppage time from a free-kick.

The Czechs made early forays into the rival territory into the second period, but failed apply a finish. The Portuguese also had their share of exchanges, and saw their captain Nuno Gomes come up with a meek attempt, which failed to trouble Cech, after a brisk passing move.

Gomes, who had a quiet first period, looked busy as he was away dispossessing David Rozehnal from the right, but the former Newcastle defender, made a quick recovery clearing the ball away for a corner.

Upping the ante, Portugal began to show a bit more adventurous streak approaching the hour-mark, but once again Cech, was not to be beaten as Simao found out with his stiff low shot.

Ronaldo, who scored 42 goals last season for the Red Devils, scuffed his first-time volley from the edge of the area, as the Portuguese camped into the rival territory.

The Czechs meanwhile, came close to scoring from a corner again, as Tomas Ujfalusi’s header went agonisingly wide of the far post with Baros and Sionko unable to meet it.

Portugal launched a swift move that saw Ronaldo putting them in front with a first-time drive from 16 yards, after being set up by a pin-point cross from Deco in the 63rd minute.

The Czechs, with the infusion of positive players in the form of substitutes Jan Koller and Vlcek, looked to get the equaliser as the time ticked by. And they almost managed to do it only for Ricardo to finger-tip Sionko’s header over the cross bar before Pepe came up with an important headed clearance.

Portugal made sure that there was no last minute heart-break as they got their third goal, when Ronaldo unselfishly set substitute Quaresma for a simple tap in into an open goal with Cech drawn out in the stoppage time.

Teams

Czech Republic: Cech, Grygera, Polak, Galasek (Koller 73), Jankulovski, Sionko, Baros, Matejovsky (Vlcek 68), Plasil (Jarolim 86), Ujfalusi, Rozehnal.

Substitutes not used: Blazek, Zitka, Kovac, Fenin, Sverkos, Pospech, Kadlec, Sivok, Skacel.

Coach: Karel Bruckner.

Portugal: Ricardo, Ferreira, Bosingwa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Petit, Joao Moutinho (Fernando Meira 75), Simao (Quaresma 80), Pepe, Carvalho, Deco, Nuno Gomes (Hugo Almeida 79).

Substitutes not used: Espirito Santo, Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Raul Meireles, Miguel, Jorge Ribeiro, Miguel Veloso, Nani, Helder Postiga.

Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Referee: Kyros Vassaras.

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Top scorers


2 Lukas Podolski - Germany
1 Cesc Fàbregas - Spain
1 Petter Hansson - Sweden
1 Zlatan Ibrahimović - Sweden
1 Luka Modrić - Croatia
1 Roman Pavlyuchenko - Russia
1 Pepe - Portugal
1 Raul Meireles - Portugal
1 Wesley Sneijder - Netherlands
1 Václav Svěrkoš - Czech Republic
1 Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Netherlands
1 Ruud van Nistelrooy - Netherlands

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Group D

Team
1 Spain 1 1 0 0 4 1 +3 3
2 Sweden 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
3 Romania 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0
4 Italy 1 0 0 1 1 4 -3 0

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

The game between Greece and Sweden finished 2-0 at full-time in their EURO 2008 Group D match at the Wals Siezenheim Stadium in Salzburg on Tuesday evening.

Angelos Charisteas was booked in just the first minute for a foul on Sweden's Petter Hansson, as the game started at high velocity.

Charisteas managed to get a shot on goal in the 7th minute of the match, but his shot was easily picked-up by Andreas Isaksson in the Sweden goal.

With both teams canceling each other out in the early stages Henrik Larsson forced a point blank save from Antonis Nikopolidis in the 17th minute, which would not have counted as the referee’s assistant raised his flag for offside.

The current European Champions Greece looked comfortable against Sweden, without ever really looking like threatening themselves in a half of few chances, with the only real opportunity falling to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who narrowly headed the ball over in the 32nd minute for Sweden.

The Greek fans started to boo their team just before the break, as they lost patience with the Greek’s negative style of play.

The second half started in a bright manner with Christian Wilhelmsson shooting over the bar in the 48th minute for Sweden, shortly after Ibrahimovic rifles a long range free-kick over the bar with Sweden gaining the upper hand.

