Michael Krohn-Dehli celebrates opening the scoring for Denmark against Holland in the opening game in Euro 2012 Group B. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images
10 June 2012
Euro 2012: Holland 0-1 Denmark Match Analysis
Denmark supplied the first shock of Euro 2012 with a convincing win over a surprisingly passive Holland, who will need to sort out their supply line to Robin van Persie if they are to have any chance against Portugal or Germany, let alone justify their billing among the favourites for the tournament.
The Danes were rarely dominant but they did enough to deserve a win, scoring a quality goal and defending well afterwards, in addition to occasionally threatening at least one more. Much was made of Holland's defensive worries in the buildup to this game but it was the midfield that looked weak here, never really linking effectively with the lone striker Van Persie, who for most of the game had only Wesley Sneijder to look to for the ball. "We found enough room to play the game we wanted to play," said Morten Olsen, the Denmark manager. "We could even have played a little better, sometimes the final ball let us down. We will need to improve that against Portugal."
Holland created all the early chances, with Ibrahim Afellay missing narrowly a couple of times, Van Persie putting a shot wide from Arjen Robben's cut-back and then managing to find Sneijder with a cross that might have produced a goal had the Arsenal striker been on the receiving rather than supplying end. The Danes were pressed back in their own half for the first 15 minutes but seemed content enough with that, though they wasted a free-kick in a rare good position when Christian Eriksen shot into the wall after Ron Vlaar had rather clumsily fouled Nicklas Bendtner.
The Dutch had a great chance to take the lead midway through the first half when neat play by John Heitinga and Mark van Bommel played Robben in behind the Denmark defence, only for the winger to square unselfishly when shooting might have been a better option, allowing Lars Jacobsen to scramble the ball away before it could reach Van Persie. Denmark were doubling up on Robben but he still managed to find Van Persie with a neat reverse pass a few minutes later, for a shot on the turn that rolled the wrong side of a post.
So far so predictable but, completely against the run of play, Denmark livened up the proceedings in the 24th minute with an excellent opening goal. Picking up a rebound from a strong Simon Poulsen run down the left, Michael Krohn-Dehli showed great awareness and no little acceleration to power his way beyond Vlaar and slip a confident shot under Maarten Stekelenburg.
Going ahead so emboldened the Danes that they began to play more of the game in the Dutch half, reversing the earlier pattern of the match, though when Holland recovered their composure after a few minutes they could easily have equalised when Robben struck a post from the edge of the area, then Afellay sent a rising shot just over the crossbar. Sneijder found Van Persie in front of goal two minutes from the interval, only for a slightly heavy first touch to allow Stephan Andersen to make a save, though at the other end Stekelenburg also had to get down well to keep out a shot from Krohn-Dehli.
One of Holland's problems was not bringing Van Persie into the game enough, yet when Sneijder did find him with a measured through ball at the start of the second half he managed to fall over himself instead of unleashing a shot. He did better with his next attempt seconds later, forcing a save from Andersen as the Dutch tried to impose themselves more, and the Denmark goalkeeper had to make an even smarter save when Van Bommel hit a shot on target from just outside the area.
Afellay went close and Heitinga headed over as Holland searched for an equaliser but, just as in the first half, Poulsen almost sprang another surprise with a deft run to the left hand byline, Afellay having to react sharply to prevent his cross providing Jacobsen with an open goal.
As the game went into its final hour Holland's attacks became just a little more frantic, with Robben putting a header well wide from a position where he should have at least hit the target. Just after the busy Krohn-Dehli had brought another save from Stekelenburg, Bert van Marwijk beefed up his attack with Rafael van der Vaart and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for the final 20 minutes, a bold move but one which many Dutch fans would say should have been made earlier. Both players seem too good to leave on the bench, and either might usefully have been on from the start.
Sneijder immediately found Huntelaar with an immaculate flicked through ball, but the forward found Andersen equally quick to come off his line and smother. Huntelaar had an appeal for handball against Jacobsen in the penalty area turned down in the last minute of normal time, but the referee shook his head, ignored the player's invitation to check replays on the giant screen, and the Dutch crept away defeated. "We just have to beat Germany now," Van Marwijk said. "Everyone can see that."
