Tuesday Night EPL News:

Hello and welcome to my Tuesday Night EPL News:

This will include some more transfer news and the latest from the Olympics and the EPL teams who will play some friendlies over the next month. 

EPL News:

BREAKING NEWS:
Chelsea defender and captain John Terry called QPR defender Anton Ferdinand a racist obscenity in response to tauts about his alleged affair with Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend, a court has heard.
Terry allegedly called Ferdinand a 'f****** black c**t'. 

What did you say: Chelsea defender John Terry and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand having words last October in the match between Chelsea and QPR.

The trial is expected to last five days at Westminister Magistrates Court. Terry faces a maximum fine of £2,500 if found guilty but will be spared a jail term. 

Terry has denied claims that he was racist to Anton Ferdinand and believes that he is being accused of racism.

LATEST NEWS:


Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has signed a new five-year contract at City, to end speculation of a move to International team Russia on a £35million contract... 

More to come yet: Mancini has signed a new five-year contract atCity, believing that he can still win more silverware.

He has said:
The opportunity which exists to build on our recent success is enormous. Manchester City is a fantastic football club, from the owner, chairman, board and the executive team, through to the players, staff and fans. Ia m very much looking forward to the challenges and excitement ahead.'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers claims to be very close to making an 'exciting' signing within the next week.

Who is this exciting signing? McGeady? Gaston Ramirez? Sinclair? Borini?



Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hs admitted that Italian club Fiorentina have made an offer for Marouane Chamakh.


Manchester City defender Micah Richards has not regrets about missing Euro 2012 and cannot wait to represent Great Britain at the London Olympics later this month.


Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has been named as Team GB's captain.


Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been named in the Uruguay 2012 Olympic squad along with (Liverpool) team-mate and defender Sebastian Coates.


Arsenal are set to take French youngster M'Baye Niang on trail, but his new coach at Caen has told him not to go. 
Interesting....


Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has warned the rest of the EPL that prolific striker Darren Bent is fit and raring to go for next season.

Tottenham are set to complete the signing of Ajax defender and captain Jan Vertonghen for around £10-12million after agreeing personal terms.
They have agreed a fee with Ajax and the deal has been confirmed subject to a medical. 

Chelsea have had a £17million bid for Bayer Leverkusen striker Andre Schurrle rejected.
 

FACT: Arsenal captain and striker Robin Van Persie has been the MOST rumoured player in the WORLD over the last week.

World's most wanted: Arsenal's Robin Van Persie is wanted by Manchester City and Juventus to name a few.

London Olympic Groups: 

Group A:

Great Britian

Senegal - notable players:

Diame (from West Ham) and Gueye (from Everton)

Uruguay - notable players:
Coates and Suarez (from Liverpool), Cavani (from Napoli), Abel Hernandez and Gaston

United Arab Emirates 

Group B:

Mexico

South Korea

Gabon

Switzerland

Group C:

Brazil

Egypt

Belarus

New Zealand

Group D:

Spain

Morocco

Honduras

Japan

Friendly Matches involving EPL teams (in the next week):

Saturday, the 14th of July:
 

Morecambe vs Everton: LIVE at 14:00pm

AFC Wimbledon vs Reading: LIVE at 15:00pm

Burton Albion vs Aston Villa: LIVE at 15:00pm

Tuesday, the 17th of July:

Stevenage vs Tottenham Hotspur: LIVE at 19:45pm

Ebbsfleet United vs Reading: LIVE at 19:45pm

Worcester City vs West Brom: LIVE at 19:45pm

Wednesday, the 18th of July:
 
Amazulu FC vs Manchester United: LIVE at 16:00pm

Dundee United vs Everton: LIVE at 19:45pm

Thursday, the 19th of July:

Seongnam Chunma vs Sunderland: LIVE at 16:00pm


(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)

Saturday Night EPL Transfer Delight:

Hello everyone and welcome to my Saturday Night EPL Transfer Delight:


Tonight, I will be talking about all of the LATEST Done Deals in the EPL, and the transfer rumours/news, not to mention the update regarding Arsenal striker and captain Robin Van Persie's future.