Vassilis Torosidis booked in the 61st minute for foul on Wilhelmsson before Giorgos Karagounis had his double effort blocked by the Swedish defence in the 63rd minute.

With the game sparking to life Hansson forces his own keeper to save from a headed deflection, from the resulting break Ibrahimovic scored a superb goal in the 67th minute with a stunning strike from the edge of the penalty area after a one two from a throw to score his first International goal in two and a half years.

A bizarre goal from a goal mouth scramble gave Sweden the second a second goal just minutes later, with Hansson latching on to a deflected shot from West Ham's Freddie Ljungberg somehow and turn the ball in from close range in the 72nd minute.

Wilhelmsson was forced off the pitch injured clutching his hamstring, and the player who was on loan at Bolton Wanderers last season is now no longer expected to play any further part in EURO 2008, with Markus Rosenberg taking his place in the 78th minute.

The game finished 2-0 to Sweden, who now sit in second-place in Group D, behind Spain, who beat Russia 4-1 earlier on Tuesday.

Greece Team Nikopolidis, Seitaridis, Dellas (Amanatidis, 70), Kyrgiakos, Katsouranis, Torosidis, Basinas (c), Karagounis, Charisteas, Antzas, Gekas (Samaras, 46).

Greece Substitutes Not Used: Chalkias, Tzorvas, Patsatzoglou, Spiropoulos, Giannakopoulos, Vintra, Salpingidis, Goumas, Tziolis, Liberopoulos.

Sweden Team: Isaksson, Nilsson, Mellberg, Hansson, Alexandersson (Stoor, 74), Svensson, Ljungberg (c) Ibrahimovic (Elmander, 71), H. Larsson, Andersson, Wilhelmsson (Rosenburg, 78).

Sweden Substitutes Not Used: Shaaban, Wiland, Linderoth, Majstorovic, Granqvist, Kallstrom, S. Larsson, Allback, Dorsin.

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

David Villa’s hat-trick was the highlight of Spain’s resounding 4-1 win over Russia in the Euro 2008 Group D opener in Innsbruck on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old, who has been linked with Premiership sides Chelsea and Tottenham, scored in the 20th, 44th and 75th minutes as Luis Aragones’ side decimated Guus Hiddink’s unit with their quality counter-attacking game.

Substitute Cesc Fabregas scored his first international goal in the stoppage time, with a stooping header from close range, cashing on the defensive error by the Russians.

Russia, who qualified for the finals at the expense of England, had started with promise, but could only manage a consolation goal through Roman Pavlyuchenko in the 86th minute.

Spain, who have won the European Championship once for their only major trophy so far and as such being tagged as perennial underachievers, have been rated as one of the favourites to win this edition of the continental showpiece event.

And they showed what they can do with the quality on the pitch in the form of Villa, Liverpool’s Fernando Torres and Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta; as they started with Arsenal playmaker Fabregas and Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso on bench.

Torres unselfishly set up Valencia striker Villa for the first goal after just 20 minutes for a simple close-range finish, after dispossessing Denis Kolodin from the left side of the box.

Guus Hiddink’s side were unlucky not to have equalised as the woodwork denied Konstantin Zyryanov with Spain keeper Iker Casillas nowhere near to stopping the low shot.

Spain broke on a quick counter attack, and Iniesta provided a through pass for Villa, who slotted the ball home between Russia keeper Igor Akinfeev to make it 2-0 going into the half time break.

Villa had another good chance to make contribution to their scoreline, but his low shot was saved by Akinfeev. The Valencia striker, although having Fabregas unmarked, went for the glory looking for his hat-trick.

The young Russian keeper dashed out from his line early to clear the danger as Fabregas was in pursuit in a one-on-one situation in the 65th minute. Soon after, Anyukov then made a crucial intervention to cut out a cross for the prowling Villa.

In a rare Russian foray in the second period, experienced defender Carles Puyol put in a superb challenge to thwart Pavlyuchenko.

Spain toyed with their rivals defence as they queued up to find the target, before Villa completed his hat-trick with a clinical finish from the left side of the box after catching the Russians off-guard in the 75th minute.

In the last quarter, Pavlyuchenko headed home from close following a corner to rekindle hope of a fightback from the Russians, but that was not to be achieved as Fabregas was in the right place to head into the back of the net after Akinfeev’s parry of Xavi shot fell to him on the left side of the box in the stoppage time to help Spain make a big statement with a 4-1 win in their opening game.

