Viva Espana (Again)

Spain line-up: Casillas (c), Ramos, Pique, Alba, Arbeloa, Xavi, Silva (Pedro, 59'), Alonso, Fabregas (Torres, 75'), Iniesta (Mata, 86'), Busquets
Italy line-up: Buffon (c), Chiellini (Balzaretti, 21'), Barzagli, Abate, Bonucci, Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo (Motta, 57), De Rossi, Cassano (Di Natale, 45'), Balotelli 

Spain once again create history as not only do they become the first European side in history to win three major tournaments on the bounce, they also set the record for the highest winning scoreline in a European Championships. Italy's togetherness ultimately couldn't cope with Spain's overwhelming strategy and it didn't help when substitute Thiago Motta was stretchered off just after the hour mark, with Italy already having made all three substitutions.

Spain began the night quashing the thoughts that they are just a passing nation and they play boring football by developing a shoot on site policy. Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva all had early shots from outside the box that were blocked by the stern Italian defence.

The game had a different look about it compared to the 1-1 draw in the opening game of the group stage. Spain were more attacking and Italy didn't look to have as much of a goal threat despite having the tools required.

Italy's defensive resistance was broken after just 14-minutes when Spain's orchestrator, Iniesta, slipped a ball into Cesc Fabregas down the side of the box. Fabregas then lofted a ball across the goal for David Silva to head into the unguarded net.

Italy's attacking threat always came from set pieces. Their whipped corners and floated free-kicks were all dangerous but Iker Casillas was able to get fingertips to all of them, preventing the strikers from getting a head to it and equalising.

Giorgio Chiellini's final got even worse when he picked up an injury after 21-minutes and had to be replaced by the more attacking Federico Balzaretti. The change did actually seem more positive as Balzaretti provided some really teasing crosses that Casillas was again equal to.

Towards the end of the half, the dominance in possession meant that Italy needed to get into the dressing room only one goal adrift. This would have enable them to regroup and regain their attacking intent. But this wasn't to be as Spain found a way in behind the defence courtesy of another magnificent ball from Iniesta. He played his new teammate, Jordi Alba, through on goal and the new Barcelona signing slotted past Gianluigi Buffon four minutes before the half-time whistle.

Italy made a positive change at half-time, bringing Antonio Di Natale on for Antonio Cassano. But neither he nor the instrumental Mario Balotelli could ever really get in the game. That's not to say Italy didn't create chances to get themselves back in the contest.

Di Natale did get a chance right at the start of the half, but his header went over the bar. The Udinese had an even better chance just six minutes into the half when Riccardo Montolivo played him in in the box, but his shot was fired straight at Casillas who managed to smuggle to second attempt away.

Italy's third and final change saw Motta come on for Montolivo on 57-minutes. But Motta's final only lasted five minutes when he pulled his hamstring. He had to be stretchered off and go straight down the tunnel, leaving Italy with only ten men for the duration of the second half.

From there, Spain began to, once again, control the game and it almost became a question of when Spain wanted to score their third goal. It came six minutes from the end when substitute Fernando Torres gave himself the Golden Boot, despite levelling with Mario Mandzukic, Mario Gomez, Mario Balotelli and Alan Dzagoev. Once again, Spain cut Italy open with Torres now through on goal and the Chelsea striker, with Roman Abramovich in attendance, slotted coolly into the corner.

Juan Mata got his first run out of Euro 2012 and within two minutes, he marked the occasion with Spain's record breaking fourth. This time Torres became provider, the Golden Boot clincher, he was once again played in on goal, this time he slipped the ball across to his Chelsea teammate to just roll it into the net.

Italy weren't embarrassed by any means, but they ultimately went one step too far despite easily putting their 2010 World Cup shame behind them. It was fitting that the previous two World Cup winners should contest this year's final and the question remains, who can topple Spain?

Mario Bracetelli

Germany line-up: Neuer, Lahm (c), Hummels, Badstuber, Boateng (Muller, 71'), Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Khedira, Podolski (Reus, 45'), Gomez (Klose, 45'), Ozil
Italy line-up: Buffon (c), Chiellini, Balzaretti, Barzagli, Bonucci, Pirlo, De Rossi, Marchisio, Montolivo (Motta, 64'), Cassano (Diamanti, 58'), Balotelli (Di Natale, 69') 

A brace from Mario Balotelli was enough to set up a final date against Spain. Italy took more chances than they did against England and it was enough to survive a late scare against a surprisingly inefficient German side.

Italy's long ball technique looked to bamboozle to the German centre-back pairing, meaning that Balotelli was always an outlet. At the other end, Gianluigi Buffon surprisingly looked nervy and this showed within the first five minutes when he failed to collect a corner. Mats Hummels belatedly swung a leg at it and the effort was cleared off the line by Andrea Pirlo.

Toni Kroos' first appearance of the tournament almost brought a goal, but his 13th minute effort was neatly saved by Italy's captain. Italy responded with Riccardo Montolivo firing a long shot that bounced just in front of Manuel Neuer and Antonio Cassano also tested the Munich keeper.

Italy then broke the deadlock on 20-minutes when Pirlo played Cassano down the wing. Cassano then sent in a superb cross which was headed home by Balotelli. Germany couldn't find a response and any chances they did create failed to find the target.

That was until Sami Khedira sent a curling shot that Buffon prevented going into the top corner. But Italy countered and Balotelli was found in acres of space in the German half. He made his way into the box before smashing the ball past Neuer.