Let's begin with some more Done Deals:


Matt Lowton - Aston Villa (undisclosed fee)

Newbie: 23-year old right-back Matt Lowton being unveiled this afternoon to Aston Villa.

A good solid signing for Aston Villa, from Sheffield United. A fee thought to be around £3million.
He is a right-back, and will be used to strengthen the defence next season.
Looks like they are desperate to ensure that they get back into the top half next season, because this is their 3rd signing so far in this transfer window...


Sascha Riether - Fulham (season-long loan)

Change of pace: Sascha Riether will be looking to impress at Fulham over the next year.

This 29-year-old right back will be interesting to watch over the next couple of months in the EPL.


Playing his trade at the just relegated club Cologne, he is looking for a new challenge, and that is West London club Fulham.


If he impresses, then he may stay at The Cottagers on a permanent basis, but it is too early to say.


Denilson - Sao Paulo (season-long loan)

Keen to make the deal permanent: Arsenal midfielder Denilson is staying at Sao Paulo.

Arsenal midfielder Denilson has decided to stay in his homeland of Brazil for one more year gaining experience at Sao Paulo, instead of sitting on the bench at The Gunners.


Mladen Petric - Fulham (free)


Freebie on Fulham's part with a 31-year-old striker moving to Fulham..



Tomasz Kuszczak - Brighton (free)


Manchester United part with their fringe goalkeeper, and he has gone to Championship club Brighton.


Park Ji-Sung - QPR (£2million)

 

And now for the medical: Manchester United fringe player Park Ji-Sung is poised to move to QPR.

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung has completed a £2million signing to move to West London club QPR.

All that is left is the completion of the medical, and he will be available of pre-season training.

Mark Hughes the manager of QPR is a huge admirer of the Korean international, and has now signed 6 players so far this transfer window.
He does not look like he is going to stop just yet either. 



Wayne Bridge - Brighton and Hove Albion (season-long loan)

Desperate for some first-team action: Defender Wayne Bridge has moved to Brighton on a season-long loan.

Not very surprising transfer move this, as manager Roberto Mancini has admitted that he has had some diffuclities with Bridge over the past few years since he has taken over the club.


He was sent out on-loan last season to Sunderland, and do not be shocked to see him leave next season, as he is ageing, City have a vast amount of defenders and he is down the pecking order for playing time. 

Salomon Kalou - Lille (free transfer)

Fighting intentions: Lille are looking to challenge for the Ligue 1 title next season after the departure of Eden Hazard. Kalou has joined the 'French Revolution'.

A bit of sad news here as Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou has left the club, and moved to French club Lille.

He will fit in with the play in France, and could be a major force to be reckoned with in Ligue 1.


He was released by Chelsea earlier this month, and Lille were interested and eventually signed him.

FACT: Kalou scored 60 goals, and 40 assists in 251 appearances for Chelsea after moving from Feyenoord in the 2006-07 season.

Here is a preview video of what is to come of Kalou in France:

Pavel Pogrebnyak - Reading (free transfer)

What a steal: Pogrebnyak scored 6 goals for Fulham in 12 matches. What will he do at Reading?

I said that the last one was not a surprise, but this one sure is.
Do you all remember Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, the player who broke records last season at Fulham?



Reading are looking like a promising team now and want to mix in with 'the big boys of the Prem'




Well, he is back in the Premier League, but has signed a deal with newly promoted club Reading instead of staying at Fulham.


He was on-loan from Stuttgart in the January Transfer Window, and as soon as Reading saw him, they made a bid and he accepted.


I would have thought Fulham would have put up more of a fight to keep hold of arguably one of their best strikers now that both Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson have gone, plus the fact that their talisman Clint Dempsey may leave soon to Arsenal!


Watch this video when he was at Fulham last season, and tell me why Fulham did not FIGHT for his signature:

But hey, that's football for you.


Joel Campbell - Real Betis (season-long loan)

Good luck: Campbell will go out on loan to Real Betis to play in the 'creme de la creme' of Spanish football.

Now as an Arsenal fan, I am looking forward to seeing this young striker play for us, but he is not quite ready for regular first-team action so another loan spell will do him a world of good.