Euro 2012: Germany 1- 0 Portugal Match Analysis
Germany's Mario Gomez heads home against Portugal in the Group B Euro 2012 match in Lviv, Ukraine. Photograph: Kerim Okten/EPA
It took a long time coming but there was a sense of inevitability thatGermany would eventually wear Portugal down. Their slow, methodical approach had failed to deliver reward and Mario Gomez was close to being withdrawn when one more patient buildup yielded a precious goal for the Bayern Munich striker and the breakthrough Germany so badly needed. Miroslav Klose, who was ready to replace Gomez, returned to the bench and Germany's Euro 2012 campaign was up and running.
It was a wonderful header from Gomez at a point when Germany appeared to be running out of ideas against a Portugal team who waited far too long to play with any real ambition. Chances came and went for Portugal in the closing 10 minutes as the substitute Silvestre Varela shot straight at Manuel Neuer before Nani, whose floated cross had clipped the top of the crossbar moments earlier, saw his stabbed effort from close-range blocked by Holger Badstuber.
Germany, however, did enough to deserve victory on the balance of play and face Holland in Kharkiv on Wednesday knowing that another three points could secure their place in the quarter-finals and, depending on the result between Portugal and Denmark in Lviv, eliminate the World Cup runners-up from the competition at the same time. For Portugal, like Holland, the pressure is on and they will need to see much more from Cristiano Ronaldo when they meet the Danes.
Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure and could not get off the pitch quickly enough at the final whistle. In front of the Real Madrid manager, José Mourinho, Ronaldo was on the fringes of the game all evening, seeing far too little of the ball and unable to conceal his frustration with his team-mates at times. There was one moment in the first half when Helder Postiga mis-read a pass and Ronaldo stopped in his tracks, threw his hands in the air and shook his head. It was that sort of night for the world's most expensive footballer.
Gomez's evening had also been a little frustrating, the forward denied a goal in the first half, when the French referee, Stéphane Lannoy, needlessly pulled play back to penalise Raul Meireles for a foul on Sami Khedira. Gomez had an early header from Jérôme Boateng's cross saved, but thereafter there were too many occasions when Germany got into decent wide positions but failed to deliver the final ball.
That all changed, however, when Bastian Schweinsteiger fed Khedira in the 72nd minute and the midfielder whipped in a centre that took a deflection before reaching Gomez, who had pulled of the shoulder of Pepe, leaving him up against the right-back Joao Pereira. There was still much to do but Gomez sent a powerful header back across goal and inside the far post to the delight of the Germany supporters, who had been warned by the stadium announcer in the first half that the game could be abandoned if they continued to throw what appeared to be rolled-up paper on to the pitch.
Joachim Löw was delighted with the result. "This is the start of the European Championship, it's like an F1 race but without a warm-up," the Germany coach said. "You have to be right there straight away because every team is incredibly strong, there are no teams like in the World Cup where you can acclimatise yourself. Portugal were right there straight away. I think you feel in this game both teams were quite tense, especially after the Holland and Denmark result. Because if you lost, you knew you had a lot to do."
Löw claimed that he would have been happier if Holland had got something from the Denmark fixture. "I would have been preferred it was a draw because it's now a situation for a very strong Holland team [where] they have their backs against the wall, they have to play all or nothing. If they don't win the second game it will be very difficult for them."
Although this Germany side is similar to the one that looked so impressive at the last World Cup – eight of the players that started here were in the XI that lined up against Australia in the first group game in South Africa two years ago – much has changed in terms of the way they seek to control games. A team that was so dangerous on the counterattack now likes to monopolise the ball, pinning opponents back and probing for an opening. At times it was too slow and played into the hands of Portugal. "I said at half-time we had to increase our rhythm and play faster and make the tempo that little bit higher," Löw said.