Germany were shell shocked following the second goal and needed to change if they were going to get back into the game. Joachim Low decided to bring Thomas Muller and Marco Reus in place of Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez.

Reus instantly showed spark, but his early efforts were easily stopped by Buffon. Philipp Lahm then had a great chance to pull a goal back when he played a one-two with Bastian Schweinsteiger, but the German captain placed his effort over the bar.

Italy's defence was largely solid throughout the game, keeping the Germans out. Balotelli burst through on the hour mark, but his shot from an acute angle went inches wide. Germany's next chance once again came from the young Reus, whose free-kick was agonisingly tipped over the bar by Buffon.

Italy could have killed the game off once again when Alessandro Diamanti put Claudio Marchisio through on goal, but his effort went inches wide of Neuer's post. Diamanti also had a chance of making it 3-0 when he forced himself into the box, but any chances of a shot were thwarted when the Italian slipped over.

Germany ultimately ran out of ideas but were given a late late lifeline when Federico Balzaretti handled in the box in injury time. Mesut Ozil stepped up and coolly converted the penalty but there wasn't enough time for Germany to equalise. They had a chance in the last kick of the game when they received a free-kick on the half-way line. But instead of launching into the box, they played it short and the referee blew the whistle to put Italy into the final.

Iberia Separated By Penalties

Portugal line-up: Rui Patricio, Pepe, Pereira, Alves, Coentrao, Meireles, Veloso (Custodio, 105'), Moutinho, Almeida (Oliveira, 81'), Ronaldo (c), Nani
Spain line-up: Casillas (c), Ramos, Pique, Alba, Arbeloa, Xavi (Pedro, 87'), Busquets, Silva (Navas, 61'), Alonso, Iniesta, Negredo (Fabregas, 54')    

Spain become only the second nation to progress into three consecutive major tournament finals. With the tournament no having a 0-0 draw until Sunday, and now we've had two in two games. With two nations whose attacking force is much better than their defending, the anticipated skill-fest didn't quite happen and we were treated to two hours of extremely cagey football.

By the end, it was no surprise to see the game roll into the penalty shoot-out which would be the most exciting part of the semi-final. With no goals throughout the game, perhaps it was no surprise to see Xabi Alonso and Joao Moutinho's initial efforts saved by the keepers. We finally got the first goal of the contest when Andres Iniesta and Pepe made it 1-1.

Gerard Pique then stepped up for Spain and made it 2-1. There was slight drama as Bruno Alves looked to be taking the third penalty but Nani jogged up to send the defender back. Nani smashed his effort into the top corner before Sergio Ramos did an Andrea Pirlo to make it 3-2. This time it was Alves to step up but nerves got the better of him and he hit the crossbar. Cesc Fabregas converted Spain's fifth and final effort to go through without Cristiano Ronaldo taking a penalty.

Not for the first time this tournament, question marks were raised over Vicente Del Bosque's team selection. With Fernando Torres and Fernando Llorente in good form, the Spanish coach decided to start with Alvaro Negredo. Unsurprisingly, Negredo provided very little and was substituted just nine minutes into the second half, but not for either the Fernandos but for Fabregas.

The first half saw Spain get extremely rattled by the pressure Portugal were putting on them. Spain did have more of the possession but it was mainly in their own half and around the half-way line. Portugal looked the more menacing with Fabio Coentrao, Ronaldo and Nani providing crosses that required Iker Casillas to collect.

At the other end, Pepe was in ominous form, clearing everything that came his way. This included the un-Spain like tactic of lumping the ball long. The best chance for Spain came just before the half hour mark when Iniesta was found via the long ball, he tried a curler which looked have beaten Rui Patricio, but it landed just on the roof of the net.

Ronaldo had Portugal's best chances of the first half, but Casillas wasn't called into action for either of the efforts as the sailed high or wide. The second half had even fewer chances but Hugo Almeida was guilty of wasting two opportunities, he decided to shoot from 25-yards from a counter attack when Ronaldo and Nani were either side of the striker. He then decided to shoot from impossible angles which again relieved Spain of any pressure.

Ronaldo then had the best chance of the half in injury time when Portugal broke four on two. Raul Meireles found the Madrid man who was now seemingly through on goal, but the Portugal captain fired horrendously over the bar and the game headed into extra time.

Spain suddenly found their rhythm in the extra half hour and if anyone was going to win it in extra time, it was them. The best chance came just before half-time when Iniesta tried placing a shot from eight yards but it was fantastically saved by Patricio. The other chance before half-time saw Ramos curl a free-kick just over the bar. The second half didn't see many more chances and the game was destined for penalties which Spain squeezed through.

England's Achilles Strikes Again

England line-up: Hart, Cole, Lescott, Terry, Johnson, Milner (Walcott, 61'), Gerrard (c), Parker (Henderson, 95') Young, Welbeck (Carroll, 61'), Rooney
Italy line-up: Buffon (c), Abate (Maggio, 90'), Balzaretti, Barzagli, Bonucci, Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo, De Rossi (Nocerino, 80'), Cassano (Diamanti, 78'), Balotelli  

England lose on penalties once again to exit another major tournament. Italy were the better team throughout and justice was served when Ashley Young and Ashley Cole both missed their spot-kick to send the boys home. It looked like it was going to go England's way when Riccardo Montolivo sent the second penalty wide of the mark. Wayne Rooney made it 2-1 England before Young hit the crossbar after Andrea Pirlo chipped his effort in, making it 2-2. Cole's penalty was then saved by Gianluigi Buffon before former West Ham man, Alessandro Diamanti, scored the fifth and final penalty home.