I am talking about 20-year-old Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell who signed for Arsenal in August last year.


He will spend a season in Spain with club Real Betis on-loan.

EPL News:

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has dismissed speculation of him moving to American club LA Galaxy and has pledged himself to Chelsea.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger inisists he will NEVER change the way he works at The Gunners even if all of his star players keep leaving.

He has also identified that strikers Robert Lewandowski and Stevan Jovetic could replace Robin Van Persie. 

Tottenham are closing in on a £10million deal for Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor after a good loan spell over last season. 

Hamburg are interested in signing winger Rafael Van Der Vaart back to Germany.

• Arsenal are set to snatch Wigan's Victor Moses from under the noses of Chelsea and Liverpool.

• Roberto Mancini has been offered £35million to manage World Cup hosts Russia.
• Chelsea are hoping to hijack Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric's move to Real Madrid.

Thursday's EPL Transfer Talk, News and Done Deals:

Hello and welcome to my Thursday's EPL Transfer Talk, News and Done Deals.
You know the drill:


So let me start off by showing you all the 18-man squad for Team GB in the London Olympics football squad:

This is the official London Olympic ball that will be used next month in the International football tournament.

The 18-man squad:

Goalkeepers:

Jack Butland (Birmingham) and Jason Steele (Middlesbrough) 

Defenders:

Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Craig Dawson (West Brom), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Neil Taylor (Swansea), James Tomkins (West Ham)

Midfielders:

Joe Allen (Swansea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Jack Cork (Southampton), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Scott Sinclair (Swansea)

Strikers:

Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Marvin Sordell (Bolton), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea).

EPL Transfer Talk and Done Deals: 

Transfer Talk:

Arsenal have been told that it will cost them £17million to sign Lyon goalkeepeer Hugo Lloris who has been allowed to leave the French club, but for the right price. 


Rivals Sunderland and Newcastle are battling head-to-head to sign Ajax left-back Vurnon Anita who is worth around £9million.

Manchester United are ready to make a £30million bid to sign Sao Paulo midfielder Lucas Moura, if they fail to sign Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric who is poised to move to Real Madrid who is also wanted by Chelsea.

New Done Deals (from the 5th July):

Fabio - QPR from Manchester United (season-long loan)

Pavel Pogrebnyak - Reading from Fulham (free transfer)

Carlos Cuellar - Sunderland from Aston Villa (free transfer)

Gylfi Sigurdsson - Tottenham from Hoffenheim (£7-8million)

A minor transfer saga has been completed, as Tottenham hijacked Liverpool to the signing of Gylfi Sigurdsson from Hoffenheim.

He spent last season on-loan at Swansea, where he was expected to stay there on a permament loan. Manager Brendan Rodgers, left Swansea for Liverpool and instantly made his interest known, saying that 'he wanted to sign Sigurdsson'.

New Tottenham manager Andre Villas Boas quickly snapped him up underneath Rodger's nose.

Tug of war: Former Chelsea manager AVB's first signing at Spurs is winger Gylfi Sigurdsson.

He is a quality signing, and £8million is a bargain for a player of his talent. 

Leon Best - Blackburn Rovers from Newcastle United (undislcosed fee)

EPL News:

BREAKING NEWS: 

Arsenal striker and captain Robin Van Persie has confirmed that he will NOT sign a new contract at Arsenal, and will leave the club when he contract runs out next season.

Bombshell: Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie has indicated that he does not want to extend his contract.

Former Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has become the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur. He replaces Harry Redknapp who was sacked over a week ago following a dodgy set of results in the last quarter of the season, in which he could have won, but failed to even qualify for the Champions League.

(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)




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Leave a comment telling me if you watched Sunday's Euro 2012 final between Spain and Italy, and what you thought about it.

UEFA Euro 2012 Final - Spain vs Italy: LIVE Analysis

This is it: Spain vs Italy in the Euro 2012 Final, LIVE from Kiev.

Hello and welcome to my LIVE Commentary and analysis of the final match from this year's UEFA Euro 2012 in Ukraine, Kiev where European champions Spain look to retain their title against a shock Italy side who were not expected to be here tonight.