Thomas Müller and Lukas Podolski both squandered decent chances in the first half but Portugal came within inches of taking the lead on the stroke of half-time, when Germany failed to deal with Meireles's corner and Pepe swept in a shot from 12 yards that struck the crossbar, with Neuer well beaten, and bounced on the goalline.
The game became a little ragged in the second half until Gomez finally added a touch of class with a 23rd international goal that leaves Portugal and Ronaldo with much to do to stay in the competition. "Of course I'm sad about the result," Paulo Bento, the Portugal coach said. "Germany dominated a bit, they had more possession. They controlled the game but we still defended good. Then, in the last minutes, we did everything we could to create chances but we didn't score. If we want to advance, we have to win in the second game, there's no other way of thinking."
09 June 2012
EURO 2012 : FIRST DAY MATCH ANALYSIS
Russia produced the sort of football purists dream of and gave the Czech Republic a lesson in moving the ball quickly, effectively and beautifully on Friday as they announced themselves as potential Euro 2012 challengers.
Alan Dzagoyev scored twice in the 4-1 triumph in their Group A opener but little maestro Andrei Arshavin took many of the plaudits for threading the sort of cute little passes which give nightmares to cumbersome defenders.
Odds were quickly slashed on Dick Advocaat's men winning the tournament but with a long way to go and a potentially tough quarter-final against the Germans, Dutch or Portuguese, they will have to keep this form going for a few weeks yet.
"The Czechs left some space which made us dangerous," Advocaat, a Dutchman schooled in the pass and move groove, told reporters.
"For the first game I am happy about it. Andrei played a very good game. He worked very hard. He was very important for the team the way he can play."
Asked if his side were now among the favourites, even before 12 of the 16 teams have played, Advocaat exuded the sort of realism which Russia will need if they are to avoid a repeat of their 2008 semi-final failure after being equally hyped.
"It is most important we won the first game. At the end is when you lift the trophy, not now," he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the rest of Group A - where Poland drew 1-1 with Greece earlier - rather than the final in Kiev on July 1.
The Czechs actually started the game the better, controlling possession until a quick break after 15 minutes had Russia in front. Alexander Kerzhakov hit the post with a header, the closest he came on an otherwise profligate night in front of goal, only for Dzagoyev to coolly strike home the rebound.
It got worse for Michal Bilek's men as soon waves of Russians poured forward with the ball almost always played to feet along the slick pitch coated with a shower of rain.
The moment of the match came when Arshavin - who seemed to have lost all his mercurial powers in recent years after wowing Euro 2008 - showed their was life in the Russian bear yet with the most effortless but the most destructive pass imaginable. Roman Shirokov then flicked the ball over goalkeeper Petr Cech with another spot of brilliance to net the second and thrill a sizeable contingent of Russians inside the impressive bowled Wroclaw stadium.
The Czech border is not so far away from the Polish host city but it was an unhappy journey back for their army of painted-faced fans after watching their side show signs of promise but little more. Vaclav Pilar's 52nd-minute goal which made it 2-1 was well worked and briefly made a game of it.
They upped the pressure though and with the Czechs tiring, especially left back Michal Kadlec who was picked to bomb forward on every occasion but left dangerous holes, the match was put to bed in emphatic fashion. The craft and the guile was still present in the move for the third but Dzagoyev's thumping 79th-minute finish was a sign that Russia can also do power.
Substitute striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who could find himself in the starting lineup for Russia's next match against Poland in Warsaw on June 12 given Kerzhakov's wastefulness, then bamboozled the defence and buried his fierce shot into the net three minutes later for the fourth.
"We scored the goal but we were losing the ball again and our opponents punished us for this," said Bilek.
Russia rout Czechs, Poles held by Greece :Euro 2012
Euro 2012 got off to an incident-packed start on Friday with Group A favourites Russia thrashing the Czech Republic 4-1 while Greece spoiled the party for co-hosts Poland in a drawn opening match as both teams finished with 10 men.
Russia captain Andrei Arshavin turned in an inspired performance as his side put on a breathless display of counter-attacking football in Wroclaw that blew the Czechs away.