They match started in an attacking fashion with Daniele De Rossi smashing a curling shot against the post after just four minutes. England responded by going up the other end with Glen Johnson unable to get the ball out of his feet to send a meaningful shot either side of Buffon.

After the initial twenty minutes, the game quietened down as Italy began to dominate possession. Their main attacking threat was a long ball tactic towards Mario Balotelli who broke the offside trap on numerous occasions. The first real chance for the Manchester City striker came four minutes before the half hour mark but his effort was smartly blocked by John Terry.

England's next chance came after 33-minutes when Danny Welbeck and Rooney linked up well before Welbeck placed a shot just over the bar. From there, the half remained with Italy firmly in control of possession but not doing enough to penetrate the defence or troubling Joe Hart's goal.

The second half looked a lot more tired than the first but Pirlo was on hand to continue to dictate the game. But Italy should have scored within three minutes of kick-off when De Rossi found himself four yards out, but he scuffed his effort hopelessly wide. The next real chance of the half came on the hour mark when Balotelli brought down a cross before sending a clever over-head kick just over the bar.

That was followed up by the largely uninfluential Young firing a shot that was just deflected wide for a corner which came to nothing. The only other chance England had in the half was an over-head kick from Rooney that also went agonisingly over the bar in injury time.

With the game into extra time, if there was going to be a goal it was only going to come from Italy as England unusually looked like they were playing for penalties. They came close just inside the second half of extra time when an Diamanti cross come shot just brushed off the post. They then though they had scored when  Nocerino headed a Christian Maggio cross home, but the flag was up instantly and replays showed it was an extremely close call, but the right one.

From there, the game fizzled out into penalties with England breathing a huge sigh of relief. But it was a breath to be regretted as their old nemesis struck for the eighth time to knock England out.

Xabi Sets Up Iberian Derby

Spain line-up: Casillas (c), Ramos, Pique, Alba, Arbeloa, Xavi, Silva (Pedro, 65'), Alonso, Fabregas (Torres, 67'), Iniesta (Cazorla, 84'), Busquets

France line-up: Lloris (c), Reveillere, Clichy, Rami, Koscielny, Debuchy (Menez, 64'), Malouda (Nasri, 65'), Ribery, Cabaye, M'Vila (Giroud, 79'), Benzema   

A Xabi Alonso brace in his 100th appearance puts Spain through to face Portugal in the semi-finals. It may have arguably been the poorest quarter final so far but the defending champions did enough to see off a lacklustre French resistance. Eyebrows were once again raised when Vincent Del Bosque set up his starting eleven without an out in out striker. 

Just like against Italy, Spain were dominant in possession but France potentially carried the bigger attacking threat. Spain had an early penalty shout on six minutes when Cesc Fabregas fell under the challenge of a chasing Gael Clichy. The referee waved play on, to the disgust of Fabregas, it was one of those challenges that have been given but it would have been very soft.

The first real shot in anger came two minutes later when Alonso spotted Hugo Lloris off his line. The Madrid play maker tried an effort from near the halfway that was on target but easily caught by the French goalkeeper. 

The stranglehold finally paid off on 19-minutes when Jordi Alba tried a run down the wing. He managed to break free from two challenges as he entered the box. Alba then whipped a cross in that was met by Alonso and powerfully dispatched.

France's best chances came from set pieces as their ball retention wasn't fantastic. Yohan Cabaye's curling free-kick was smartly tipped over the bar by Iker Casillas, their best first half effort. Most of France's possession was in the middle of the park when it needed to be higher up the pitch, especially in the second half.

The game then began to fizzle out as Spain looked happy enough to take the 1-0 victory. The result was then finalised in injury time when substitute Pedro went over easily from a clumsy challenge by Anthony Reveillere. Alonso stepped up and dispatched the penalty neatly into the bottom corner. Spain have only beaten Portugal once in the last thirty years, but it was on the way to the trophy four years ago.

Not Even Klose

Germany line-up: Neuer, Lahm (c), Hummels, Badstuber, Boateng, Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Reus (Gotze, 79'), Klose (Gomez, 79'), Schurrle (Muller, 67'), Ozil
Greece line-up: Sifakis, Torosidis, Tzavelas (Fotakis, 45'), K.Papadopoulos, Papastathopoulos, Katsouranis, Maniatis, Makos (Liberopoulos, 71'), Salpingidis (c), Samaras, Ninis (Gekas, 45')

Germany put themselves into the final four in emphatic fashion, thrashing Greece 4-1. But it could well have been more as Germany's 'inexperienced' youngsters all performed in the same efficient fashion as we'd expect. Despite being completely overpowered, Greece made a few chances of their own but their lack of eagerness to flood the box meant most of the counter attacks went to waste.

The writing on the wall came after just four minutes, a shot by Sami Khedira was spilt by the underwhelming Michail Sifakis and slotted home by one of the new breed, Andre Schurrle, but was flagged offside. From there, the onslaught began and how Greece weren't a goal behind before they were is unbelievable.

The Greek defence played like their economy and were completely cut open by the creative Germans. The pick of the next generation was Marco Reus who missed the first of a hat full of chances. Reus and Ozil linked up well but the shot from the Madrid star was straight at Sifakis, Reus also had a further two chances wide of the mark.

