World Cup Soccer News - euro 2012

Euro 2012 Draw & Groups

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:35:12 +0000

The draw for the 2012 European Championships was made today at the Palace of Arts in Kiev , Ukraine. England in Group D will kick off their Euro 2012 campaign against France in Donetsk on 11 June, followed by games against Sweden in Kiev on 15 June, and then face hosts Ukraine again at the 51,504-capacity Donbass Arena in Donetsk on 19 June. The Republic of Ireland in Group C will face Croatia in Poznan on 10 June, followed by World and European champions Spain in the Baltic port city of Gdansk on 14 June before ending their group games with a match versus Italy in Poznan on 18 June. The four groups are as follows: Group A Poland Greece Russia Czech Republic Group B Holland Denmark Germany Portugal Group C Spain Italy Republic of Ireland Croatia Group D Ukraine Sweden France England Soccer - Capello expects tough finale England head coach Fabio Capello thinks that Euro 2012 will be even harder to win than the World Cup in South Africa two years ago. Capello's reign as England boss will end after next year's finals in Poland and Ukraine, with England 10/1 with bet365 to send the Italian off on a winning note. However, Capello believes that his side will face a massive test of their mettle, with the likes of reigning champions Spain (5/2) and Germany (3/1) among the favourites. Capello said: "It will be stronger because if you look at the groups and all the teams - particularly the three European teams who reached the World Cup semi-finals - the technical level is at the top, the organisation of the teams is at the top. "Also some teams who didn't play well at the World Cup will now be back at the top. "Portugal, France and Italy will be better. It will be a really tough tournament." Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

International night, Euro 2012 finalists set

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:46:20 +0000

The final lineup for next summer's European Championship in Poland & Ukraine is now set after tonight's playoff second legs, with a strong field of sixteen heading for Eastern Europe. There were no winning fightbacks following the first legs and Portugal, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Ireland and Croatia all advanced to Euro 2012, eliminating respectively Bosnia & Herzogovina, Montenegro, Estonia and Turkey. The sixteen qualifiers are thus: Poland, Ukraine , Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, England, Portugal, Denmark, Croatia, Sweden, Eire, Czech Republic, Greece and Russia. All the big guns are there, and Croatia, Sweden, Russia and Ireland make the boat having missed out on the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. The Netherlands' Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finished as top scorer in Europe with twelve goals, followed by Germany's Miroslav Klose with nine. England were the best supported team with an average home crowd of 77,000, followed by France with 65,000. The draw for the finals takes place in Kiev on the 2nd of December and the tournament itself is from the 8th of June until the 1st of July. *** * World Champions Spain 's lukewarm friendly form continued when they scraped a 2-2 draw in Costa Rica. Trailing 2-0 at the interval, David Silva pulled one back in the 83rd minute and David Villa spared their blushes with a leveller three minutes into injury time. As with Saturday's defeat to England, Spain fielded a full-strength team for the clash in San Jose, Costa Rica. In other European friendlies, Germany blanked the Netherlands 3-0 in Hamburg, Italy lost 0-1 to Uruguay in Rome, England beat Sweden for the first time since 1968, 1-0 in London, while France drew 0-0 at home to Belgium. The USA won 3-2 in Slovenia while there were home wins for both Euro 2012 hosts: Poland beat Hungary and Ukraine Austria, both by 2-1 scorelines. * Argentina overturned a half-time deficit to beat Colombia 2-1 in their 2014 World Cup qualifier in Barranquilla, Colombia. Lionel Messi equalised Dorlan Pabon's opener on the hour mark and Sergio Aguero bagged the winner with five minutes to play. In another CONMEBOL qualifier, Ecuador beat Peru 2-0 in Quito. * Asian giants Japan and South Korea both lost in 2014 qualifying tonight - Nippon lost 1-0 away to North Korea, while the Korean Republic lost 2-1 away to Lebanon. Australia won 1-0 in Thailand, China won 4-0 in Singapore and Iran won 4-1 in Indonesia. There were also qualifiers among the lesser nations of Africa and the CONCACAF region. * In the pick of tonight's African friendlies, Nigeria beat Zambia 2-0, Ghana beat Gabon 2-1 and Zimbabwe beat neighbours South Africa 2-1. (c) Sean O'Conor and Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