Teams

Spain: 1 Casillas (capt), 4 Marchena, 5 Puyol, 6 Iniesta (Santi Cazorla 63), 7 Villa, 8 Xavi Hernandez, 9 Torres (Fabregas 54), 11 Capdevila, 15 Sergio Ramos, 19 Senna, 21 Silva (Xabi Alonso 78).

Substitutes not used: 13 Palop, 23 Reina, 2 Albiol, 3 Fernando Navarro, 16 Sergio Garcia, 17 Guiza, 18 Arbeloa, 20 Juanito, 22 de la Red.

Russia: 1 Akinfeev, 8 Kolodin, 11 Semak (capt), 14 Shirokov, 15 Bilyaletdinov, 17 Zyryanov, 18 Zhirkov, 19 Pavlyuchenko, 20 Semshov (Torbinski 57), 21 Sychev (Bystrov 46) (Adamov 70), 22 Anyukov.

Substitutes not used: 12 Gabulov, 16 Malafeev, 2 Berezutski, 3 Yanbaev, 4 Ignashevich, 5 Berezutski, 9 Saenko, 13 Ivanov.

Referee: Konrad Plautz

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Group C

Team
1 Holland 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3
2 France 1 0 1 0 0 0 - 1
3 Romania 1 0 1 0 0 0 - 1
4 Italy 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Top scorers

2 Lukas Podolski - Germany
1 Pepe - Portugal
1 Raul Meireles - Portugal
1 Václav Svěrkoš - Czech Republic
1 Luka Modrić - Croatia
1 Wesley Sneijder - Holland
1 Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Holland
1 Ruud van Nistelrooy - Holland

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

The Netherlands have thrashed World Champions Italy 3-0 in their hugely entertaining Group C opening match at The Stade de Suisse Stadium in Bern on Monday.

Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the Oranje the lead in the 26th minute of the match, with a controversial goal that on replay, looked well offside, with Wesley Sneijder doubling the score just after .

Wesley Sneijder’s shot was punched away by Italy goalkeeper Gianluca Buffon, who incidentally took-out his defender Andrea Pirlo in the process, with Ruud van Nistelrooy tapping the ball past the Italian keeper to make it 1-0.

The second goal came just after the half-hour mark, with an amazing break from van Basten’s Oranje.

Giovanni van Bronckhurst cleared the ball off the line, with van der Vaart collecting the ball, crossing it to Dirk Kuyt, who headed it down to Schneider who turned the ball in superbly from the edge of the 6 yard box.

Buffon saved Italy’s blushes minutes before the half-time whistle, saving van Nistelrooy’s shot from the edge of the penalty area, after a wonderful through-pass from his Holland team-mate.

Di Natale blasted his shot over the bar from just outside the area on the stroke of half time, with the shot never looking like troubling Van de Sar in the Dutch goal.

The game went into halftime 2-0 to Marco van Basten's team, with Italy never really looking like troubling Man Utd keeper Edwin van der Sar in the Netherlands goal.

The second-half started slowly, with few chances for either side in the first quarter of the second period.

Gianluca Zambrotta managed to elude Dirk Kuyt down the left and cut into the box, but his wild right-footed shot flew wide of the target.

Italy brought on Fabio Grosso for Marco Materazzi, who managed to cause trouble for the Holland defence for the first real time.

Italy had a couple of chances of their own, with Andrea Pirlo and second–half substitute Alessandro del Piero both forcing van der Sar into some fine saves.

Holland sealed the win in the 79th minute after a superb save from Holland keeper van der Sar from Andrea Pirlo's free-kick, which led to a break from the dominant Oranje and the third goal of the match.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst set up Dirk Kuyt, with Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon saving brilliantly, only for Kuyt to chip the rebound from Buffon, on to Van Bronckhorst, who headed home to make it 3-0.

The match finished 3-0 to The Netherlands, who have taken the initiative in Group C - nicknamed 'The Group of Death' - after France only managed a draw against Group C dark-horses Romania.

