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Nasri earns a draw for France
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Shevchenko wins it for Ukraine
Portuguese in must-win game with Danes
France plays down Nasri incident
Boyle unveils set for opening ceremony
Czechs bounce back with a win Manjit quits to avoid dope test
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Germans look to squash oranje
Gdansk, June 12 Bert van Marwijk's team now have to beat both Germany at Kharkiv's Metalist Stadium, then Portugal on Sunday to be sure of qualifying from the pool, which has been dubbed 'The Group of Death'. "We have to win (the remaining two games). We have no other choice," said Dutch captain Mark van Bommel. After wasting a string of chances against Denmark, the mis-firing Dutch have vowed to put that right in what promises to be a heated contest with daytime temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) forecast in Kharkiv.
However, all does not appear to be well in the Dutch camp with reports that several players including last season's Bundesliga leading scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart are in dispute with coach Bert van Marwijk. Huntelaar has already expressed his anger at Robin van Persie being selected ahead of him for the Denmark match and pointedly he was the only player who did not face the domestic press on Monday. — AFP
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Donetsk, June 12
The Three Lions never really looked like restoring their advantage thereafter, instead relying on the obdurate defensive traits that have been so evident in Roy Hodgson's previous two friendlies in charge.
As France are expected to advance, the new manager might well be pleased with the outcome on a sweltering night. There are obvious deficiencies though and it is going to take far longer than the six weeks Hodgson has had to prepare for this competition to drill home the importance of keeping hold of the ball. So much has changed in the two years since South Africa, yet by half-time there was an uncomfortable sense the fundamentals remained the same. Five of Hodgson's first competitive starting line-up were on duty for the World Cup opener in Rustenburg, when England blitzed the United States, got their noses in front and then needlessly tossed away the advantage. Steven Gerrard scored that night. This time he was the provider, curling over a superb free-kick from the touchline, where James Milner had been nudged over by Patrice Evra. Lescott would not have been playing if Gary Cahill's tournament had not been ended by a broken jaw before it had begun. The Manchester City man is a threat in these situations though and got away from Alou Diarra at the far post to beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from point-blank range. It could quite easily have been doubling the advantage as not long before, Milner had raced onto Ashley Young's through-ball and skipped round Lloris. Alas, Milner rolled the ball wide. These were brief moments in the ascendancy for England though. Having already recorded the pre-match temperature at 31 degrees, UEFA came up with another startling statistic at half-time, namely France had completed 299 passes to England's 171. —
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Shevchenko wins it for Ukraine
Kiev, June 12
The 35-year-old Ukraine captain took his tally to 48 in 108 international appearances with two superb headers within seven minutes — his opposite number Zlatan Ibrahimovic's neat 52nd minute finish had give the Swedes the lead. The victory sees Ukraine — who are co-hosting the tournament with Poland — top the table after the other group match between France and England ended 1-1. There had been little indication of the fairytale on the evidence of the first-half as Shevchenko looked way off the pace and when he was found free on the right of the box the 35-year-old scuffed his shot and the ball went past the far post. The Ukrainians carved out the best chances with another veteran Andrei Voronin forcing Andreas Isaksson to punch to safety from long range while one of the younger generation, Andrei Yarmolenko, was also denied by the Swedish 'keeper at closer range. However, the Swedes should have broken the deadlock in the 40th minute but their captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw his free header just go the wrong side of the far post. — Reuters
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Portuguese in must-win game with Danes
Lviv, June 12 But with the Danes, champions in 1992, having stunned the Dutch, Paulo Bento's team know that while a draw would at least give them an outside chance of reaching the last eight, nothing short of victory is required with the Dutch still to play. Portugal, though, face an uphill battle, with the Danes on the up and having beaten the Selecao 2-1 in the final tournament qualifier in Copenhagen last October, making it three wins from five against the Portuguese, and forcing them to play-off. Pivotal to them getting something out of the game will be for their captain and one world class player Cristiano Ronaldo to get more involved than he was after yet another disappointing performance for him at this level against the Germans. In his defence, the 26-year-old Real Madrid superstar does not have the same quality of playing talent supporting him as he had when he first made an impression as a player in the 2004 tournament. Indeed, one of those players of the so-called "golden generation" of Portuguese players, Luis Figo, sprang to his defence on Sunday and called on Ronaldo's team-mates to give him the opportunity to display his considerable talents. "I think the team need to give him the chances to have a good performance," said the 39-year-old. — AFP
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France plays down Nasri incident
Kiev, June 12 Nasri muttered “shut up” while looking towards the benches and the press stands in Donetsk. "Let's be clear. We need to judge him on sporting grounds," Le Graet told French radio RTL on Tuesday. — Reuters |
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Boyle unveils set for opening ceremony
London, June 12 The Olympic set will include grass and fields, sheep, cows and horses, a cricket match, picnicking families and a hill modeled on Glastonbury Tor, a landmark in southwest England. Below the hill spectators will fill a mosh pit, evoking the raucous Glastonbury rock festival and other rural music events that are a major summer motif in Britain. At the other end of the stadium is a more genteel standing-room-only area — one wag dubbed it the "posh pit" — that is meant to evoke the annual classical music fixture the Last Night of the Proms. — AFP |
Wroclaw, June 12 A desperate Greek side fought their way back into the match at the start of the second half when Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech let an innocuous-looking ball slip through his hands to the feet of substitute Fanis Gekas who swept the ball into an empty net. The Greeks continued to surge forward looking for the equaliser but could not recover from a terrible start. The first goal came when Tomas Hubschman split the defence with a through ball to Petr Jiracek on the edge of the penalty area and he confidently rifled his shot into the net against a Greek team sorely missing their first-choice central defenders. The Czechs, who lost their opening match against Russia 4-1, kept pressing and notched the second when defender Theodor Gebre Selassie's cross was bundled in from close range by a falling Vaclav Pilar. The Greeks were unlucky not get a goal late in the first half after Giorgos Fotakis's header into the net was ruled out for offside.