Spain go in as favourites, as they are the defending champions, and have looked impressive throughout the campaign.
Italy beat Germany on Thursday to get here, and may look fatigued having played and beaten England just last Sunday.


My Prediction:
Spain comfortable win, maybe 3 or 4 goals.


Teams:

Spain: Casillas, Arbeloa, Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Alonso, Silva, Fabregas, Iniesta. 

Subs: Valdes, Albiol, Javi Martinez, Juanfran, Pedro, Torres, Negredo, Mata, Llorente, Santi Cazorla, Jesus Navas, Reina.

FACT: 
Only Manchester City winger David Silva does not play for Barcelona or Real Madrid in Spain's starting 11 tonight.*

*Alba joined Barca on Saturday for £11million.

Italy: Buffon, Abate, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo, De Rossi, Balotelli, Cassano. 

FACT: This will be goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon's 120th International cap tonight.

FACT: Italy have not won the Euros since 1968 in Italy, where there were only 4 teams in the WHOLE tournament.

Subs: Sirigu, Maggio, Ogbonna, Thiago Motta, Balzaretti, Di Natale, Giaccherini, Borini, Giovinco, Diamanti, Nocerino, De Sanctis.

19:45:

The national anthems have finished, and so has the closing ceremony from Ukraine.

The epic countdown has begun....

0: The referee blows the whistle to start this Euro 2012 Final.

15: It has been all Spain at the moment. 

It's no wonder why they are in-front.

A brilliant passing spell by Xavi, Fabregas and Iniesta, before Cesc's cross inside the box found David Silva who towered over Buffon to head into an empty net. 1-0 to Spain!

Clinical finish: A nice passing spell by Spain was finished by Manchester City's David Silva with a header.

1-0: Silva celebrates his header against Italy in the 14th minute to give the defending champions the lead.

30:
In the last fifteen minutes, we have seen the first yellow card of the final given to Barcelona defender Gerard Pique for a late challenge, and Italy are starting to look more threatening towards goal. Cassano and Balotelli are trying to get into the match now, and they are pressing for the equaliser. 


45:
It is half-time in the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. 
Spain lead by 2 goals to nil with new Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba scoring the second goal in the 41st minute after his electric burst of pace an d positioning to keep himself onside was found by Barcelona midfielder Xavi with a through ball before a lovely finish past Buffon.

Barca's £11million talent: Jordi Alba cooly slots home past Buffon to double Spain's lead.

GOAL: Alba celebrates his 1st senior international goal for Spain. And his first of the tournament.

60:
Italy made a substitution at half-time with Cassano coming off and Di Natale coming on.

The Udinese striker had an immediate impact giving Italy some danger up-front but they still have not scored yet.

Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas made an amazing solo effort in the 47th minute, beating three defenders before chipping the ball into the box, but Buffon held on to the ball. 


Montolivo came off and Thiago Motta replaced him after 57 minutes.

62: Oh dear.
Midfielder Thiago Motta is injured here, and Italy are down to ten men. They have made all three substitutions, and it is not looking good.

63: He is being stretched off now and the replays show that it is a hamstring strain when he was running for the ball.

65: It looks like game over now. Spain dominating possession now, and taking advantage of the one man more.

75: Spain SUB:

Fernando Torres ON
Cesc Fabregas OFF

Barcelona's midfielder Cesc Fabregas is coming off, well played while Chelsea striker Torres replaces him.

84: GAME OVER!
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres finds himself in space after a pass from Xavi inside the box before slotting the ball away and past Buffon into an empty net.

Super sub: Chelsea striker Fernando Torres puts his shooting boots on to score against Buffon, and kill the game.

Relief: Torres becomes the first player to score in two European Championship finals, back-to-back.

87:
Spain SUB:


Andres Iniesta OFF
Juan Mata ON


Better late than never isn't it?
Chelsea winger Juan Mata comes on in the last five or so minutes here.


88: GOAL!!!!


It's a thrashing now surely?
What an impact in the first minute by Mata.


Fernando Torres finds himself one-on-one with Buffon, but sees Mata in space and unselfishly passes through to him before Mata hits the ball into the net.

Huge impact: Chelsea winger Juan Mata scores his first goal, in the first minute of his Euros.