Holland Team Edwin van der Sar, Andre Ooijer, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Orlando Engelaar, Ruud van Nistelrooy (Robin Van Persie, 70), Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt (Ibrahim Afellay, 81), Khalid Boulahrouz (John Heitinga, 77), Rafael van der Vaart.

Holland Substitutes Not Used: Henk Timmer, Maarten Stekelenburg, Demy De Zeeuw, Arjen Robben, Mario Melchiot, Wilfred Bouma, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Tim De Cler, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Italy Team: Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Panucci, Andrea Barzagli, Gennaro Gattuso, Luca Toni, Alberto Di Natale (Del Piero, 64) , Massimo Ambrosini, Mauro Camoranesi( Cassano, 75), Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Marco Materazzi (Grosso, 54).

Italy Substitutes Not Used: Amelia, De Sanctis, Chiellini, Gamberini, De Rossi, Borriello, Quagliarella, Perrota, Aquilani

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Euro 2000 champions France were held to a goalless draw by a disciplined Romania side in the Group C opener at the Euro 2008 in Zurich on Monday. It was also this competition’s first game that did not produce a goal.

Grouped along with Italy and the Netherlands in the ‘Group Of Death’, neither France nor Romania looked to go all out, apparently not wanting to expose their backline and get punished, for the fear of losing the opening game.

Les Bleus had most of the possession, but found it difficult to break down their rivals, who were content to sit back and try to hit on counters.

France missed striker Thierry Henry and inspirational captain Patrick Vieira due to injury problems and as such, Karim Benzema and Jeremy Toulalan were included in the starting line-up by Raymond Domenech.

Nicolas Anelka and Benzema saw their shots early in the half, miss the target, but the first-named had an easier chance in the 34th minute. The Chelsea ace however, skied his header after a goalmouth melee following a cross by Franck Ribery.

Former Blues forward, Adrian Mutu and Daniel Niculae showed some purpose when they had a couple of half-chances for Victor Piturca’s side, but otherwise the slow-paced first period had nothing to write home about.

France’s intent was made clear early into the second half by Chelsea winger Florent Malouda as he ran at the rival defence from the left, and hoodwinking a couple of Romanians, unleashed a powerful drive that, however, missed the top corner by a narrow margin.

In a first glimpse of a flowing move, hard-working Ribery ran down the right flank and crossed to Benzema, whose carpet drive brought out a save from Bogdan Lobont in the 58th minute.

Another chance went begging for the Les Bleus in the 65th minute as Benzema, having got the better of the defenders in the 18-yard box, failed to hit the target.

With nothing going France’s way, Domenech sent on young forward Bafetimbi Gomis of St Etienne in the 72nd minute taking off Anelka.

Getting a bit more adventurous as the time ticked by, full-back Eric Abidal tried a long-range shot, but missed the goal by some way.

Romania, meanwhile, got the bodies behind the ball and defended in numbers, to counter the French attacking threats that also included substitute Samir Nasri, who is linked with Arsenal.
However, the highly rated Gomis, who is linked with Newcastle, and Nasri failed to give glimpses of their talent as they failed to assert themselves as the game ended in a stalemate.

Teams:

Romania: 1 Bogdan Lobont, 5 Cristian Chivu (Capt), 2 Cosmin Contra, 3 Razvan Dinca Rat, 4 Gabriel Sebastian Tamas, 15 Dorin Goian, 6 Mirel Matei Radoi (Nicolae Marius Dica 90), 16 Banel Nicolita, 11 Razvan Cocis (Paul Codrea 64), 10 Adrian Mutu (Marius Niculae 79), 21 Daniel George Niculae.

Substitutes not used: 12 Marius Popa, 23 Eduard Stancioiu, 7 Florentin Petre, 9 Ciprian Marica, 14 Sorin Ghionea, 17 Cosmin Moti, 22 Stefan Andrei Radu, 13 Cristian Sapunaru, 19 Adrian Cristea.

Coach: Victor Piturca.

France: 23 Gregory Coupet, 5 William Gallas, 3 Eric Abidal, 19 Willy Sagnol, 15 Lilian Thuram (Capt), 7 Florent Malouda, 6 Claude Makelele, 20 Jeremy Toulalan, 22 Franck Ribery, 8 Nicolas Anelka (Bafetimbi Gomis 72), Karim Benzema (Samir Nasri 78).