All of that was within the first 25-minutes before Sotiris Ninis had Greece's first chance when they sprung their first counter-attack. It tested Manuel Neuer but it was always going wide. Khedira then had the latest chance to be stopped by Sifakis before the deadlock was finally broken. It came six minutes before half-time with captain Philipp Lahm smashed a long range effort that swerved past the flailing Sifakis. Schurrle almost made it 2-0 before half-time but his rasping effort hit the side netting.


But there was a shock in the second half when Greece levelled ten minutes into the second half. Temporary captain, Dimitris Salpingidis, played a beautiful low cross that was met Georgios Samaras to stun the European spectators.


Parity only lasted for six minutes though. Jerome Boateng sent in a cross that Khedira exquisitely volleyed home to put Germany firmly back in charge. Seven minutes later and it was 3-1; Miroslav Klose put himself just four goals away from Gerd Muller's all-time record. The veteran striker headed home an Ozil free-kick to well and truly Greece's campaign.


The cherry on top of the cake came for Marco Reus. His fantastic performance was rounded off when Klose's shot was once again parried by Sifakis. The Dortmund youngster then rifled the follow up home to make it 4-1. 


Greece did get a final hoorah to end the match; they were awarded a penalty when Boateng was judged to have handled a cross despite having his back to it. Salpingidis stepped up and atoned for his miss against Poland by slotting it into the bottom corner. 


Despite the second goal, it looked a very ominous performance from the Germans. This could be slightly unnerving for both Italy and England whichever generation gets picked to play.

Ronaldo Reigns Over Republic

Czech Republic line-up: Cech (c), Sivok, Kadlec, Selassie, Limbersky, Hubschman (Pekhart, 83'), Darida (Rezek, 60), Jiracek, Baros, Plasil, Pilar
Portugal line-up: Patricio, Pepe, Pereira, Alves, Coentrao, Meireles (Rolando, 86'), Veloso, Moutinho, Postiga (Almeida, 39'), Ronaldo (c), Nani (Custodio, 81') 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the first quarter final to send Portugal into the final four. Portugal were favourites from the outset and would always have a chance of winning by restricting Czech Republic to one shot on target.

This doesn't mean the Czechs were out-played, six corners and countless dangerous crosses highlighted their intent but they couldn't force a way to test Rui Patricio. But Portugal had 11 corners of their own and amassed 22 shots, eight on target, that kept Petr Cech the much busier of the two keepers.

Portugal never really turned the screw as such but their best chance in the first half fell to their captain. Ronaldo swivelled and got his shot away, beating Cech but was kept out by the post in injury time. The start of the second half mimicked the end of the first half, a free-kick by Ronaldo was touched by Cech onto the post to keep the score level.

13-minutes into the second period, Portugal though they had that vital breakthrough goal when substitute Hugo Almeida headed home a cross from Nani. But the flag went up straight away and it was the correct decision as the Czech Republic defensive line was cleverly constructed.

Czech Republic's best moments in the game from their wide men as both Vaclav Pilar and Petr Jiracek made themselves readily available to take on the Portuguese full backs. Jiracek created an opening by beating two defenders as he cut into the box. But, like many others, his cross couldn't find the one or two red shirts and Patricio easily collected.

The deadlock was finally broken 12-minutes from time when Joao Moutinho put in a hopeful cross. It missed  the first man but Ronaldo was breaking his neck to get to the ball before putting his diving header past Cech to give the Portuguese a huge sigh of relief. They will face either Spain or France who lock horns on Saturday.

England and France Squeeze Through

England and France become the final teams to make it into the quarter finals. England were able to beat the co-hosts, Ukraine, with a lot of help from the officials. Because of this, France were able to lose to Sweden yet still qualify, at the expense of facing Spain in the last eight.

At the start of play, both England and France only needed a point to secure their places into the knock-out phase. Ukraine had to win but their chances became slimmer when Andriy Shevchenko was only fit enough to make the bench.

That didn't deter the hosts who actually played a lot better than England without really working Joe Hart. The returning Wayne Rooney had England's best chance of the first half when James Milner found him with a cross, but the Manchester United striker's header from four yards out went wide.

England played better in the second half but still suffered a threat from the Ukraine. But the partisan crowd was hushed three minutes after the restart when Steven Gerrard smashed a ball across goal. It took a couple of nicks that forced Andriy Piatov to mis-judge the ball and it ended up going through him. Rooney was at the back post to make sure by nodding the bouncing ball home.

It got better for England when Sweden took the lead in Kiev. Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit a fantastic volley from the edge of the area past Hugo Lloris nine minutes into the second half. Whether Ukraine were aware or not, this gave them a opportunity to steal a place in last eight if they could get two against England. They should have had one on 62-minutes when an offside Marko Devic received the ball and made a march towards goal. His shot was blocked by Hart but the ball then looped over and John Terry cleared the ball on the line. But replays showed that the ball had clearly crossed the line and the Ukraine should feel very much aggrieved. This does bring into question what it is exactly the fifth and sixth officials standing on the goal line actually do, as they should have easily spotted the goal that wasn't given.

The poor French were finished off in injury time when substitute Samuel Holmen hit the post. Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson was on hand the smash the ball home to finish their disappointing tournament on a high. England will now face Italy in the last quarter-final with France taking on the defending champions. Full table:

England      7 +2
France        4  0
Ukraine       3  0
Sweden       3 -2

Three-Way Split Sees Croatia Lose Out

Spain and Italy become the latest teams through the quarter finals when another goal could have seen Croatia gate crash the party. With Ireland already out, it was always going to be two from three with Spain and Croatia on four points alongside Italy on two.

