Thread: Euro 2012 @ Desirulez

England 1 France 1: Hodgson's men off the mark as Three Lions share draw with Group D heavyweights in opening match



With a distinct flavour of Eastlands brought to this corner of Eastern Europe, England began their campaign in a manner that certainly removed any need for a suicide pill.
There is no need to panic. No need for Roy Hodgson to take drastic action ahead of the matches that follow against Sweden and Ukraine.
This was always going to be a tough start for England and there is much they can be content with even if Hodgson knows there remains room for improvement.



By the end of a first half somehow dominated by Manchester City players, England would have had one or two regrets but they were not the kind their new manager will dwell on.
Before Joleon Lescott's opening goal James Milner had squandered a wonderful opportunity and, after making one superb save, Joe Hart might have cursed the fact that Samir Nasri beat him at his near post to equalise.
In fairness to Hart, it looked like he may not have seen his club colleague's shot from just outside the area.
Nasri had Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard closing him down and his stinging shot suddenly appeared through a sea of bodies. Shaping to go one way, Hart threw himself in the opposite direction but a fraction too late. Not that Hodgson was unhappy.
He spoke of being 'pleased' and rightly so given what he agreed were punishing conditions for two teams more concerned with avoiding defeat than securing victory

Against a backdrop of festering hatred and violent clashes in the streets around Warsaw’s National Stadium, bitter rivals Poland and Russia fought out an entertaining draw that showed Euro 2012 in a considerably better light.
It means Russia are favourites to qualify for the quarter-finals as Group A winners when they meet Greece in their final game. But at least co-hosts Poland know that victory against the Czech Republic will see them go through without the need for a favour from their sworn enemy.



Captain Jakub Blaszczykowski’s stunning second-half equaliser certainly meant everything to Poland, who suffered a disappointing draw against Greece in this stadium on Friday.
They are well aware of his story — the boy who was raised by his grandma after seeing his father knife his mother to death when he was 10 years old — and there could not have been a more popular scorer when his moment arrived.
Ludovic Obraniak slipped the ball down the right and Blaszczykowski’s first touch took him inside his marker before he despatched an unstoppable shot past Vyacheslav Malafeev, to the delight of the Polish fans.
Russia had taken the lead eight minutes before half-time when Alan Dzagoev, who scored twice in their opening win against the Czechs, underlined his growing reputation by becoming the tournament’s leading marksman.
Marcin Wasilewski gave away a free-kick on the left and Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin floated a cross to the edge of the six-yard box.
Dzagoev ran into the area to send the ball spinning off his right shoulder and into the net.

Early goals from Petr Jiracek and Vaclav Pilar saw the Czech Republic revive their Euro 2012 campaign with victory over Group A rivals Greece in Wroclaw.
The Czechs were 2-0 to the good inside just six minutes as midfielders Jiracek and Pilar made the most of some generous Greek defending.
Substitute Fanis Gekas pulled a goal back after a terrible error by Petr Cech, but Fernando Santos' side lacked the guile to carve out an equaliser.




The Czechs' opening 4-1 loss to Russia left them knowing another defeat would end their hopes of reaching the last eight. but they could hardly have wished for a better opening.
Jiracek put them ahead in the third minute as he ran on to Tomas Hubschman's pass to fire home, despite Greek keeper Kostas Chalkias getting a hand to his left-footed shot.
Chalkias was then at fault for the second goal as he failed to cut out Theodor Gebre Selassie's low cross to allow Pilar to tap in his second goal of the tournament.
The lively Pilar came close to adding a third as he played a neat one-two on the edge of the area before firing just wide of the left-hand post.
Georgios Samaras had Greece's first sight of goal but the Celtic striker made a mess of meeting Vassilis Torosidis' cross.
Chalkias' miserable day continued as he was forced off after just 21 minutes, having pulled up after playing a pass out to his defenders, with Michalis Sifakis coming on to replace him.

