Monday 25 June 2012

Euro 2012: England's curse strikes again


QUARTER FINALS
TVDate/time (BST)
Venue
BBCThu 21 June, 19:45CZECH REPUBLIC 0-1 PORTUGALWarsaw
ITVSat 23 June, 19:45SPAIN 2-0 FRANCE Donetsk
ITVFri 22 June, 19:45GERMANY 4-2 GREECEGdansk
BBCSun 24 June, 19:45ENGLAND 0-0 ITALY*Kiev
*ITALY won 4-2 on penalties.


QUARTER FINAL 4: ENGLAND 0-0 ITALY (2-4 on penalties)
England Hart - Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole - Milner (Walcott 61), Gerrard (c), Parker (Henderson 94), Young - Rooney, Welbeck (Carroll 60)
Italy Buffon (c) - Balzaretti, Abate (Maggio 90), Barzagli, Bonucci - Marchisio, De Rossi (Nocerino 80), Montolivo, Pirlo - Balotelli, Cassano (Diamanti 78)
Attendance 56,500 at Olympic Stadium, Kiev Referee Pedro Proenca (Portugal)
Penalties 0-1 Balotelli scores, 1-1 Gerrard scores, 1-1 Montolivo misses, 2-1 Rooney scores, 2-2 Pirlo scores, 2-2 Young misses, 2-3 Nocerino scores, 2-3 Cole saved, 2-4 Diamanti scores

TURIN in 1990, Wembley in '96, Saint-Etienne in '98, Lisbon in '04, and Gelsenkirchen in '06. Kiev 2012 can be added to the list as England's penalty curse struck again.

This time, Ashleys Young and Cole missed the decisive spot-kicks allowing former West Ham United forward Alessandro Diamanti to put Italy into the semi finals against Germany.

In truth, it was no more than Cesare Prandelli's men deserved after a dominant performance against Roy Hodgson's boys. At times this was indeed men against boys.

Not right at the start though. In a competitive opening, the Italians had a chance almost straightaway when Daniele De Rossi sliced a 30-yard volley against the face of the post.

However, England responded almost immediately and should have scored when James Milner's cross inadvertently found Glen Johnson eight yards out.

Johnson dug the ball out from under hit feet but his lofted shot lacked power and was saved all-too-comfortably by Gianluigi Buffon. Incredibly, it would end up being the Three Lions' last effort on target.

Still, at the time, that chance seemed to encourage England who had much the better of the opening part of the match without further unduly testing Buffon.

But, as the first half drew to a close, the Italians began to establish themselves as the dominant force in the game with England struggling to keep possession.

The first sign of a shift in momentum came midway through the first half when Mario Balotelli sprung a weak offside trap, only for John Terry to get back and recover the situation brilliantly.

Then, just before half time, the Manchester City striker really should have opened the scoring but he was prevented from doing so by a great block from his club team-mate Joleon Lescott.

Straight after the interval, there was another big chance for Italy following a corner which was only half-cleared by Joe Hart. Roma's De Rossi was the guilty party on this occasion, volleying wide from six yards out.

But that miss was nothing as compared to what happened on 52 minutes when the Italians had three efforts in quick succession.

First, Claudio Marchisio called Hart into action with a drive from all of 30 yards, then Balotelli picked up the rebound, causing Hart to save again with his knees.

The second rebound fell to Riccardo Montolivo but, like De Rossi before him, he failed to find the target from no more than six yards out.

This was breathless stuff and it was England who were suffocating. There was little respite as Balotelli fired over an acrobatic effort on the hour mark, immediately before Hodgson rung the changes.

On came Theo Walcott and Andy Carroll for Milner and Danny Welbeck, and the substitutes quickly combined to good effect as England launched a rare foray into Italian territory.

The ball eventually fell to Young but his deflected shot went wide for a corner, from which Carroll could only concede a free-kick.

Still, England seemed to have picked up a little and were threatening on the rare occasions when they had the ball as Carroll only just failed to connect with the disappointing Wayne Rooney.

But the Italians were still the far better side in possession, which was dictated by the excellent Andrea Pirlo who pulled the strings all night in midfield.

Azzurri substitutes Diamanti and Antonio Nocerino had late chances to win it but the last chance of the 90 minutes actually fell to England.

Young found Cole on the overlap and his cross found Carroll. The big Geordie headed it back towards Rooney but the Manchester United striker's volley was well over. The attempt at daylight robbery had failed.

Into extra time and the well-established pattern of the game continued with England struggling for any kind of decent possession.

The danger of deep defending was exemplified when the Italians hit the post for the second time in the match as Diamanti's innocuous ball caused all sorts of concern in the England defence.

However, as the whistle blew for half time in extra time, England were still somehow at 0-0, despite having had just 37% of the ball.