Substitutes not used: 16 Sebastien Frey, 1 Steve Mandanda, 12 Thierry Henry, 4 Patrick Vieira, 2 Jean Alain Boumsong, 10 Sidney Govou, 17 Sebastien Squillaci, 13 Patrice Evra, 14 Francois Clerc, 21 Lassana Diarra.

Coach: Raymond Domenech

Referee: Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez.

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Group 8

Team
1 Germany 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
2 Croatia 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
3 Austria 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
4 Poland 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Top scorers

2 Lukas Podolski - Germany
1 Pepe - Portugal
1 Raul Meireles - Portugal
1 Václav Svěrkoš - Czech Republic
1 Luka Modrić - Croatia

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Germany have beaten Poland 2-0 in their opening Group B match in Klagenfurt on Sunday, with Lukas Podolski scoring both goals for his adopted country.

Poland had the first chance at goal, in just the first minute of the match when Krzynowek had a great chance to open the scoring, but his volleyed shot from 10-yards went well high of the crossbar.

Just minutes later Germany had a superb chance to score after Miroslav Klose broke the offside trap to supply Mario Gomez, but his shot went wide of Artur Boruc’s right goal-post.

It was 20 minutes into the match that the deadlock was broken, with Klose again who was involved in the first goal of the match, catching on to a superb pass from Gomez, who passed to Polish-born Lukas Podolski who tapped-in to make it 1-0 to Germany.

Despite having never beaten Germany in International competition, Poland had a few chances on goal of their own, with Lewandowski and Lobodzinski both forcing Jens Lehmann into saves.

The game went into half-time 1-0 to Germany, who started the game the stronger of the two, but Poland having found their way into the match, and started to apply pressure on the German defence.

Poland came out for the second-half with intent, but found it hard to break the extremely organised Germany defence.

Second-half substitute Roger Guerreiro has his attempt saved in the 54th minute, but the Poles just couldn’t find a way through.

Krzynowek almost levelled the scores in the 72nd minute of the match, but immediately Germany attacked, leading to Podolski scoring his second goal of the match.

A defensive mistake from Poland defender Golanski led to the second goal, with Podolski doubling the score with a superb volley after a mis-hit shot from fellow striker Miroslav Klose landed directly in his path as the onrushing Podolski slammed the ball home from just next to the penalty-spot.

Smolarek almost drew a goal back for Poland in the 84th minute, but Lehmann saved well to deny him.

The game finished 2-0 to Germany, who now lead Group B, ahead of Croatia who beat co-hosts Austria 1-0 earlier today.

Germany Team Lehmann, Jansen, Fritz (Scweinsteiger, (Scweinsteiger, 56), Frings, Gomez (Hitzlsperger, 75), Klose (Kuranyi, 90), Ballack (c), Lahm, Mertesacker, Podolski, Metzelder.

Germany Substitutes Not Used: Enke, (g), Adler (g), Friedrich, Westermann, Rolfes, Scweinsteiger, Neuville, Trochowski, Borowski, Odonkor.

Poland Team: Boruc, Golanski (Saganowski, 75), Dudka, Bak, Smolarek, Krzynowek, Zurawski (c) (Guereirro, 46), Wasilewski, Zewlakow, Lobodzinski (Piszczek, 65), Lewandowski.

Poland Substitutes Not Used: Fabianski (g), Jop, Wawrzyniak, Gargula, Pazdan, Murawski, Zahorski, Kokoszkha.

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Tottenham Hotspur’s new signing Luka Modric scored from a penalty kick to give Croatia 1-0 victory against co-hosts Austria in the Euro 2008 Group B opener in Vienna on Sunday.

It was a perfect start for Slaven Bilic’s side as they dealt an early blow to the hosts by taking the lead in the 4th minute.

Pieter Vink awarded Croatia the spot kick when Ivica Olic went down under an awkward challenge by Aufhauser. Middlesbrough defender Emmanuel Pogatetz was booked for voicing his protests against the decision.

Young midfielder Modric stepped forward to take the penalty, and hammered it straight into the back of the net as Macho dived to the left.

Austria ended the first half on a stronger note, and were in the ascendancy right from the start of the second period, but failed to get anything from the game.

The Croats dominated most of the first half, but they failed to convert the chances. Dario Srna’s free-kick from the right, went begging as none of the players got any touch onto the ball going across the face of the goal.