A winner in the Croatia/Spain game with an Italy win would provide an easy answer as to who would go through. With the Italian win already presumed, Croatia knew that, with this backward non-goal difference way of selecting the winner, a 0-0 and a 1-1 draw would not be enough to see them go through at Italy's expense. The only way a 1-1 draw may have been enough was if Italy won 2-0, which of course they did. 

Italy began to keep their end of the bargain nine minutes before half-time when Antonio Cassano headed them ahead. Meanwhile, Croatia arguably played better than Spain during the other match and had the better chances. Ivan Rakitic had a fantastic chance in the second half when Luka Modric's cross was met with his header four yard from goal. But the attempt was straight at Iker Casillas who was then equal to the second attempt.

The chances that did come Spain's way were either wasted by over-play or saved by Stipe Pletikosa. But that changed two minutes from the end when Cesc Fabregas played a delicious lofted pass to Andres Iniesta. Despite being through on goal, Iniesta then rolled the ball across to substitute Jesus Navas to smash the ball home.

Ireland's final farewell at Euro 2012 came in the final minute of normal time when Keith Andrews received a second yellow card for his reaction to conceding a free-kick. Mario Balotelli then made it 2-0 in injury time, hooking a corner kick behind him and past Shay Given. Full table:

Spain          7 +5

Italy            5 +2

Croatia       4 +1

Rep.Ireland 0 -8 

Ronaldo Dumps Dutch, Bender Dumps Danes

Germany and Portugal join Czech Republic and Greece into the quarter finals. Germany saw off Denmark to maintain their 100% record in the Euro 2012, including qualifying, while Ronaldo returned to form to finish off the sorry Netherlands.

At the start of play, Germany just needed a point to qualify, Denmark had to win to progress, Portugal had to better Denmark's result and Netherlands needed to win by two goals with Germany winning. All but Netherlands were going through at some point during the night, but it was Denmark who would ultimately miss out.

It looked like Netherlands were going to stake their claim on 11-minutes when Rafael Van der Vaart curled an effort past Rui Patricio from outside the box. Germany were then holding their end of the deal when a cross was turned in by Lukas Podolski on 19-minutes, a way to mark his 100th cap.

Then Denmark were going to go through on 25-minutes when Michael Krohn-Dehli headed them level. But their euphoria would only last for three minutes as Cristiano Ronaldo returned to his best, latching onto a through ball and slotting past Martin Stekelenberg.

The Portugal captain then made sure when a cross-field ball ended up at his feet. He moved inside before rolling the ball into the corner, the side he had just moved inside of, on 74-minutes. The group was then finalised ten minutes from time when Lars Bender was put through and the Bayer Leverkusen player slotted past Stephan Andersen. Group table:

Germany    9 +3

Portugal     6 +1

Denmark    3 -1

Netherlands 0 -3  

Czech Greece's Progression

The final group games began with a shock as group favourites Russia were knocked out of the competition by 2004 winners Greece. Co-hosts Poland have also been knocked out after losing to Czech Republic, seeing the Czechs win the group.

In any other competition, it would actually be Russia who went through as they had a better goal difference than Greece. But the Greeks go through because of the better head-to-head record since they beat them in tonight's match. A rule which may leave many Russians feeling aggrieved as they haven't been rewarded for scoring more and conceding less than their counterparts.

Before a ball was kicked tonight Russia looked comfortable knowing that just a point would be enough to put them through. They were also massive favourites to beat Greece, meaning that Russia would be joined by the winner of the other game.

It looked like it was a matter of time for Russia in the first half but out of their 23 shots throughout the game, they only had two on target. Greece only had three shots with the same amount on target. The sucker punch came in first half injury time when a throw was poorly defended by Yuri Zhirkov, allowing Giorgos Karagounis through on goal and the Greek captain atoned for his penalty miss against Poland by blasting the ball into the net.

Aleksandr Kerzhakov was once again picked by Dick Advocaat and again the striker was extremely wasteful, as were the rest of the team. But Russia would still go through via the head-to-head method ahead of Czech Republic as it stood at half-time.

Back in Wroclaw, Poland had much the better chances in the first half. Their three best attempts all hit the side netting as the hosts were unable to break through. The heart breaker came in the 72nd minute when Rafal Murawski placed a pass straight into the path of Tomas Hubschman. This sprung a counter attack with Hubschman playing the ball into Milan Baros. Baros then played the ball into Petr Jiracek who took a touch inside before rolling the ball into the bottom corner. After starting the tournament with a 4-1 defeat, the Czechs win group A and will face the runners-up from the group of death. It's not all good news for Greece though, Karagounis received a yellow card, possibly harshly, for simulation. This means he misses out on the quarter finals. Group table:

Czech Republic     6 -1
Greece                  4  0 (beat Russia 1-0)
Russia                   4 +2
Poland                  3  -1

The Boys Did Wel

Sweden Line-Up: Isaksson, Mellberg, J.Olsson, M.Olsson, Granqvist (Lustig, 65'), Svensson, Kallstrom, Elm (Wilhelmsson, 81'), Larsson, Ibrahimovic (c), Elmander (Rosenberg, 79')
England Line-Up: Hart, Terry, Cole, Lescott, G.Johnson, Parker, Gerrard (c), Milner (Walcott, 61'), Carroll, Welbeck (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 89'), Young  

England come from behind to oust Sweden out of Euro 2012. Andy Carroll gave England the lead before Olof Mellberg turned the game on its head. Roy Hodgson then proved all of his doubters wrong by tactically changing the game by bringing Theo Walcott on for James Milner. Walcott then scored one and set Danny Welbeck up to give England the win. Incidentally, proving FIFA 12's prediction of a 3-2 win correct.