Over 100 people have now been arrested in serious disturbances prior to the start of the Euro 2012 clash between Poland and Russia in Warsaw tonight, police in the city have confirmed.
In a statement, the force also confirmed 10 people have been injured - seven Polish, two Russians and one German - but cited medical agencies in claiming none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

Substitute Silvestre Varela kept alive Portugal's hopes of qualifying from Group B with a late strike to spare the blushes of some of his more illustrious team-mates in Lviv.
The Porto forward smashed home the winner having come on just four minutes earlier after Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo had missed two straightforward opportunities to put the result beyond Denmark.



Portugal's chances had looked increasingly remote with just three minutes remaining after they squandered a two-goal lead.
Goals from Pepe and Helder Postiga had Paulo Bento's side coasting but Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner appeared to have secured a point as he continued his remarkable scoring spree against the Portuguese with both of his country's efforts to take his tally to six in five matches against their European rivals.
The win gave Portugal their first points of the tournament and ensured they go to the last match still in with a chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
Having wrestled the early initiative from Denmark, who lost Niki Zimling to an early calf injury, Ronaldo failed to test goalkeeper Stephan Anderson with a free-kick from wide on the left but their next two set-pieces were more productive.
Miguel Veloso's long-range free-kick saw Postiga's shot deflected wide but from the resulting 24th-minute corner Portugal took the lead.
Nani's inswinging cross picked out the run of the unmarked Pepe and the Real Madrid defender's glancing header beat Anderson at his near post.

Mario Gomez's superb first-half double put Germany on the verge of the UEFA Euro 2012 knockout stages while Holland's hopes of reaching the last eight now hang by a thread.
Gomez, who had scored the winner in Germany's opening win over Portugal, opened the scoring in the 24th minute and added his second in the 38th before Robin van Persie reduced the deficit 17 minutes from time.
The result means Germany need just a point from their final Group B game against Denmark to guarantee progression, while Holland need to beat Portugal and hope for both a Germany win and a swing in goal difference.














Bert van Marwijk's men had shaded the opening exchanges, with Van Persie shooting straight at Manuel Neuer as he sought to atone for a series of missed chances in the Dutch defeat to Denmark.
Mesut Ozil responded for Germany with a ninth minute volley which struck the base of Maarten Stekelenburg's left-hand post before the ball was gathered by the grateful Dutch keeper.
Arsenal ace Van Persie was looking lively but still lacking killer instinct, and another opportunity went begging when Ibrahim Afellay's cross towards the striker was crucially intercepted by Mats Hummels.
Gomez put Germany ahead in the 24th minute with an excellent finish after Bastian Schweinsteiger's through-ball cut the Dutch defence in two. Gomez turned and fired the opener low to Stekelenburg's right.
Arjen Robben slammed a long-range effort straight at Neuer as Dutch frustration began to tell, although they were secure in the knowledge they could not face elimination due to Portugal's earlier win over Denmark.
It was just as well, as the Germans continued to exploit glaring weaknesses in the Dutch defence, particularly down the right flank, and Holger Badstuber should have made it 2-0 in the 37th minute when he headed straight at Stekelenburg from point-blank range.
But one minute later Germany did have their second from another move originating on the right, Schweinsteiger playing in Gomez who looked up and slammed an unstoppable shot across the keeper from a tight angle.

....update plzzzz....

Petr Jiracek's second-half goal ensured the Czech Republic squeaked into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 as co-hosts Poland suffered an early exit.
Outplayed for the majority of the first half, the Czechs were seemingly stung into action after Greece took a half-time lead against Russia in the other Group A game in Warsaw.
That result left Michal Bilek's men needing all three points to reach the last eight and after dominating the tempo after the interval, Jiracek's calm finish ensured they topped the group, with Russia and Poland the eliminated teams.