Mladen Petric blazed his volley over the bar when he had ample time to put a composed finish as he was unmarked into the Austria area, on a cross from right.

For Josef Hickersberger’s men, defender Sebastian Prodl tried a long range shot but was off target. He was soon after, in the thick of the action again but failed to direct his glancing header on to Pletikosa’s goal off a free-kick taken by captain Andreas Ivanschitz.

However, Austria came up with a concerted effort to get back on even terms as the first half headed to an end, but Josip Simunic came up with a fine clearance to cut Harnik’s cross with Roland Linz waiting. Standfest then saw his header sail over the cross bar.

The second half began at a high tempo, particularly the Austrians giving it everything. A nice bit of work on the right flank by Harnik, was undone as his cutback failed to find a red shirt in the Croat penalty area. He was frustrated as there was no support inside the six yard box, when another of his cross went begging, this time across the face of the goal.

At the hour mark, Modric sprung a moment of brilliance as he got past a host of rival players from the right, and entered into the Austria box, but his final ball was cleared by a defender. Four minutes later, Nico Kovac skied his header off a free-kick from right.

With home crowd cheering on their team, Austria made all efforts to claw their way back with Hickersberger ringing in the changes. Croatia boss Bilic also changed personnel as the second half ticked by.

Substitute Kienast could have been involved straightaway in setting up the goal as Pletikosa’s citadel came under pressure. But composed defending by Robert Kovac and Manchester City’s Corluka averted the danger.

A curling free-kick from the left by substitute Vastic, was punched out by Pletikosa, whose goal was bombarded by flurry of efforts by Austrians. Harnik orchestrated a couple of quick moves, first seeing his shot sail over, but then feeding Vastic for an header that was stopped by the rival custodian.

Despite tremendous pressure on Croatian goal in the closing stages as the Red shirts crowded the box and Kienast’s header went agonisingly close to the goal in the final few seconds, Hickersberger’s men were disappointed at the final whistle, but their performance must have warmed the hearts of their fans.

Teams:

Austria: Macho, Standfest, Stranzl, Pogatetz, Aufhauser, Linz (Kienast 74), Ivanschitz, Gercaliu (Korkmaz 69), Prodl, Saumel (Vastic 60), Harnik.

Substitutes not used: Manninger, Ozcan, Fuchs, Leitgeb, Katzer, Garics, Patocka, Hiden, Hoffer.

Coach: Josef Hickersberger

Croatia: Pletikosa, Sumunic, Kovac, Corluka, Kovac, Srna, Modric, Olic (Vukojevic 83), Kranjcar (Knezevic 61), Petric (Budan 72), Pranjic.

Substitutes not used: Galinovic, Runje, Simic, Vejic, Rakitic, Kalinic, Pokrivac, Leko, Klasnic.

Coach: Slaven Bilic.

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Top scorers

1 Pepe - Portugal
1 Raul Meireles - Portugal
1 Václav Svěrkoš - Czech Republic

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Cristiano Ronaldo - who hit the post with a sensational free-kick early on - inspired his side to victory as they scored two second half goals to kill of a Turkish threat which never materialised.

After having a first-half effort disallowed, Pepe made no mistake on the hour as he gave Portugal the lead with a stunning individual effort.

Nuno Gomes hit post and crossbar before the second goal arrived in stoppage time when substitute Raul Meireles finished off a fine counter-attack.

Portugal now sit on top of Group A after Czech Republic's 1-0 win over Switzerland earlier on Saturday.

The first 45 minutes in Geneva were an open affair but, apart from Ronaldo's set-piece, neither goalkeepers were unduly troubled.

Jose Bosingwa struck a low cross into the side-netting in the second minute following a promising move down the right.

Chelsea's new signing then provided Ronaldo with his first sight of goal, the 23-year-old cutting in from the right but blazing a left-footed shot high over the crossbar in the sixth minute.

Turkey appealed for a penalty seven minutes later when Tuncay Sanli went down under the challenge of Bosingwa but German referee Herbert Fandel waved away their claims.

Real Madrid defender Pepe thought he had put the Euro 2004 finalists ahead in the 17th minute when he headed home following Simao Sabrosa's corner but his celebrations were cut short by an offside flag.