England To Base In Krakow For Euro 2012

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:27:06 +0000

The English FA have announced that the England team at Euro 2012 will be based in the historic city of Krakow in Poland . The team will stay at the city centre Hotel Stary close to Rynek Square in the Old Town district and train at the rather dilapidated Hutnik Municipality Stadium on the city's outskirts. Krakow is Poland's second largest city after Warsaw, the capital, and is Poland's major cultural and artistic centre. Krakow is not one of Poland's Euro 2012 venue cities and is a five hour train journey (with no beer on sale) to Wroclaw. Tags Euro 2012 football

Euro 2012 Play Offs

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:18:33 +0000

The draw for the Euro 2012 qualification play offs were made in the Polish city of Krakow on Thursday. The full draw is: Bosnia-Herzegovina v Portugal Estonia v Ireland Czech Republic v Montenegro Turkey v Croatia First leg matches are scheduled for November 11 or 12 with the second leg to be played on November 15. Tags World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Euro 2012 field narrows down

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:26:58 +0000

We now know twelve of the sixteen finalists for next summer's European Championship in Poland & Ukraine , with play-offs for the four remaining places taking place in mid-November. The hosts will be joined by Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Sweden. Five of the play-off contenders are East European - Bosnia/Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia and Montenegro, along with Eire, Portugal and Turkey . The draw is on Thursday in Poland. Some names missing the boat include Norway , whom Portugal pipped on goal difference in Group H, and Switzerland , who had beaten Spain at the 2010 World Cup, lost to fast-improving Wales in their final game, allowing Montenegro to overtake; Belgium , despite the talents of Eden Hazard and others, drew three and lost three in Group A and were beaten to second place by Turkey, while 2010 qualifiers Serbia and Slovenia are on the quayside after Estonia's impressive run to the playoffs from Group C. 2010 World Cup finalists Spain and the Netherlands, along with Germany, still appear the teams to beat next summer, but the other nations would do well to recall the 2004 tournament in Portugal, when unfancied Greece came from nowhere to win it. -Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Platini soothes growing pains of Ukraine

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:46:57 +0000

Michel Platini has said he is at last confident Ukraine can host Euro 2012 . After several 'last chance' warnings over the past three years, the UEFA boss can tear a few fewer hairs out now the four stadia do seem to be on track for next summer. "A year ago, we were deciding whether to leave four or two cities," Platini told reporters on a tour of Kharkiv. "And today we have four cities." "There are no serious problems in preparing for Euro 2012," he continued, "but there are many minor tasks and problems that need to be solved." For Platini, a successful Euro 2012 is crucial to his reputation as an organiser of big soccer tournaments as he continues his silent campaign for the FIFA Presidency at some point in the future. The Frenchman has found the two hosts' lack of infrastructure and slow construction progress compared to western European nations an ongoing headache, and has constantly had to threaten them with being stripped of hosting rights. Spain was the first nation touted as a replacement back in 2008, when World Soccer's Keir Radnedge boldly announced neither Poland nor Ukraine would host Euro 2012. Then Germany entered the picture, either as sole host or as joint organiser with Poland. Now it is clear UEFA is not turning back and is throwing its cards on the table with the two unknown East European hosts. By rights the tournament should have been Italy's, but the calciopoli scandal and an upsurge in high-profile hooliganism let the duo in through the back door. It promises to be a unique European Championship, a foretaste perhaps of the 2018 World Cup in neighbouring Russia. The cheap transport promised to fans facing extraordinarily long journeys between venues (Gdansk to Donetsk is 933 miles/1502km) yet to materialise. Next month Platini visits Poland to inspect their venues, with the opening date of Warsaw's new arena still up in the air. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile UEFA EURO 2012 8th June -1st July 2012 VENUES Poland Warsaw 58,224 (opening game and semi-final) Gdansk 44,636 Poznan 43,090 Wroclaw 44,416 Ukraine Kiev 63,195 (semi-final and final) Donetsk 50,055 Kharkiv 35,721 Lviv 34, 915 Qualifiers Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Italy and ten others to be decided. Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