Poland knew nothing less than a win would see them reach the knockout stages at the expense of the Czech Republic, who also needed three points to guarantee their qualification for the last eight.
Similar to their previous two matches, Poland were understandably backed by boisterous home support and they nearly gave them something to shout about early on but Dariusz Dudka's overhead kick hit the side netting.
Yet they should have been behind soon after and were grateful for Vaclav Pilar completely fluffing his lines in front of goal after Theodor Gebre Selassie had picked him out with a low ball into the area.
The frenetic start continued, with Poland midfielder Ludovic Obraniak's free-kick from a narrow angle hitting the side netting once more while Robert Lewandowski should have done better after slicing horribly wide with a decent sight at goal.
It seemed only a matter of time that the Czech Republic defence would be breached and goalkeeper Petr Cech had to be at his best to push away Sebastian Boenisch's dipping 30-yard effort.

Giorgos Karagounis and Greece rekindled the spirit of 2004 tonight as they sealed an improbable European Championship quarter-final spot and dumped Russia out of the tournament.
The shock champions of eight years ago turned Group A upside down in a remarkable final round of fixtures in Poland this evening.
Karagounis' winner - on the night he equalled a national record by earning his 120th cap - came completely against the run of play on the stroke of half-time at Warsaw's National Stadium.




But no-one could argue Greece did not deserve their victory at the final whistle, with 2004 hero Karagounis denied a blatant penalty - and picking up a booking that ruled him out of the next match.
Russia, who had thrashed Czech Republic 4-1 in their opening game, barely tested goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis and were made to pay as the Czechs beat Poland in Wroclaw to steal top spot.
**** Advocaat's men went into tonight's game in the dangerous position of knowing they needed only a draw to reach the quarter-finals, with even a defeat not necessarily fatal.
It was win or bust for their opponents, who got off to the fast start they failed to produce in their previous games by winning a succession of early corners.
Vyacheslav Malafeev made an acrobatic save from one of them when Kostas Katsouranis hooked Karagounis' sixth-minute delivery within reach of the goalkeeper - although it was going wide anyway.
Vassilis Torossidis also had a shot blocked before Russia's technical superiority began to show, Andrey Arshavin poking Alan Dzagoev's 10th-minute cross straight at Sifakis and Aleksandr Kerzhakov inches wide with a superb 20-yard half-volley.

Hello Cristiano Ronaldo, goodbye Holland: the Ego has landed at Euro 2012 and out crash ‘Egoland’.
It is unlikely to provide Bert van Marwijk with any comfort but he was probably right all along and his attempt to cram so many creative forces into one team merely produced an invitation Ronaldo was unable to resist.
Five days after misfiring against Denmark in Lviv, Portugal’s captain ran amok against a Dutch side who seemed neither to know nor care about how they might contain him.
Ronaldo scored a goal in each half and hit the post twice as Portugal came from behind to clinch a quarter-final clash against the Czech Republic in Warsaw.



Holland leave for home without a point and seemingly undone by their old tendency to self-destruct.
Van Marwijk may have found a way to harmonise factions in the camp in South Africa, where they reached the World Cup final, but they lurched out of control here.
After losing their opener to Denmark last week, one Dutch newspaper produced the headline: ‘Legoland 1 Egoland 0’. And here, aware nothing less than a two-goal win would be enough, Van Marwijk bowed to popular demand and risked a row with his daughter on Father’s Day by dropping her husband, Mark van Bommel.
Into midfield came Rafael van der Vaart, winning his 99th cap and starting for the first time in the finals. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar led the line, which meant Robin van Persie dropped deeper and Wesley Sneijder shifted on to the left.
With two attacking full backs, it was a high-risk strategy against a Portugal team designed to counter-attack but it started well when Van der Vaart struck after 11 minutes.
Arjen Robben’s pace yanked Portugal’s back-line out of shape and created a pocket of space for Van der Vaart to collect a pass, open his body and curl a left-footer into the far corner from 20 yards.