Nihat Kahveci saw his free-kick from just outside the area deflected narrowly wide as the game continued to flow from end to end.

Ronaldo almost conjured up a moment of magic on the half-hour, weaving his way past four players only to drag his right-footed effort wide.

Fenerbahce goalkeeper Volkan then stepped up to keep out Ronaldo's blistering free-kick and Joao Moutinho lashed over from 10 yards, but the deadlock was not to be broken in the first half.

The second period began in lively fashion. Nuno Gomes poked a first-time shot against the post with the referee having played a good advantage following a hefty challenge on Simao from Gokhan Zan.

Portugal coach Scolari was beginning to get animated on the touchline at his team's failures in the final third.

Ronaldo sought to rectify that by fending off the attentions of Hamit Altintop and breaking clear on the left 11 minutes after the break, but again he saw his shot kept out by Volkan.

Joao Moutinho's swerving attempt was too high to worry the keeper but, although Turkey substitute Sabri Sarioglu also let fly from long range, Portugal did not have much longer to wait for the breakthrough.

Pepe's tidy finish was followed almost immediately by a glancing Nuno Gomes header from Ronaldo's cross.

It struck the crossbar with Volkan rooted to the spot as Portugal looked to further capitalise on their superiority.

Turkey looked to be getting frustrated as the Portuguese asserted their authority, with Sabri's over-zealous appeals for handball against Simao on the edge of the area earning the Galatasaray defender a yellow card.

With only one goal in it, however, Portugal could not afford to relax and were almost pegged back nine minutes from time but Turkey substitute Emre Asik headed wide when in acres of space.

Tuncay also had a chance to nick a point towards the end but completely missed his kick.

And the door was firmly closed on Turkey in stoppage time when Raul Meireles sealed matters.



Portugal : Alexandre Ricardo, Kepler Pepe, Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Armando Petit, Felipe Joao Moutinho, Anderson Deco, Sabrosa Simao, Miguel Nuno Gomes, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sub: Jose Raul Meireles (82), Fernando Meira (91), Luis Nani (68).

Not Used : Joaquim Quim, Luis Brito Miguel, Eduardo Bruno Alves, Miguel Veloso, Helder Postiga, Miguel Hugo Almeida, Ricardo Quaresma, Miguel Jorge Ribeiro, Pedro Rui Patricio.

Turkey : Volkan Demirel, Servet Cetin, Gokhan Zan, Hakan Balta, Marco Aurelio, Tuncay Sanli, Emre Belozoglu, Nihat Kahveci, Mevlut Erdinc, Halil Altintop, Colin Kazim-Richards.

Sub : Sabri Sarioglu (46), Emre Asik (55), Semih Senturk(76).

Not Used : Recber Rustu, Tolga Zengin, Emre Gungor, Tumer Metin, Mehmet Topal, Arda Turan, Ayhan Akman, Gokdeniz Karadeniz, Ugur Boral

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Co-hosts Switzerland went down fighting by a solitary goal to the 2004 semi-finalists Czech Republic in the Euro 2008 opener in Group A at St Jakob Park in Basel on Saturday.

Substitute Vaclav Sverkos’ late goal proved to be the winner for the Czechs, who, however, were the second-best side compared to the hosts.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech made important saves to carry his side to a perfect start, as he time and again foiled all attempts by the Swiss, who lost their best player of the first half Alexander Frei just before half time to a knee problem.

Jakob Kuhn’s side saw a lot of early ball, and converted their possession into attacking moves with captain Frei coming up with the first shot on the rival goal, however, he dragged the long-range effort wide of the left post.

However, Frei’s two further attempts were on target, but Cech brought all his experience into play to deny the Swiss star.

There were opportunities for Tranquillo Barnetta, Valon Behrami and Gokhan Inler, but neither could pierce through the Czech defence.

At the other end, the Czechs failed to pose much of a threat for Diego Benaglio’s goal. The only time he had to make a reaction save in the first half was to tip to safety a deflected cross off his own defender Ludovic Magnin.

However, a clear chance went begging for Karel Bruckner’s side when giant striker Jan Koller failed to get his head onto a cross by Jaroslav Plasil from left channel.