After the delay to the French game, England's match was also delayed by 15-minutes but it was definitely worth the wait. The deadlock was broken on 23-minutes when Steven Gerrard sent a beautiful cross in for Carroll to head home.

Sweden looked dangerous during the first half despite having less possession. But they were level four minutes into the second half when Mellberg headed, unchallenged, from a corner to head towards goal. Glen Johnson tried to clear it off the line but his effort came back off of the post and into the net.

But England hadn't learnt their lesson and Sweden took the lead just before the hour mark. This time it was a free-kick from Sebastian Larsson that was met by the head of the once again unchallenged Mellberg. The towering defender headed past Joe Hart and it would seem that England's bogey team would strike again.

Two minutes later, Hodgson had a brain wave and sent Walcott on. Within three minutes of his appearance, the Arsenal man made it 2-2. Sweden failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Walcott. He took a shot that curled through the air, completely bamboozling Isaksson and landing into the net.

England then showed their new found heart when Walcott was set free down the wing once more on 77-minutes. His cross was turned into the net by Welbeck who improvised magnificently to send the ball rolling into the bottom corner. The win sees Sweden out of the competition while England just need to avoid defeat to book their place into the quarter finals.

Gift of the Cab

Ukraine Line-Up: Piatov, Mikhalik, Selin, Khacheridi, Tymoshchuk, Nazarenko (Milevskiy, 59'), Gusev, Yarmolenko (Aliev, 67') , Konoplyanka, Shevchenko (c), Voronin (Devich, 45')
France Line-Up: Lloris, Mexes, Clichy, Rami, Debuchy, Diarra, Ribery (c), Cabaye, Benzema (Giroud, 74') , Menez (Martin, 72'), Nasri

Les Bleus put themselves at the top of Group D after both teams weathered a storm. During the French national anthem, the thunder storms began but play was allowed to start. By the four minute mark, lightning strikes were over the stadium and the referee had no option but to suspend the match.

After an hour, the rain simmered down and the players returned to the pitch to restart the match. The rain had affected the pitch and it had an adverse effect on the play. The first half was bogged down in the mid-field and any chances that did occur were either fired over or rolled into the keepers' hands.

The second half was much more attacking and France were under the cosh for part of it. This was after they had taken the lead just seven minutes into the half when Jeremy Menez was put through by Karim Benzema following a counter attack, Menez took a touch before rifling a shot into the bottom corner.

Ukraine were then caught by the sucker punch when Benzema once again played his part. The Madrid striker fed the ball through to Yohan Cabaye and the Newcastle mid-fielder smashed his shot home just three minutes after initially taking the lead.

The partisan crowd didn't give up hope, even when Cabaye almost made it 3-0. They began to dominate possession and Cabaye hit a shot that was kept out by the post. Lloris did have work to do, most notably dealing with numerous corners as Ukraine failed to get themselves back into the game.

Tor Blimey

Spain Line-Up: Casillas (c), Ramos, Pique, Alba, Arbeloa, Xavi, Silva, Alonso (Martinez, 65'), Busquets, Iniesta (Cazorla, 79'), Torres (Fabregas, 73')
Ireland Line-Up: Given, O'Shea, St.Ledger, Ward, Dunne, Duff (McClean, 76'), Andrews, Whelan (Green, 80'), Keane (c), Cox (Walters, 45'), McGeady     


Republic Ireland become the first team to exit Euro 2012 at the hands of a dominant Spain. Two goals from Fernando Torres was just half of the torment the World and Euro Champions inflicted onto the naive Ireland side.

The pain started after just four minutes when Torres took a touch into the box before smashing the ball home past Shay Given. If it wasn't for the Villa keeper, Ireland would have conceded a lot more as Given produced a handful of wonderful saves. He was arguably their best player despite conceding four.

Ireland did try to come back into it but with much less possession, they did extremely well to hold on until half-time with the score at just 1-0. But their bad starts came back to haunt them when a shot by Andres Iniesta was parried by Given into the feet of David Silva. The Manchester City mid-fielder twisted and turned before rolling the ball through a defender and into the bottom corner.

It would be 3-0 on 70-minutes when Torres was put through on goal. The Chelsea striker marauded forward before curling the ball around Given and into the corner.  Torres then got his hero's applause by being substituted for Cesc Fabregas.

Ireland were caught sleeping from a corner when Fabregas received the ball in the box from a short corner. The Barcelona man took a touch to settle himself before blasting the ball home from an acute angle. Ireland only have pride to play for against Giovanni Trapattoni's home side, Italy.

If the Italians beat Ireland they'll progress through with the winners between Croatia and Spain. If the game was to end in a draw, there would be a three way tie at the top if Italy won. Italy would have to win by at least two goals to go through on goal difference at Croatia's expense.

Mandzukic Strikes Again

Italy Line-Up: Buffon (c), Chiellini, Bonucci, Pirlo, Motta (Montolivo, 63') , Marchisio, Maggio, De Rossi, Cassano (Giovinco, 83'), Balotelli (Di Natale, 70'), Giaccherini
Croatia Line-Up: Pletikosa, Schildenfeld, Corluka, Strinic, Srna (c), Rakitic, Modric, Vukojevic, Jelavic (Eduardo, 83'), Mandzukic (Kranjcar, 90'), Perisic (Pranjic, 68')

Mario Mandzukic struck for the third time this tournament to give Croatia a point and succumbing Italy to their second draw of the competition. Andrea Pirlo gave Italy the lead in the first half but it wasn't enough to see off the Croats.