The last to know

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:49:53 +0000

The night was foggy and the environs of the Royal Bafokeng Stadium poorly lit. We had just finished a nightmare journey to reach the Eng land v U SA clash at last summer's World Cup on-time, though little did we know the absurdly long drive to Rustenburg from Johannesburg would be as nothing compared to the never-ending story that was the trip back. Two hours after the final whistle we were still waiting to leave the car park, or rather the strip of wasteland commandeered to house the many vehicles used by visiting fans at the 42,000 venue; Rustenburg lacked a railway station. What was FIFA thinking handing the World Cup to a place like this, I thought. A veritable nightmare for visiting fans, by some margin the most inconvenient of the six World Cup finals I had attended. Then I got my answer - a military helicopter, searchlights beaming through the gloom, hovered in to land. The doors opened and a posse of security ushered US Vice-President Joe Biden into the stadium. Biden doubtless had a five-star experience of the W orld Cup like all FIFA dignitaries did, and the TV feed did its job in pumping the games into people's homes across the globe. But what about the real fans, those of us who had shelled out to be there in the South African winter in person. Did anyone care about our experience of the World Cup? Talking of winter, and in South Africa the thermometer dipped below zero on many nights, a winter World Cup in the Middle East in 2022 looks ever likelier now the International Players' Union has come out in favour of it. FIFPRO has added to calls from Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini, endorsed by Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valcke, for the Qatar tournament to be shifted to the European winter months, presumably January when the African Nations Cup takes place to avoid th at continent's oppressive summer heat. "Tourists are advised not to travel to Qatar in the summer months," said FIFPRO's spokesman Tijs Tummers. "Inhabitants of Qatar leave the country en masse during this period." Tummers went on to note how supporters would suffer in the 50C midday heat "The summer months in Qatar do not provide suitable conditions for a festival of football." Did someone mention supporters? Those quaint old aficionados who pay an arm and a leg to support multi-million pound stars across the world. Since when were they a cons ideration for the game's decision-makers in Switzerland? South Africa was a challenge for them: The distances between venues was vast, the public transport next to non-existent and the road network wholly inadequate for a show of the World Cup's magnitude. The clogged one-lane highway in and out of Rustenburg will live long in this European fan's memory. Brazil, the World Cup host in 2014, has equally vast distances and poor transport options compared to recent European and Far-Eastern host nation s, plus a crime problem at least as worrying as South Africa's. 2018 host Russia has more enormous distances to cover in addition to a train network below Western European standards, problems shared by Euro 2012 hosts Poland and Ukraine. And then there is Qatar. The fans, the lifeblood of the game after all, as it is they who provide the lion's share of club revenues in their ticket purchases, have become the last thought, if considered at all, by the game's decision makers. What visiting this summer's World Cup finals, and witnessing Russia and Qatar win the right to host future ones confirmed to me was that TV rights, sponsor revenue, FIFA politics, moneyed suitors and geo-political pulls have left the poor fans, the real ones that is, facing more mammoth journeys and myriad inconveniences in their unwavering, yet increasingly unrequited love for the Beautiful Game. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

Euro 2012 Qualifying Round Up

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 11:14:13 +0000

In a thrilling round of Euro 2012 qualifying games , Portugal defeated Denmark in Porto to kick start their faltering campaign. Germany easily overcame Turkey 3-0 in Berlin while Montenegro kept their 100% record with a win over Switzerland to set up an intriguing tie with England at Wembley on Tuesday. World and European champions Spain beat Lithuania 3-1 in Salamanca, the Netherlands won 1-0 away in Moldova while Italy were held to a scoreless draw with Northern Ireland in Belfast in Group C. Scotland lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic in Prague, Ireland lost 3-2 at home to Russia to throw the group wide open, while Wales lost 1-0 in Cardiff to Bulgaria in Group G and have yet to register a point. Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football results