Come over here: Mata accelerates to celebrate his goal with team-mate Torres who assisted him.

90: The fourth official signals three minutes of added time here.


90+3:| The referee blows ther whistle to end this match. 

FULL-TIME:


Spain 4 Italy 0

SPAIN HAVE WON UEFA EURO 2012

SPAIN HAVE RETAINED THEIR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP, and become the first team to win three International Championships in a row.

(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)

EPL Transfer News Update:

Hello and welcome to my LATEST EPL Update featuring all of the latest transfer deals, news and rumours in the EPL.

LATEST Done Deals:

Olivier Giroud - Arsenal from Montpellier for £12-13million

Welcome to Arsenal: Manager Arsene Wenger opens his wallet to sign French striker Giroud for £13million.

Steven Whittaker - Norwich City from Rangers (free) 

Bolstering the defence: Norwich complete the signing of Bosman defender Steven Whittaker.

Danny Guthrie - Reading from Newcastle United (free)

Good buy: New EPL side Reading start their transfer season with the signing of midfielder Danny Guthrie.

Ben Foster - West Brom from Birmingham City (free, £4million from installments)

Smart buy: Goalkeeper Ben Foster joins West Brom for £4million from Birmingham after a good loan spell.

Thibaut Courtois - Atletico Madrid from Chelsea (season-long loan, 2nd spell)

Young one: Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois WILL stay at Atletico Madrid next season from Chelsea.

Jeffrey Bruma - Hamburg from Chelsea (season-long loan, 2nd spell)

Danny Murphy - Blackburn from Fulham (undisclosed fee)

Vedran Corluka - Lokomotiv Moscow from Tottenham (undisclosed fee) 

Bye bye: Defender Vedran Corluka is leaving Tottenham and will play in Russia next season.

Other notable Transfer News around Europe: 

Yakubu - Guanzhou Fuli from Blackburn (undisclosed fee)

Jordi Alba - Barcelona from Valencia (£11million)

Ezequiel Lavezzi - PSG from Napoli (£21million) 

French club PSG have beaten Manchester City and Chelsea to the signing of winger Lavezzi.

Transfer Rumours:

EPL News and Transfer Update:

Hello and welcome to my LATEST EPL News and Transfer Update:

LATEST Transfer Done Deals in the EPL:

Andy Johnson and Ryan Nelsen to QPR - free transfer

New intentions: The former Fulham striker Andy Johnson joins strike partner Bobby Zamora at QPR.

Jussi Jaaskelainen to West Ham - free transfer

Loyal: Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen leaves relegated Bolton after 15 years at the club to go to West Ham.

Mohamed Diame to West Ham - free transfer from Wigan

Snapped up on a free: Former Wigan midffielder Mohamed Diame is now a West Ham player.

Didier Drogba to Shangai Shenhua - free transfer from Chelsea 

China is the country: Striker Didier Drogba will llink up with former team-mate Nicolas Anelka.

Rob Green to QPR - free transfer from West Ham United

Nick Powell to Manchester United - £3-4million

Jay Rodriguez to Southampton - £6million

EPL News:

Liverpool and Swansea are both stilll negotiating terms with winger Gylfi Sigurdsson who spent last season on loan at Swansea. He is yet to decide who he will officially sign for, and Hoffeinheim his parent club have set a deadline of June the 30th. 

West Ham have reportedly increased their bid for Norwich striker Grant Holt to £5.5million.

Sunderland are watching striker Louis Saha who is currently a free agent after being released by Tottenham. 

Newcastle have had a £4million bid for Lille right-back Mathieu Debuchy rejected. 
 


Italian champions Juventus are interested in signing free agent Jose Bosingwa who was released by Chelsea.

Opening fixtures in the EPL next season:
 
Arsenal vs Sunderland 
Everton vs Manchester United
Fulham vs Norwich City
Manchester City vs Southampton
Newcastle United vs Tottenham Hotspur
QPR vs Swansea City
Reading vs Stoke City
West Brom vs Liverpool
West Ham United vs Aston Villa
Wigan Athletic vs Chelsea 


The rest of the fixtures throughout next season:


http://www.fixtures365.com/0,13752,INDEX_263_ALL,00.html


AC Milan are considering a move for Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina.