But the defensive problems for Greece mounted when starting goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias limped off midway through the opening period and was replaced by Michalis Sifakis. The Greeks could not overcome the loss of the two defenders who had anchored a usually stingy defence. — Reuters
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Manjit quits to avoid dope test
Patiala, June 12 She had been summoned by the NADA’s Disciplinary Panel, which on Monday exonerated her of the charge of avoiding testing after just one personal hearing. Sources confirmed to the Tribune that the panel took this decision after Manjit showed them a letter she’d written to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) conveying her decision to quit athletics. The three-member NADA panel, headed by retired Justice Dinesh Dayal, took the view that after the athlete did not want to continue with the sport, she was under no obligation to be tested for doping. The decision of the panel does raise a surprise, as on one occasion she was part of the Indian core group when she evaded testing. NADA had served a notice on the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist to present herself for a hearing or face a ban. NADA was forced to take this step after a year’s wait as Manjit absented herself from dope testing on more than three occasions in the past one year. Manjit was part of the quartet that won the 4x400 metre relay event at the CWG Games in Delhi and was present in Bangalore when two of her teammates were tested and later banned for testing positive. Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose and Ashwini Akkunji were found guilty of doping in 2011 and are serving their one-year ban. Manjit was part of the national team and was taking the same food substances that were being taken by the suspended athletes. Manjit is currently being trained to be a Punjab Police DSP at Phillaur. She had joined Punjab Police on the basis of her performances in athletics. “I am relieved as I had already made up my mind to discontinue athletics and concentrate on my job,” Manjit told The Tribune. “I have been informed that whenever I want to start professionally again, I will have to inform NADA, six months in advance.” Last month NADA director general Rahul Bhatnagar had said that the athlete was charged under article 2.3 of the World Anti Doping Agency code.
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Free Kicks
WARSAW: Two Croatians were fined $580 each for taking part in a fight in the old town square in Poznan before Croatian supporters clashed with riot police at Euro 2012 on Sunday, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. A Poznan court also finGroup C match against Ireland. The pair were banneded two other Croatians for running on to the pitch and kissing coach Slaven Bilic during the from matches at the Poznan City Stadium for the next three years. Three Croatians were arrested on Sunday after intoxicated rioted in the centre of Poznan. — Reuters
We must beat England: Kallstrom
Busquets raises his ‘pitch’
GNIEWINO: Spain's Sergio Busquets showed a rare flash of irritation on Tuesday that suggested the world and European champions may be feeling the pressure after Sunday's 1-1 Euro 2012 draw with Italy. When a reporter implied Spain's complaints about the slow pitch in Gdansk were designed to draw attention away from a disappointing performance, the normally serene midfielder used an example from basketball to illustrate his response. "Do you understand or not?," he asked tersely. "It's not an excuse." —
Reuters France plays down Nasri incident Kiev, June 12 |
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Holland take on Germany in tomorrow's Group B key clash with the World Cup finalists knowing another defeat could threaten an early exit from Euro 2012 following their shock loss to Denmark. In one of the key matches of the group stages, the Dutch have to pick themselves up from Saturday's 1-0 defeat to the Danes as Michael Krohn-Dehli's first-half strike decided a match the Dutch had largely dominated.
England's opening game in Group D ended in a 1-1 draw against France as Samir Nasri cancelled out Joleon Lescott's opener.
Portugal have yet to win this year but tomorrow's game against Denmark in
Lviv, Ukraine, would be an ideal time to end that run, as they take on the side that beat them to top spot in qualifying.
The Portuguese — finalists in 2004 when they hosted the tournament — opened their Euro 2012 campaign with a far from dishonourable 1-0 defeat to the hands of one of the favourites for the title, Germany.
KIEV: Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom believes defeat by Ukraine in their Euro 2012 Group D opener means their only hope of progressing hinges on beating England on Friday. “That is really our only chance of going further, I believe,” he told a news conference on Tuesday. “We haven't got a lot left to lose anymore. Our joker is already gone. If you want to progress it's about winning matches. It's about stepping up now and hoping that we're more effective in front of goal. Then it can go well.” — Reuters