Euro 2012 Qualifying Matches 7 Sept

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:18:16 +0000

In yesterday's round of Euro 2012 qualifying games Portugal lost in Norway, while France put their qualification back on track with a win on the road in Sarajevo against Bosnia. The Netherlands won 2-1 in Rotterdam against Finland, England won 3-1 in Switzerland and Italy hit 5 in Florence against the hapless Faroe Islands. Scotland squeezed past Liechtenstein at Hampden in Group I, Ireland won in Dublin 3-1 against Andorra but Slovakia caused an upset with a 1-0 win in Moscow versus Russia. Previous Euro 2012 qualifying results Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football+results

2012 European Championships Sept 3 Matches

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:30:28 +0000

In an exiting round of Euro 2012 qualifying games , the shock of the evening's games was France's 1-0 home loss to Belarus in Group D. The most exciting match was Portugal's 4-4 draw with Cyprus in Guimaraes, where the visitors came back to gain a last-gasp point. The big teams, with the exception of France, all had comfortable wins: world champions Spain cruised to a 4-0 win in Liechtenstein, the Netherlands won 5-0 away in San Marino, England defeated Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley behind a Jermaine Defoe hat-trick, and Italy came from behind to beat Estonia 1-2. Scotland were held 0-0 by Lithuania by Group I, Ireland defeated Armenia away 1-0 in Group B, Wales lost 1-0 to Montenegro in Group G and Northern Ireland won on the road against Slovenia 1-0 in Group C. Tags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football+results

Euro 2012 Qualifying Draw

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:52:21 +0000

The draw for Euro 2012 qualifying was announced today in Warsaw. The full draw is below and all seem pretty tough showing the strength of European soccer. Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan Group B: Russia, Slovakia, Ireland, FYR Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra Group C: Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia and Faroe Islands Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania and Luxembourg Group E: Holland, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova and San Marino Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia and Malta Group G: England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales and Montenegro Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus and Iceland Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein Tags Euro 2012 football

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying Draw

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:33:19 +0000

UEFA EURO 2012 Qualifying Draw (top seeds in bold) Group A: Germany , Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan Group B: Russia , Slovakia, Eire, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra Group C: Italy , Serbia, N.Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands Group D: France , Romania, Bosnia-Hrzg., Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg Group E: Netherlands , Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, S an M arino Group F: Croatia , Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta Group G: England , Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro Group H: Portugal , Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland Group I: Spain , Czech Rep., Scotland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein The nine group winners and best runner-up qualify automatically . The eight remaining second-place teams play-off to decide the final four qualifiers. Ties take place between September 2010 and November 2011. PALACE OF CULTURE & SCIENCE, WARSAW - Like Georgia & Russia, Armenia & Azerbaijan could not be drawn against each other for political reasons, so it was a humorous moment when Polish soccer legend Zbigniew Boniek kick-started the afternoon by drawing the Caucasian neighbours against each other. Boniek picked the teams along with compatriot Andrzek Szarmach and Ukrainian legends Oleg Blokhin and Andriy Shevchenko. Little stirred amongst the watching press pack and UEFA blazers until the final pot containing Europe's big guns was opened. Germany will renew acquaintances with two familiar countries it knocked out of Euro 2008 - Austria and Turke y. The clash with Turkey is sure to be hot one given the huge Anatolian expat presence in Germany; Belgium will hope to sneak in behind these neighbourly disputes as it seeks to become one of the major Euro pean footballing nations again, as it was in the 1980s. Group B's drawing provided the biggest sighs in the hall as all neutrals were p raying for a repeat of France against the Republic of Ireland. Russia were drawn instead and wil l be eager to bounce back after missing the boat for South Africa; Slovakia, the only World Cup qualifier among them, provide the m ain opposition to those two. Italy's Marcello Lippi chose to stay at h ome, leaving Angelo Petruzzi to answer questions, and Lippi will be pleasantly surprised, although World Cup qualifiers Serbia and Slovenia will provide real tests for the Azzurri awa y from home. France in reality got lucky with a kind draw: Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina are far from the worst teams they could have faced. Group E should be no trouble for the Netherlands, while Sweden and Hungary renew acquaintances after their mutually unsuccessful World Cup qualifying attempts. Sweden also have a Scandinavian border derby wi th Finland to look forward to. Euro 2004 winners Greece have an even chance of r eturning to the finals having been drawn into a balanced-looking group containing Croatia, Israel, Latvia and Georgia, while England will be confident of topping Group G ahead of Switzerland. Fabio Capello's men also have a mini return to the days of the Home Championship with Wales to play twice. Winning Group H looks tough for Portugal, who struggled in the World Cup qualifiers; Carlos Queiroz is surely hoping the local derbies between Denmark and Norway end in two ties. Finally, reigning champions Spain should have safe passage from Group I where the Czechs and the Scots will battle it out for second place. Europe's middle-ranking nations still provide the occasional shock such as Ukraine's quarter-final finish in the 2006 World Cup or Turkey's semi-final run at Euro 2008, but there do not seem to be enough sleeping giants to call any of the groups a group of death. As of now, the lineup for 2012 right now looks like being the cast of usual suspects. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags Soccer News football