The Three Lions had one more scare to survive when, with six minutes left, Italy thought they had won the tie.
 
Diamanti found Nocerino who headed into the net from close range but, thankfully, the flag had been raised for offside - and England could breathe again.

Onto penalties and, having missed several chances during the game, Balotelli finally found the net with the first kick before Steven Gerrard equalised for England.

Then, the seemingly impossible looked like it might just be pulled off as Montolivo missed the target dreadfully and Rooney gave England a 2-1 lead.

By the end of the third kicks, though, the match was back level as Pirlo chipped his penalty Panenka-style past Hart, and Young smashed his kick against the bar.

Suddenly, the atmosphere had changed and Italy regained the lead through Nocerino whose finish transferred the pressure onto Chelsea defender Cole.

The left-back seemed to feel it as he could only shoot tamely at Buffon who made an easy save.

All that was left was for Diamanti to apply the last rites to another England campaign to end from 12 yards.

England's Euro 2012 adventure was over - but, as Roy Hodgson pointed out in his press conference today, his team had probably done better than expected, and certainly no worse.

Hodgson said: "I think we have done well to come through the tournament without losing a match in normal time at least. I have learned so much about the team and the players and it has been an invaluable five weeks.

"I don't believe we have let people down apart from in the penalty shoot-out."

Hodgson is right in what he has said on this occasion but there remains a fundamental failing in English football, namely the familiar inability of the players to keep the ball.

That, more than anything, has haunted England once again this summer and it is a problem which will continue to prevent the Three Lions from dining at football's top table.

The hard work for Hodgson and the Football Association starts now, and it must start at the National Football Centre in Burton. It is time, at long last, to take the long-view.


QUARTER FINAL 2: GERMANY 4-2 GREECE 
Germany Neuer - Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm (c) - Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Oezil, Schurrle (Mueller 67) - Reus (Goetze 80), Klose (Gomez 79). Goals Lahm 39, Khedira 61, Klose 68, Reus 74.
Greece Sifakis - Maniatis, Tzavelas (Fotakis 46), K Papadopoulos, Torosidis - Papastathopoulos, Makos (Liberopoulos 71), Ninis (Gekas 46), Katsouranis (c) - Samaras, Salpingidis. Goals Samaras 55, Salpingidis 89 pen
Attendance 43,000 at PGE Arena, Gdansk Referee Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

GERMANY produced an ominously dominant display on their way to beating Greece 4-2 in Gdansk.

It is no surprise to see the Nationalmannschaft have now been installed as favourites for the tournament ahead of Spain, given the squad depth that was on display in this quarter final.

Out went Thomas Mueller, Lukas Podolski and top scorer Mario Gomez, only for their replacements - Miroslav Klose, Marko Reus and Andre Schurrle - to fit into the side seamlessly.

The story of the first half looked as if it was actually going to be one of German profligacy after Mesut Oezil, Klose, and Reus all missed good chances in quick succession.

However, the complete dominance of Joachim Loew's team was eventually rewarded six minutes before the interval when captain Philipp Lahm hit a typically spectacular strike from outside the area.

Greece had failed even to have a single touch in their opponents' box in the first half so to say that their equaliser on 55 minutes was something of a shock is quite an understatement.

What was still yet more surprising was the source of the goal as enigmatic Celtic striker Giorgos Samaras managed to keep his cool and slide the ball under German keeper Manuel Neuer. It was completely against the run of play.

The feeling that the Greeks could actually pull off this almighty shock persisted just six minutes, though.

For, just after the hour mark, the Germans restored their lead when Sami Khedira volleyed into the roof of the net, and then Klose got in on the act with a simple header.

That made it 64 international goals for the Polish-born Klose meaning he now sits just four behind the all-time German record held by Gerd Mueller.

But, while Klose, 34, will soon be hanging up his boots, the Germans have discovered what looks to be another lethal forward in new Borussia Dortmund signing Reus.

The 23-year-old's emphatic finish off the underside of the bar made it 4-1 as Germany assumed complete control with still more than quarter of an hour left to play.

In that time, Oezil fired in a couple of shots as he sought a goal to complement his brilliant midfield performance but both of his efforts were beaten away.

It was, in fact, the Greeks who would write the final chapter of yet another excellent Euro 2012 match.

Poor Jerome Boateng was harshly adjudged to have handled Giogos Fotakis's cross and the Greeks received their second penalty of the tournament.

Dimitris Salpingidis, one of Fernando Santos's better players, converted but this was undoubtedly Germany's night.