Chelsea have had a £4million bid for Wigan winger Victor Moses rejected. They are reportedly going to increase their offer to £8-10million.


Former England manager Fabio Capello confirmed that he is interested in managing in the EPL soon.


Arsenal are set to award 18-year-old teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a new contract deal.

Real Madrid are prepared to sign Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric with a bid for £30million to 'test the waters'.

Liverpool have made an official enquiry to sign young Italian striker Fabio Borini. 


Everton are interested in signing Sweden defender Olof Mellberg after contract talks with Olympiacos broke down.


Fenerbache are looking to offer Everton £1.5million for their defender Joseph Yobo who is a fringe player.


Reading are looking to hijack Fulham's bid for Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes.



Chelsea have released an official artist's impression of what their stadium could look like if they move to Battersea Power Station:

Beautiful: What Chelsea's stadium could look like if they move to Battersea Power Station.

 Night life: Chelsea are looking for suitable locations across West London, and have made a bid for BPS.

 

UEFA Euro 2012: 2nd Week Review:

Hello and welcome to my review of the past week of this year's UEFA Euro 2012 from Poland and Ukraine.


Day 4:

Group D:

England 1 France 1

This match was played in Donetsk, as these two teams went head-to-head in a epic clash for three points in their first first match of the competition. 

In the 15th minute, Winger Ashley Young gave team-mate James Milner a through ball. Milner went round Lloris before his shot was wide of the post and hit the side netting. 

Close but no shave: Milner was close to giving England the lead against France, but hit the side netting.

15 minutes later, a free-kick by Steven Gerrard was whipped into the box for defender Joleon Lescott who was unmarked and powerfully headered the ball past Lloris into the net. Lescott broke the deadlock for The Three Lions, and the fans went wild with joy.

Bullet header: Lescott takes advantage of not being marked to head the ball past Lloris and give England the lead.

But England decided to take 'their foot off the gas' and aid the price for it 9 minutes later when midfielder Samir Nasri found himself in space and shot low and hard past goalkeeper Joe Hart to equalise for 'Les Blues'.

Unstoppable: Nasri's effort beat his Manchester City team-mate Joe Hart to give France an equaliser.

Sshh: Samir Nasri's goal silences all of the England fans, less than 10 minutes (after his other team-mate) Lescott's goal.

France continued to press throughout the rest of the match, and even though they were a threat to England's defence and dominated possession, the Three Lions were brave and held on for a draw.

Highlight of Samir Nasri's goal:

Ukraine 2 Sweden 1

This match was played at Kiev were the co-hosts Ukraine faced Sweden. Both sides were not expected to go through to the Last 8, and it was there first match of the competition also.

The first half failed to impress, and was quite boring from a neutral perspective. There were not many goalscoring chances, and the odd chance was wasted.
This was certainly not the case in the second half, and it was as if both sides sprung to life.


In the 51st minute, AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring after cooly slotting a tap-in past the goalkeeper with ease.

Clinical captain: Ibrahimovic celebrates his 1st goal of the competition, and his 36th of the season.

4 minutes later, Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko equalised for Ukraine with a header from a Yarmelenko cross to give the co-hosts a chance of winning the match.

Age is just a number: At 35 years old, Shevchenko shows that he still delivers for his country.

In the 62nd minute, Shevchenko lost his marker inside the 6-yard box and used his head again to score once again for Ukraine to give them a 2-1 lead.  

You could not make it up: Shevchenko scores again for Ukraine to give them the lead against Sweden.

Despite Sweden's endless attacks for the rest of the match, they could not seem to find the net and got more and more frustrated.


Ukraine made history, by winning their first Euro match and there was only one man who could do it: The legend, Andriy Shevchenko.

Sweden had to avoid a loss against England, or they were out of the Euros.



Day 5:


Group A:


Poland 1 Russia 1

This match was played at Warsaw, as the co-hosts Poland had a tough test against Russia who were favourites to win this group. 

Russia broke the deadlock, after Alan Dzagoev scored his 3rd goal of the competition from a header in the 37th minute.