The Swiss suffered a big blow towards the closing stages of the first half when Frei, who was visibly shattered, was forced off with a knee injury that could have finished his Euro campaign.

The Borussia Dortmund star did not take the field to start the second half and experienced campaigner Hakan Yakin was sent on as the replacement for the all-time top-scorer for the Swiss. The hosts, however, continued to dictate the terms to their rivals with the substitute coming close to scoring with a curling free kick.

Switzerland were lucky to get away with a defensive blunder at the hour mark when they failed to read a free kick from the right, but were relieved to see Libor Sionko missing a free header from point-blank range.

Yakin failed to direct his low headed effort on target after a fantastic opening was created by the spirited Swiss in the 66th minute.

Czech’s Sionko was stopped in his tracks by Arsenal’s Philippe Senderos, but seconds later the Czechs scored when substitute Sverkos put a calm low finish past Benaglio in the 71st minute after breaking through an off-side trap.

Kuhn in an effort to induce more cutting edge into the side, sent on Johan Vonlanthen in the 75th minute while taking off defender Stephan Lichtsteiner.

But they were unlucky not to have equalised in the 80th minute when a fierce low shot by Barnetta was parried but only as far as Vonlanthen, who struck the frame of the goal. In a frantic finale, Derdiyok sent his towering header over the cross bar, and referee Roberto Rosetti overlooked protests from Swiss over a handball in the closing seconds.

Teams:

Switzerland: Benaglio, Magnin, Senderos, Lichtsteiner (Vonlanthen 75), Inler, Frei (Hakan Yakin 46), Streller, Fernandes, Barnetta, Behrami (Derdiyok 84), Muller.

Substitutes not used: Zuberbuhler , Jakupovic, Djourou, Huggel, Cabanas, Grichting, Gygax, Spycher, Degen.

Coach: Jakob Kuhn.

Czech Republic: Cech, Grygera, Polak, Galasek, Jankulovski, Sionko (Vlcek 83), Koller (Sverkos 56), Jarolim (Kovac 87), Plasil, Ujfalusi, Rozehnal.

Substitutes not used: Blazek, Zitka, Fenin, , Kadlec, Baros, Matejovsky, Sivok, Skacel.

Coach: Karel Bruckner.

Labels: Euro 2008, Football

Euro 2008 Fixtures



Jun 07, 17:00 Switzerland v Czech Republic Switzerland v Czech Republic in the Group A
Jun 07, 19:45 Portugal v Turkey Portugal v Turkey in the Group A
Jun 08, 17:00 Austria v Croatia Austria v Croatia in the Group B
Jun 08, 19:45 Germany v Poland Germany v Poland in the Group B
Jun 09, 17:00 Romania v France Romania v France in the Group C
Jun 09, 19:45 Holland v Italy Holland v Italy in the Group C
Jun 10, 17:00 Spain v Russia Spain v Russia in the Group D
Jun 10, 19:45 Greece v Sweden Greece v Sweden in the Group D
Jun 11, 17:00 Czech Republic v Portugal Czech Republic v Portugal in the Group A
Jun 11, 19:45 Switzerland v Turkey Switzerland v Turkey in the Group A
Jun 12, 17:00 Croatia v Germany Croatia v Germany in the Group B
Jun 12, 19:45 Austria v Poland Austria v Poland in the Group B
Jun 13, 17:00 Italy v Romania Italy v Romania in the Group C
Jun 13, 19:45 Holland v France Holland v France in the Group C
Jun 14, 17:00 Sweden v Spain Sweden v Spain in the Group D
Jun 14, 19:45 Greece v Russia Greece v Russia in the Group D
Jun 15, 19:45 Switzerland v Portugal Switzerland v Portugal in the Group A
Jun 15, 19:45 Turkey v Czech Republic Turkey v Czech Republic in the Group A
Jun 16, 19:45 Poland v Croatia Poland v Croatia in the Group B
Jun 16, 19:45 Austria v Germany Austria v Germany in the Group B
Jun 17, 19:45 France v Italy France v Italy in the Group C
Jun 17, 19:45 Holland v Romania Holland v Romania in the Group C
Jun 18, 19:45 Greece v Spain Greece v Spain in the Group D
Jun 18, 19:45 Russia v Sweden Russia v Sweden in the Group D

Labels: Euro 2008, Football