Pirlo looked to control game early on with his sublime passing game. Mario Balotelli had the first shot in anger just after the quarter of an hour mark, but his shot was parried away by Stipe Pletikosa. Croatia began to come into the game by the 20-minute mark, making the match more even. But Italy's miserly defence kept the attackers at bay, with Gianluigi Buffon collecting catches that did come his way.

The deadlock was then broken six minutes before half-time. Italy's assertiveness began to take hold before they were given a free-kick. Pirlo stepped over it and curled over the wall and into the bottom corner, Pletikosa couldn't do much about it and Italy would have the lead at half-time.

Croatia were a bit more attacking in the second half with Italy looking more and more tired as the game went on. Croatia's fans haven't covered themselves in glory so far this campaign and this trend unfortunately continued. A flare was thrown onto the pitch just ten minutes after the restart, forcing Howard Webb to temporarily stop play. The Croatian players were seemingly unhappy and told their fans to calm down.

It didn't affect the play too much and Croatia equalised on 72-minutes. A cross was mis-judged by Giorgio Chiellini and the ball fell to the feet of Mandzukic. After taking a touch, the striker smashed the ball off the post and into the net.

From there, the game seemed to fizzle out as tiredness looked to come into play. There was another stoppage as another flare was thrown onto the pitch by the Croatian fans. Hopefully, security will prevent more of this happening. As for the teams, Croatia move up to four points with Italy on two.

Super Mario Outshines Robin

Netherlands Line-Up: Stekelenberg, Mathijsen (c), Heitinga, Willems, Van Der Wiel, Van Bommel (Van der Vaart, 45'), De Jong, Afellay (Huntelaar, 45'), Robben (Kuyt, 83'), Van Persie, Sneijder

Germany Line-Up: Neuer, Lahm (c), Hummels, Badstuber, Boateng, Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Podolski, Gomez (Klose, 72'), Muller (Bender, 90'), Ozil (Kroos, 81') 

Mario Gomez moves up to three goals for the tournament while potentially eliminating Netherlands from the tournament. Two goals from the Bayern Munich striker were enough to see Germany come through as winners despite Robin Van Persie's efforts to fight back.

The outlook to the game looked set quite early with Netherlands' back line looking extremely frail once again. Maarten Stekelenberg was being extremely overworked and Germany's best early chance came from Mesut Ozil. His stinging shot required Stekelenberg and the post to keep the effort out.

But Stekelenberg's resistance was no match for Gomez and the deadlock was broken on 24-minutes when a ball from Bastian Schweinsteiger split the defence and the striker was through on goal. A decent turn followed by a shot was all that was required to put Germany ahead. 

It would then be 2-0 seven minutes before half-time. Schweinsteiger was once again the creator with another sublime pass to play Gomez in. Gomez took a touch before unleashing a venomous shot into the back of the night.

As the scoreline suggested, Netherlands weren't looking like a team. There were a few half-time clashes of views between the players and Arjen Robben would sulkily leave the pitch when he got substituted for Dirk Kuyt. 

The introduction of Klaas Huntelaar and Rafael Van Der Vaart at half-time did somewhat bring more of an attacking threat. But their frailties were still being tested with Stekelenberg managing to keep the score down. Manuel Neuer was tested a little more in the second half but not enough to see Netherlands getting back into the game.

Van Persie then gave Netherlands some hope with a pile driver from outside the box that Neuer could do nothing about. But the Dutch couldn't muster up another moment of genius and now only a two goal+ victory over Portugal and Germany beating Denmark can put them through to the quarter finals. With two wins out of two, Germany are virtually there. 

Vare Good Result

Denmark Line-Up: Andersen, Jacobsen, S.Poulsen, Kjaer, Agger (c), Zimling (J.Poulsen, 17'), Kvist, Bendtner, Rommedahl (Mikkelsen, 60'), Krohn-Dehli (Schone, 90'), Eriksen
Portugal Line-Up: Rui Patricio, Pepe, Pereira, Alves, Coentrao, Meireles (Varela, 85') , Veloso, Moutinho, Postiga (Oliveira, 64'), Ronaldo (c), Nani

Silvestre Varela came off the bench to give Portugal a much needed three points. Portugal saw their 2-0 lead diminished by Nicklas Bendtner who continues his fabulous record against the Iberian side, six goals in five games for the want away Arsenal striker.

Portugal took the lead on 25-minutes when Pepe headed home a corner at the front post. Denmark hadn't learnt from this and found themselves 2-0 down 11-minutes later when Helder Postiga also headed a corner past Stephan Andersen.

Denmark looked dead and buried with Bendtner failing to make an impact on the game. This was until four minutes before half-time when a slick attacking move saw Michael Krohn-Dehli head the ball back across the goal for Bendtner to just tap home.

Portugal looked to turn the screw in the second half, in pursuit of their two goal cushion. Cristiano Ronaldo once again had an underwhelming performance after missing a couple of chances to put his side 3-1 ahead. His first chance came five minutes into the second half when he was played through but his scuffed shot was straight at the keeper.

Ronaldo's next chance came ten minutes from time when once again he found himself one-on-one with Andersen. But instead of rounding or lobbing the keeper, the skipper placed his shot miles wide. It looked like Portugal would be made to rue those chances as Bendtner sent another header past Rui Patricio to make it 2-2.

