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.
        
  

Point For England

England Line-Up: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Milner, Gerrard (c), Parker (Defoe, 78'), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Henderson, 78'), Young, Rooney
France Line-Up: Lloris (c), Mexes, Evra, Rami, Debuchy, Malouda (Ben Arfa, 84'), Diarra, Cabaye (Martin, 84'), Ribery, Benzema, Nasri

England's campaign begins with a point against the hardest team in the group. England's new efficient regime almost paid off when Joleon Lescott took the lead, but the lead would only last for less than ten minutes when Samir Nasri equalised for Les Bleus.

Joe Hart had an edgy start to the game, coming and failing to collect two early corners. But, for the most part, England looked more threatening despite France passing the ball around quicker. England's best chance, early on, came when Ashley Young played the ball through to James Milner, the midfielder rounded Hugo Lloris but the placed his shot wide.

Hart was the keeper involved more often with Yohan Cabaye and Franck Ribery testing the Premier League champion. But England found the breakthrough on the half hour mark when a Steven Gerrard free-kick was met by Lescott who headed past Lloris, marking his first goal for his country.

France then responded with Alou Diarra meeting a free-kick that produced a wonderful save from Hart. But England's resilience was finally broke down nine minutes after taking the lead, a nice interchange saw the ball played to Nasri. England were slow to close the midfielder down and Nasri fired a shot that beat Hart at his near post from outside the area.

The second half went virtually the same way as the first, both team cancelling each other out as both defences dealt with the pressure. Hart was again worked more then Lloris but not enough to alter the 1-1 scoreline.

Seventh Heaven For Nadal

Rafael Nadal wins his record seventh French Open title after winning a postponed final against Novak Djokovic. The win, in four sets, puts him ahead of Bjorn Borg in the most amount of titles won at Roland Garros.

Before the final, Djokovic hadn't taken a set against Nadal on clay and it was beginning to look ominous at the start of play on Sunday. The first set finished 6-4 to the Spaniard and Nadal was leading 5-2 in the second before Djokovic's complaints of rain was heard and the players went off court.

Just before that, Djokovic's frustration got the better of him when he put his racket through the advertising board on his chair. The Serb got a warning shortly before the rain delayed the action. The players returned around 15-minutes later and the damp court severely changed the momentum of the game.

The players both held serve to give Nadal a 6-3 second set victory. But the heavier balls meant Nadal's dominance on clay was diminishing. With the court hardening, Djokovic knew he had Nadal's number and roared into a 6-2 third set success.

Djokovic then lead 2-1 in the fourth before the heavens opened once again to force play to be stopped. The decision was to postpone the final until today which played straight into Nadal's hands. With a drier, softer court, Nadal could once again play his match winning shots, but the slight dampness in the air meant that Djokovic did still have a chance. The fourth set went all the way until the Serb double faulted to give Nadal a 7-5 fourth set victory and the record breaking seventh French Open title.

Crump Captures Copenhagen

Jason Crump won a dramatic Danish GP which puts him two points behind Greg Hancock in the overall standings. Crump overcame Freddie Lindgren, Hancock and Britain's Chris Harris to win the final.

Both semi-finals were full of drama, following in the same vain as the whole meeting. Semi-final one saw Hancock and Lindgren take on Nicky Pedersen and Chris Holder. The initial race saw Holder and Pedersen come together for the majority of the race before the Aussie finally put the Dane onto the floor. Holder was subsequently excluded but it didn't end there; the restart saw Pedersen trying to squeeze Lindgren out and the Swede had no option but to once again cause Pedersen to hit the deck. But this time it was Pedersen who was excluded for ultimately causing the collision. Hancock and Lindgren rode out the second restart with the American gaining the three points.

The second semi-final also had its drama. Crump and Harris met Bjarne Pedersen and Emil Sayfutdinov and it was the Russian who caused an incident. After a good start, Sayfutdinov lost control of the bike and just about managed to put both wheels back on the track, but this caused Bjarne Pedersen to crash into the Russian, causing Sayfutdinov and Harris to hit the floor. Sayfutdinov was excluded for causing the incident and Crump would win the restart.

The meeting started in just a dramatic fashion. Kenneth Bjerre and Jaroslaw Hampel collided going into the first corner and the Pole unfortunately suffered a dislocated ankle. With Hampel not able to continue, the restart would feature reserve driver, Peter Kildemand. But the Dane's anticipation got the better of him and he would false start, taking the tapes with him. This again forced an exclusion and the second restart had the second reserve driver, teenager Mikkel B Jensen. Holder eventually won it ahead of Anderson, Bjerre and Jensen.

Hancock took the second heat with Peter Ljung picking up a surprising victory in the heat three. Andreas Jonsson's night didn't start well as he packed up in heat four as Nicky Pedersen took it ahead of Antonio Lindback and wildcard Michael Jepsen Jensen.

Nicky Pedersen made it two heats in two rides in front of his home crowd in heat five. Heat six was delayed due to the pit gate not being shut properly. Once that had been sorted, Thomasz Gollob won his only heat of the night with Jepsen Jensen finishing second. Harris took heat seven ahead of Hancock with Sayfutdinov winning heat eight.

Jonsson returned to take heat nine ahead of Harris, Holder and Gollob. Bjarne Pedersen took heat ten in front of his home supporters. Sayfutdinov made it two heats in a row with Crump back in third and the teenager Mikkel Jensen would go onto win heat 12, ahead of Hancock and Nicky Pedersen.

Drama returned in heat 13 when Holder caused Bjarne Pedersen to hit the deck. Holder was excluded and Hancock would win his second heat in the restart. Sayfutdinov made it three heats in a row after forcing Nicky Pedersen out wide. The Dane had done the same to Holder in heat five, but. because it had happened to him, Pedersen was unhappy and he squared up to Sayfutdinov until security had to separate the riders.

Bjerre packed up in heat 15 which Freddie Lindgren went onto win. Crump took his first heat in the 16th before Holder and Crump took the next two heats, both recording two wins for meeting. Nicky Pedersen was on the floor once again in the penultimate heat, a bunch up going into the first corner forced Bjarne Pedersen to clip his fellow Dane who also took Gollob down with him. All four riders restarted and it was Bjarne Pedersen who took his second heat of the night. Wildcard Jepsen Jensen rounded his night off with a win in the final heat.

The result means Hancock now leads the standings on 75 points but is only two points ahead of Crump. Nicky Pedersen is now further behind on 65 points with Holder climbing up on 61. Gollob and Lindgren are even further behind on 52 points.