Concerns over the pitch in Kaunas have marred the build-up to the clash between Spain and Lithuania in their Euro 2012 qualifier on Tuesday.
The world champions make the trip to Eastern Europe looking to maintain their perfect record in Group I, although the match may not even go ahead unless the pitch improves in the build-up to the match.Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta dubbed the pitch at the S.Darius and S.Girenas Stadium as not the best , but says his side will be ready to play. From the pictures we have seen it reminds me of the dirt pitches we used to play on when we were young, Iniesta told reporters on Sunday. Whether to play or not isn t our decision, that s up to the referee and UEFA. Obviously they aren t the best conditions, but if we have to play we will be ready…
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With all eyes falling on Wembley this weekend, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid will meet in the 2024 Champions League final.
Borussia Dortmund
Starting with Borussia Dortmund, although Edin Terzic’s men might have failed to mount any kind of Bundesliga title charge this season, the German giants have embarked on an iconic Champions League adventure. Springing a famous European upset earlier in the month as they landed a 2-0 aggregate victory against French heavyweights PSG, the one-time West Ham coach is calling on his high-flying squad to make one more monumental upset on Saturday night. Picking up a string of famous scalps this season, BVB have proven that they should not be overlooked under any circumstances. Signing off their …
Italy maintained their unbeaten record in Euro 2012 qualifying following a 1-1 draw against Group C rivals Serbia in Belgrade.
Claudio Marchisio opened the scoring for the visitors early at Stadion Crvena Zvezda before Branislav Ivanovic pulled one back for the home side after 25 minutes.
The match started at a frantic pace with the home side testing the Italians after just 20 seconds through an Aleksandar Kolarov drive that forced a sharp save from Gianluigi Buffon.
The visitors took the lead just moments later as Juventus man Marchisio latched onto a neat through ball from Giuseppe Rossi before slotting past Bojan Jorgacevic for his first international goal.
Italy almost doubled their lead five minutes later when a chipped ball from Marchisio found Ros…
During the next few days, Europe will determine which four teams will clinch a berth in the 2018 World Cup, and which others will end up falling short of that accomplishment. Italy, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Switzerland and Northern Ireland are all vying for a World Cup berth.
Italy will square off against Sweden with an eye towards maintaining their World Cup appearances streak alive. Ireland will play against Denmark in a game where the Scandinavian side appears to have a slight edge on paper. Croatia will battle against Greece, looking to translate their on-paper superiority to the pitch, and Switzerland will meet with Northern Ireland. The Swiss outfit finished with nine wins in 10 matches, yet they ended second after losing the final game of the Group Stag…
Luis de la Fuente believes he has the best team and the best players at Euro 2024 as Spain aim to down hosts Germany in the quarter-finals.
Spain have won all four of their matches so far while conceding just once, an unfortunate own goal from Robin Le Normand before they came from behind to hammer Georgia 4-1 in the round of 16.
La Roja are the only team with a 100% winning record at this stage and have even drawn comparisons to the squad that won back-to-back editions of the Euros in 2008 and 2012.
While De la Fuente is not getting ahead of himself, he has no doubt his side can pose Julian Nagelsmann s team problems in Stuttgart on Friday.
We are ambitious, and we knew that no one has won the first four matches of a Euro, De la Fuente said.
We…
France captain Hugo Lloris says the return of Karim Benzema does not guarantee the world champions anything ahead of the 2020 European Championship.
Les Bleus take on Wales in a friendly on Wednesday ahead of Euro 2020, where France have a tough group alongside Germany, Hungary and Portugal.
Real Madrid forward Benzema, 33, has been recalled to the France squad for the first time in almost six years.
The forward had been frozen out by France head coach Didier Deschamps since 2015 having been embroiled in a blackmail scandal over a sex tape.
Benzema has forged an outstanding club career in the meantime, netting 23, 21 and 21 league goals over the past three seasons in Spain and looms as a major addition for the 2018 World Cup winners.
Karim s ret…
Former Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has joined the seventh club of his career, moving to A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers from Vissel Kobe.
Mata, who left the Japanese club in January, will join up with the 2014 Asian champions ahead of the new campaign.
The Spaniard is aiming to win another championship in a different country, after winning the Turkish Super Lig with Galatasaray and the J1 League in 2023.
Mata s most prolific years came in the Premier League, scoring 52 goals and adding 55 assists in 278 appearances in English football s top flight for Chelsea and Manchester United.
The 36-year-old has also won honours on the international stage, having been part of Spain s successes in the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship…
France suffered a shock 1-0 defeat against Portugal in the Euro 2016 on Sunday night
There we have it Portugal are European champions beating hosts France 1-0 with an extra-time wonder goal from former-Swansea man Eder (no, I am not kidding!)
The game was more of an intriguing game of defence versus attack for much of the 90 minutes, but Portugal held on to win somehow, even after losing talisman Cristiano Ronaldo after 25 minutes through injury.
Congratulations to Portugal for their resilient, team spirit and game plan. However in truth France should have had the game well wrapped-up in 90 minutes.
Top stars fail to deliver on the big stage
France’s profligacy let them down in front of goal with the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Pierre-Andre …
The opening two fixtures of the last-16 stage of Euro 2020 played out on Saturday with Denmark and Italy triumphing in contrasting matches.
There were seven goals scored across the two fixtures with Denmark easing to a 4-0 victory Wales thanks to two goals from Kasper Dolberg to become the first team to reach the quarter-finals.
Italy followed them into the last eight later on the day, although their progress was much more hard fought via a 2-1 extra-time win over a spirited Austria at Wembley courtesy of substitutes Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina.
Stats Perform reflects on a day of youthful confidence and omens for later in the tournament.
Denmark s first two games at Euro 2020: 43 shots, 1 goal
Denmark s last two games at Euro 2020: 32 …
The Czech Republic have topped Group A and booked their spot in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over co-hosts Poland.
Poland needed maximum points to progress to the last eight but a 72nd-minute goal from Czech midfielder Petr Jiracek against the run of play denied Frankciszek Smuda s men.
The Wolfsburg midfielder made a bustling into the penalty area and danced past his opposition to tuck the ball under the oncoming Przemyslaw Tyton.
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