Golden Boot contender: Young midfielder Dzagoev scores his 3rd goal from a header. Many teams around Europe are watching him.

Pure jubilation: Russian young midfielder Alan Dzagoev celebrates his header.

Poland winger Jacub Blaszczkyowski equalised for the co-hosts in the 57th minute after finding space and taking a rocket shot from 22 yards out.

Goal of Euro 2012 contender: Blaszczkyowski hit a bullet shot past the Russians' defence to give Poland hope.

This was how the match finished, 1-1 with both teams taking a well-deserved point. 

Highlight of Blaszczkyowski's goal:
 

Russia willl be the less happier of the two teams, considering their status and the expectations of the team in this tournament.


Greece 1 Czech Republic 2

Jiracek and Pilar gave the Czech's an early 2-0 lead inside the first 6 minutes of the match.

The first: Jiracek gives the Czech's an early lead in the 3rd minute against a weak Greece side.

And another: Before Pilar doubles the lead, 3 minutes later to give Greece a headache.

Greece pegged a goal back in the 53rd minute with Fanis Gekas taking advantage of a mistake by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, but it was not enough for Greece to get back into the match. 

Faint hope: Gekas takes advantage of Cech's failure to catch the ball, and slots the ball home into the net.

Day 6:


Group B:


Portugal 3 Denmark 2

This match was played at Lviv, as Portugal went head-to-head with Denmark. 
Denmark were certainly the underdogs in the 'Group of Death', until they beat Holland in their first match, while Portugal failed to beat Germany in their first match.


In the 24th minute, Real Madrid defender Pepe scored a header to give Portugal the lead from a Joao Moutinho cross.

Eat my goal: Real Madrid defender Pepe heads Portugal ahead against underdogs Denmark.

12 minutes later, Manchester United winger Nani finds striker Helder Postiga with a nice pass inside the 16-yard box and he powerfully strikes the ball above the goalkeeper into the net to give Portugal a 2-goal cushion.

What a finish: Helder Postiga makes his mark on the match with a powerful strike past Denmark's defence.

FACT: Helder Postiga becomes the sixth player to score at 3 different European Championships, after Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Nuno Gomes, Vladimir Smicer and Jurgen Klinsmann.




Suddenly, 5 minutes later the whole complexion of the match changed when Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner scored a header at the far post to give Denmark a lifeline of getting a result against Portugal.

A lifeline: Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner finds space at the far post when the ball fell to him.

Portugal continued to attack during the second half, looking for a killer goal until the 80th minute when against the run of play, striker Bendtner doubled his tally for the day by equalising for Denmark with ANOTHER header!

2nd headed goal for Bendtner, 3rd in the match: 80 minutes, 2-2.

Is this a message to Mr Wenger? Bendtner scores his 2nd of the day to level the scores against Portugal.

In the 87th minute, substitute Silvestre Varela let a shot fly inside the 16-yard box, and it beat the Denmark keeper and went into the net.

Super sub: Silvestre Varela gives Portugal all three points in the last three minutes after a flying shot.

Beat that one, Ronaldo: Varela scorers his goal.

Highlight of Varela's winner for Portugal against Denmark:

Denmark were in shock from the goal, and it was too late for them to get back into the match with so little time left.


Germany 2 Holland 1

This match was played at Kharkiv, as tough side Germany faced World Cup 2010 Runners-Up Holland.
Mario Gomez scored a brace for Germany, both in the first half after the Germans dominated possession and passed Holland to death with Schweinsteiger and Ozil spilting the defence in half.... 

Top-class finish: Gomez does a 180- degree spin before slotting the ball into the net past the keeper.

Power over placement: Striker Gomez beats Holland's defence once again to give them a 2-0 lead.

Day 7:


Spain 4 Republic of Ireland 0


Italy 1 Croatia 1


Day 8: 


Ukraine 0 France 2


Sweden 2 England 3


Day 9,
YESTERDAY:


Greece 1 Russia 0


Czech Republic 1 Poland 0


Russia and Poland are both out of UEFA Euro 2012 after they both lost.

Czech Republic and Greece have both qualified for the Last 8. 

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