QUARTER FINAL 1: CZECH REPUBLIC 0-1 PORTUGAL
Czech Republic Cech (c) - Gebre Selassie, Kadlec, Sivok, Limbersky - Plasil, Pilar, Hubschman (Pekhart 86), Jiracek, Darida (Rezek 61) - Baros.
Portugal
Rui Patricio - Alves, Pepe, Coentrao, Joao Pereira - Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Meireles (Rolando 88), Nani (Custodio 84), Ronaldo (c) - Postiga (Almeida 39). Goal Ronaldo 79
Attendance 58,145 at National Stadium, Warsaw Referee Howard Webb (England)

PORTUGAL prevailed against a staid Czech Republic side after Cristiano Ronaldo's winner 10 minutes from time.

The Real Madrid man rescued this match from an extra 30-minute period with a bullet header and, frankly, it was nothing more than Ronaldo - and Portugal - deserved.

The 27-year-old was in sparkling form in the final group game against Netherlands, scoring twice, and he carried on in Warsaw from where he had left off.

At first he was frustrated by the woodwork, which he hit twice, as well as a mighty performance by Czech keeper Petr Cech.

But the Chelsea stopper could do little as Portugal's pressure finally paid off when Ronaldo converted a fine cross from his former Manchester United team-mate, Nani.

A frantic close to the match saw Cech go up for a stoppage-time corner but even this went badly wrong for the Czechs as the delivery was much too deep.

Michal Bilek's side eventually won Group A, of course, but played here like they did in their first game when they were thrashed 4-1 by Russia.

In fact, from an attacking perspective, they were even worse, failing to have a shot on target all the way through this tie.

That made it easy for the Portuguese to control the game and for skipper Ronaldo to shine.

Shine, he did, and - quite patently - any side with his scoring prowess has a genuine chance of winning this tournament.


QUARTER FINAL 3: SPAIN 2-0 FRANCE
Spain Casillas (c) - Arbeloa, Ramos, Pique, Alba - Iniesta (Cazorla 84), Xavi, Fabregas (Torres 67), Alonso, Busquets, Silva (Pedrito 65). Goals Alonso 19, 90 (pen).
France Lloris (c) - Reveillere, Rami, Koscielny, Clichy - Debuchy (Menez 64), Cabaye, M'Vila (Giroud 79), Malouda (Nasri 64), Ribery - Benzema.
Attendance 46,145 at Donbass Arena, Donetsk Referee Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

SPAIN marched past lacklustre France in Donetsk to set up an all-Iberian semi final against Portugal on Wednesday.

World Cup-winning coach Vincente del Bosque opted once again to field a first XI without a recognised striker.

But it did not make any difference as La Roja beat Les Bleus in a competitive match for the first time in history.

The early goal helped, of course, allowing Spain to settle into their possession game without feeling under pressure to add to their score.

Ironically, the vital moment on 19 minutes came down the side that France had reinforced by fielding two right-backs.

Instead, impressive Valencia left-back Jordi Alba skipped past Anthony Reveillere and Mathieu Debuchy who ended up flat out on the turf.

Having reached the byline, Alba floated a delightful ball to the back post where Xabi Alonso was waiting, having abandoned his lazy French marker Florent Malouda.

Former Liverpool midfielder Alonso applied the coup de grace to a great move by planting a perfect header past goalkeeper captain Hugo Lloris. It was exactly what Laurent Blanc had hoped to avoid.

The onus was now on France to get an equaliser but, save for a 30-yard free-kick from Yohan Cabaye which was tipped over by Iker Casillas, Les Bleus were strangely lacking in... well, anything really.

Franck Ribery, drifting wide left, continually ran up blind alleys while Karim Benzema toiled in his thankless task as the loan striker.

This pattern of play continued into the second half before Blanc eventually decided to change it up by introducing Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez for the disappointing Debuchy and Malouda.

At this point, del Bosque also made a change, finally bringing on a recognised striker in Fernando Torres in the expectation of more gaps in the French back line.

However, the anticipated advance from France barely happened, even when Blanc brought on a second striker in Montpellier's Olivier Giroud.

Instead, it always seemed more likely that Spain would step it up momentarily and score a second. In the first minute of stoppage time, that is exactly what happened.

Substitute Pedro weaved past the hapless Reveillere only for the full-back to challenge clumsily giving the Italian referee no option but to point at the spot.

Alonso stepped up to sweep the ball into the net, thus marking his 100th international cap in style.

France are out and, like the Czechs and the Greeks before them, cannot complain at their result.

Indeed, their negativity on the pitch was repeated off it with confirmed reports of a fall-out between key players and a foul-mouthed post-match tirade by Nasri at a journalist.

Blanc will now depart from his post as France coach, but he has left his successor with yet another rebuilding job.

Spain, meanwhile, continue to defy their critics and refuse to be distracted from going for an historic third consecutive crown.


SEMI FINALS

TVDate/time (BST)
Venue
BBCWed 27 June, 19:45PORTUGAL v SPAINDonetsk
BBCThu 28 June, 19:45GERMANY v ITALY Warsaw

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