Kharkiv, June 14
Germany are on the verge of the Euro 2012 quarter-finals following their 2-1 win over Holland as Mario Gomez scored twice, while the Dutch are heading for a first-round exit. World Cup finalists Holland will bow out on Sunday unless they beat Portugal in their final game here at the Metalist Stadium and hope Germany defeat Denmark the same day in Lviv to give them a chance of reaching the last eight.

After Portugal earlier beat Denmark 3-2 in Group B, Germany now need only a point against the Danes in Lviv the same day to be sure of reaching the last eight at Euro 2012 as group winners. Having scored the winning header in Germany's opening 1-0 victory over Portugal, Germany's Gomez is now the tournament's early joint top-scorer with three goals after Bastian Schweinsteiger set up both his first-half strikes.

Holland earned a late lifeline when Arsenal striker Robin van Persie pulled a goal back 15 minutes from time yesterday, but it was not enough to prevent their second Euro 2012 defeat after Saturday's shock 1-0 defeat to Denmark. "It was very tight right up until the end and was nerve-wracking for us," admitted goal-scorer Gomez.

"We have to remain realistic, we have taken six points against two top-class teams, but we want more. I'm very happy to have scored two goals to help the team, it is important that the right playars and the coach are behind me. There is still a long way to the final." Scorching temperatures in eastern Ukraine meant the game kicked off with the thermometer showing 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit).

Both matches Live on Neo

Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen was the only change to the team beaten by Denmark here again in Kharkiv, while the Germans kept the same team which beat Portugal.

A great chance fell to Van Persie after five minutes as a ball over the top got behind the German defence, but the striker could only fire his shot into Neuer's grateful arms. Germany replied as Mesut Ozil hit the post from the edge of the penalty area on eight minutes, but the Dutch went back on the attack soon after as Van Persie fired wide this time.

The Germans took the lead thanks to a clever through-ball from Schweinsteiger which beat the Dutch off-side trap and fell to the feet of Gomez, who powered onto the pass and rifled home on 24 minutes. The pair combined again on 38 minutes when Schweinsteiger's pass freed Gomez on the right and he fired past Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg on 38 minutes to make it 2-0 to the Germans at the break.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk shook up his attack after the break by bringing on Tottenham Hotspur's Rafael van der Vaart for captain Mark van Bommel and Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for Barcelona's Ibrahim Afellay. — AFP

Poznan, June 14
Italy were left to rue a string of missed opportunities in the first half as Croatia fought back for a 1-1 draw in Poznan.

Andrea Pirlo eventually put the Italians in front six minutes before the break with a wonderfully curled free-kick in the 40th minute. But Croatia improved after the break and their adventure produced a deserved leveller as Mario Mandzukic scored his third goal of the tournament.

Mandzukic, who has had just four shots on goal at Euro 2012, has scored with three of them now.

Italy now must beat Ireland in the final group game to stand any chance of advancing into the quarter-finals. — Agencies

Krakow, June 14
England are determined to end their decades-long jinx against Sweden today in a Group D encounter which has assumed must-win status for both sides. Sweden's opening 2-1 defeat to Ukraine on Monday means that Erik Hamren's team will be eliminated if they lose to England, who have never beaten the Scandinavians in a competitive fixture.

Ukraine's win has complicated matters for England, however, who must beat Sweden in Kiev if they are to avoid the possible daunting scenario of having to beat the co-hosts in their final group game next week to advance.

"We are in a position where we can't lose any more games and hopefully we can win both," Sweden defender Jonas Olsson said. "We will focus on Friday first, try to get a good result there. It will be nicer to win both games and not be depending on other results. Sweden have endured a period of soul-searching following their loss to the Ukrainians, with coach Erik Hamren warning his team would face an early flight home. — AFP

Donetsk, June 14
The sensation of the first Euro 2012 matchday, Ukraine icon Andrei Shevchenko will now seek to guide his country into the quarter-finals with victory over France tomorrow. The 35-year-old Dynamo Kiev striker rolled back the years to give the co-hosts a 2-1 win over Sweden on Monday, his headed second-half brace sending a wave of jubilation sweeping across the co-host nation.

As well as taking his international goal tally to 48, Shevchenko's match-winning intervention at Dynamo's Olympic Stadium also gave Ukraine control of Group D, as France and England drew their opening encounter 1-1. The quarter-finals are therefore already within sight - Ukraine will reach the last eight if they beat France in Donetsk, regardless of the result between England and Sweden in Kiev.

However, having doggedly battled knee and back problems in order to prove his fitness for his swansong international tournament, the former AC Milan and Chelsea striker does not want to look too far ahead. — AFP

Mandi, June 14
A sporting contest truly comes alive for the watcher when two well-matched teams compete, and this is exactly what happened here today at the Paddal ground when Punjab Police faced Gorkha Brigade here in the ongoing Hot-Weather Football Tournament. In their first league encounter, Punjab Police came back from a goal down to register a 2-1 victory in an exciting game of football.

Throughout the first half, the two teams did not display much creativity, both, clearing from the back and holding the ball in the front. In the 17th minute, the Gorkha team tasted success when the left-winger lobbed the ball into the penalty area and Parkash Sarvir smartly headed it into the target.

The goal worked like a wake-up call for Punjab Police and their half-backs started holding the ball passing it around, finally getting their strikers in the game. But having gone into the lead, the Gorkhas packed their mid-field after shifting to a 4-5-1 formation. Their defenders started laying offside traps for the Punjab strikers, who faced great difficulties in trying to dodge them. Thus the Gorkhas managed to cling to the lead at the end of the first half.

After the break, Punjab Police restarted their struggle to find the equaliser, dominating the first 15 minutes of the second half. They equalised the score when the Gorkhas’ goalkeeper, Biru, made a blunder and gifted away a throw to Punjab striker Rohit, with the goal wide open. Rohit made no mistake in netting the ball to take the score to 1-1 in the sixth minute of the second half.

Charged up by the goal, the Punjab team started building attacks and penetrating the rivals’ defence more frequently. They got a chance to go ahead when Rohit brilliantly trapped a pass from Gurpreet but missed a goal by a whisker when he hit the pole. Within a span of 10 minutes, Rohit got three similar chances to score from the right flank, but he missed each time.

However, with the beating the rival defenders at regular intervals, a goal was imminent. And in the 84th minute they scored the winner through Pawandeep Singh, a former Chandigarh player, who directed the ball into the goal with a brilliant header.

In the second match of the day, Bengal Engineering Group (Roorkee) and Tamil Nadu Police played out a 1-1 draw. Shiva scored for the Tamil Nadu team in the 17th minute. After striking the goal-post thrice, the Roorkee team managed to level the score through Jagdish Singh in the 76th minute.