Portugal's throw of the dice saw Varela come on for Raul Meireles who had wasted a few chances during the match. Within two minutes of coming on, the Porto striker swung and missed with his left foot from a cross before spinning and rifling the ball home with his right foot. Portugal keep their tournament hopes alive and go level on points with Denmark.

Point Blasz

Poland Line-Up: Tyton, Wasilewski, Perquis, Boenisch, Piszczek, Blaszczykowski, Obraniak (Brozek, 90'), Dudka (Mierzejewski, 74'), Murawski, Polanski (Matuszcyk, 85'), Lewandowski
Russia Line-Up: Malafeev, Ignashevich, A.Berezutski, Anyukov, Zhirkov, Zyryanov, Shirokov, Denisov, Kerzhakov (Pavlyuchenko, 70'), Arshavin, Dzagoev (Izmaylov, 80')

A blast from Jakub Blaszczykowski ensured Poland would gain their second draw from the group stage after trailing from Alan Dzagoev's third goal of the tournament. The hosts now sit third on two points with Russia on top with fourth. Group A will probably be settled when Poland and Czech Republic meet in the final game.


Once again Andrei Arshavin produced his Zenit form but his service went to waste with Alexsandr Kerzhakov producing another lacklustre performance in front of goal. But Arshavin's efforts would not go to waste when his 37th minute free-kick was headed home by the starlet, Dzagoev.


Blaszczykowski came closest to equalising straight after going behind but Russia remained in control until half-time. Poland came out a little better in the second half and the Borussia Dortmund winger cut inside and blasted the ball past Vyacheslav Malafeev 12-minutes after the restart to equalise magnificently. 


Russia looked to tire towards the end of the game and had better chances to win the game. But Malafeev wasn't really tested and the hosts also seemed tired as they played out the remainder of the 1-1 draw.    
 

Greeks Beaten by Bouncing Back Czechs

Greece Line-Up: Chalkias (Sifakis, 23'), Torosidis, Holebas, K.Papadopoulos, Karagounis (c), Katsouranis, Fortounis (Mitroglu, 71') , Maniatis, Salpingidis, Samaras, Fotakis (Gekas, 45')
Czech Republic Line-Up: Cech, Sivok, Kadlec, Selassie, Limbersky, Rosicky (Kolar, 45', Rajtoral, 90'), Hubschman, Jiracek, Baros (Pekhart, 64') , Plasil, Pilar

Czech Republic get their tournament back on track, taking full advantage of the slow starting Greeks. Greece are now desperately needing a victory over Russia in their final game if they are to stand any hope of progressing into the knock-out phase.

With Greece's centre-back pairing unavailable, the Czech Republic instantly opened the defence up with a through ball that Petr Jiracek slotted past Kostas Chalkias after just three minutes. It was then two goals in six minutes when Selassie found acres of space to provide a low cross that was fumbled over the line by Vaclav Pilar.

After that, the two didn't really trouble either keeper. That was until the 20th minute when Chalkias was forced off with a hamstring injury and had to be replaced by Michalis Sifakis. Greece's closest chance to get back into the game before half-time saw Georgios Fotakis head a cross into the net, which Petr Cech maybe should have done better with. But it didn't matter as the linesman had put his flag up for offside, replays showed it was extremely close.

Just like in the Poland game, Greece played better in the second half with Theofanis Gekas brought into the game. The substitution paid off within eight minutes when a loose ball was rolling into the path of Cech. But the Champions League winner had a slight mix-up with a defender and the ball rebounded to Gekas who put the ball home.

But Greece couldn't come back against an improved Czech Republic side. Cech's howler didn't cost his side but he will be hoping for a better game against Poland in the final group match.

Sheva Back From the Dead

Ukraine Line-Up: Pyatov, Mykhalyk, Selin, Khacheridi, Tymoshchuk, Nazarenko, Gusev, Yarmolenko, Konoplyanka (Devich, 90'), Shevchenko (c) (Milevsky, 82'), Voronin (Rotan, 85')
Sweden Line-Up: Isaksson, Mellberg, Granqvist, Olsson, Lustig, Kallstrom, Elm, Larsson (Wilhelmsson, 68'), Ibrahimovic (c), Toivonen (Svensson, 64') , Rosenberg (Elmander, 72')

Andriy Shevchenko has risen from his Chelsea torment to once again be hailed as one of the best strikers in Europe. It was Shevchenko versus Zlatan Ibrahimovic and both captains stood up to the plate as Ukraine came from a goal down to top Group D.

Shevchenko would have Ukraine's best chance in the first half when he was put through, but his short just missed the post. Andriy Voronin also tested Isaksson, but his stinging effort did cause the former Manchester City keeper to parry it.

Ibrahimovic would also have Sweden's best effort in the first period. But his header agonisingly glanced off the post and wide. The teams ended up going off at half-time goalless but that would all change when the players came back out.

Sweden put together a good move seven minutes into the second half and Kim Kallstrom's low cross was carefully turned in by Ibrahimovic to take the lead. But Sweden's lead only lasted for three minutes when Andriy Yarmolenko's cross was headed home by Ukraine's hero, Shevchenko.

It would then get even better for the hosts when Shevchenko lost Ibrahimovic at the front post to head a corner home on 62-minutes. Sweden had late chances to equalise with substitute Johan Elmander lobbing over the bar before Olof Mellberg's chance fell onto the roof of the net. But Ukraine ultimately held out to claim their first victory at a Euro Championships.