The Russians will next face Poland who got the perfect start against Euro 2004 championsGreece when talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski scored early but the Greeks fought back and even missed a penalty in a lively encounter.
The start of the action on the pitch helped draw attention away from fears over racism at the event, which Poland is jointly staging with Ukraine and is the biggest of its kind in eastern Europe since the collapse of communism.
The tournament was officially opened with a colourful ceremony in Warsaw’s National Stadium featuring dancers in the traditional costumes of the two host countries before Poland and Greece served up an entertaining game.
Czech Republic's Plasil shoots a free kick towards Russia's defensive barrier during their Group A Euro 2012 soccer match at the City Stadium in Wroclaw. Reuters
It could have been worse for the home side but for substitute goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton, who saved a penalty with his first touch 20 minutes from time.
Poland’s first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny had been dismissed moments before for a foul on Dimitris Salpingidis in the penalty area but Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis’s weak spot kick was parried to safety by Tyton with his first touch.
The vociferous home support among the 56,000 crowd did their best to spur their heroes to victory but Greece, who were reduced to 10 men before the break, held firm to earn a point.
Poland had looked to be heading for victory when Lewandowski nodded them deservedly in front in the 17th minute and Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was harshly dismissed just before halftime for a second yellow card.
But Salpingidis levelled for the Greeks six minutes after halftime before Tyton became the first substitute keeper to save a penalty at a European Championship.
“The opening game in such a big tournament often ends with a draw but all is not lost,” said Poland coach Franciszek Smuda.
“We will play at least two more matches at Euro 2012 and we must win both of them,” he added.
RACISM CONCERNS
In the second game Russia opened a 2-0 lead with goals by Alan Dzagoyev after 15 minutes and Roman Shirokov in the 24th before Vaclav Pilar struck for the Czechs in the second half.
Dzagoyev added his second in the 79th and substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko lashed in a fourth eight minutes from time.
Co-hosts Poland and Ukraine hope the event will show the world how far they have come since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, while Ukraine wants the finals to help it integrate with the West.
However, both countries are embroiled in a row over xenophobia and Ukraine faces a boycott over its treatment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who was jailed in a case which the West says is politically motivated.
A spokeswoman for the Dutch team said players had heard racist chants from the crowd this week during a training session in a stadium used by Polish club side Wisla Krakow.
“Some players did hear some monkey noises. That is why they moved to the other side of the pitch,” the spokeswoman said, although coach Bert van Marwijk, Dutch officials and many journalists at the training session heard no racist abuse.
Dutch football authorities did not lodge a formal complaint but UEFA, soccer’s European governing body, released a statement saying it had a “zero-tolerance policy” on racism and referees had been told to stop matches if there was any racist behaviour.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk dined on Thursday at the home of the country’s first black parliamentarian, John Godson, to try to ease worries about racism.
Ukraine has also tried to dismiss such concerns, which were fuelled by a BBC documentary that showed racist violence in a Ukrainian soccer stadium.
NO RACISM
“There is no racism in Ukraine,” the government press office quoted Prime Minister Mykola Azarov as saying. “Ukraine is an extremely tolerant and democratic country.”
Ukraine also faces an unofficial boycott over the treatment of Tymoshenko, a former prime minister sentenced to seven years in prison last October for abuse of office.
She is serving her sentence in the city of Kharkiv, where she said in April she was physically manhandled by prison guards and is now being treated for chronic back problems in the same city. Prison authorities deny she was assaulted.
Britain said on Thursday government ministers would not attend group matches in Ukraine because of human rights concerns, and Germany and France are among other countries to have announced similar moves over their teams’ appearances.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he had no plans to attend, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Voloshyn said Ukraine would not be influenced by the boycott.
The controversy has done little to dampen enthusiasm among Polish and Ukrainian fans and there was a festive atmosphere in both countries.
Matches in Ukraine start on Saturday when Netherlands play Denmark and Germany face Portugal in a tough Group B.
27 May 2012
23 May 2012
IPL 2012 Match Schedule