Platini pleads for sanity

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:15:39 +0000

Here amid the palatial surroundings of the Palace of Culture and Science, a Stalinist skyscraper which towers over the Polish capital, UEFA President Michel Platini has just met the press ahead of tomorrow's UEFA 2012 Qualifying Draw . Platini's welcome to the tournament however w as slightly stained by repetitive questions from English journalists about the John Terry affair. Four separate reporters from football's homeland saw fit to probe him for his views on the matter, causing the UEFA President to eventually spout out, "Je m'en fous completement" - 'I really don't care!' The subtext to these interrogations was a similar case involving Platini in 1982. For the World Cup in Spain, midfielder Jean-Francois Larios had been picked for the French squad alongside his St Etienne teammate. Larios started France's opening 1-3 defeat to England, playing 73 minutes before being replaced by Jean Tigana, but was then promptly dropped by coach Michel Hidalgo after reports surfaced about an affair with Platini's wife. The resemblances to Terry's travails were too juicy a cherry for England's ta bloidy media to miss. But to tell the truth I felt embarrassed to be from the same country as them after they kept poking a man who was plainly was not going to take the bait. Expect Fabio Capello to be grilled on Terrygate rather than th e draw tomorrow. When the English tabloids choose to follow a story, they pursue it come what may. I can't stand Premier League press conferences where the clique of established hack s force their agenda through at the expense of a wider set of question s. Non Fleet Street reporters like me are frozen out with no time to ask what we want to: This is journalism rather than reporting. Today was supposed to be about Poland and the Ukraine's first chance to host a football tournament and the English hacks tried to make it about sex. I am on Platini's side: The football is just more interesting and i mpo rtant than the tittle-tattle. And I began to wonder whether this sort of dis-repecting the game contributes to England's wider lack of clout in global football politics. We are trying to p ersuade the world, or more specifically the 24 members of FIFA's Executive Committee , including a certain M.Platini, to back us for the 2018 World Cup, but our journalists are showing no respect to the FOOTBALL above all. "It's your problem in England," Platini finally said, half-exasperated. " I thought I had come here to talk about the Euros, not the problems of each country's media." Hear, hear. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Tags Soccer News football

Weekly Football News Roundup

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:40:44 +0000

04/24/2007 Croatian FA to demand 3.5 million € from UEFA over loss of Euro 2012 Croatian FA chairman Vlatko Markovic says his organization will demand 2.5 to 3.5 million Euros in damages from UEFA after the joint Croatia/Hungary bid was rejected as host to stage the 2012 European championships. "We'll ask between 2.5 and 3.5 million because all of our projects were suspended during the campaign to organize Euro 2012," Markovic told the Jutarnji list daily. Markovic, who spoke to UEFA's chairman Michel Platini in Nyon over the issue, believes Croatia and Hungary were deceived in the Executive Committe's final vote last Wednesday that was won by Ukraine and Poland.

Euro 2012

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:41:35 +0000

Poland and Ukraine will host the 2012 European Championships. Poland and Ukraine's joint bid beat out favorites Italy and the joint Croatia and Hungary bid. Despite a recent match-fixing scandal in Poland, 3rd favorites Poland and Ukraine's joint bid got the nod from UEFA in a major shock. The 2012 tournament will be played in four Ukrainian cities (Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev and Lviv) and among four of six possible Polish venues (Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Chorzow). Kiev's Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 80,000 will be the venue for the final.