Group D Matchday Three

England: Hart, Johnson, Cole, Terry, Lescott, Gerrard, Young, Milner, Parker, Rooney, Welbeck SUBS: Green, Butland, Kelly, Baines, Jones, Jagielka, Walcott, Henderson, Downing, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carroll, Defoe.

 

Ukraine settled down better and within the opening quarter of an hour created alarm in the England defence, on two occasions. On 22', Gusev managed a shot. England reacted and started stringing sustained and supported attacks together. 23' Gerard's free kick created danger in the Ukraine goalmouth.

 

27' Wayne Rooney, back from suspension, headed wide from in front of goal. 30' Hart saved from Yarmolenko. The first half ended in some entertaining end-to-end football but ended in 0-0.

 

As the second half wore on, more and more points of interest arose. 48' 1-0, Rooney. A cross from Steven Gerrard on the right (in excellent form today with some world-class passing), the ball hit Selin, bounced on to Welbeck and into the path of Wayne Rooney in front of goal.

 

Ukraine did not give up. 61' Milevskiy headed over in front of goal; 62' the great moment of the match when the extra referee judged that Ukraine's "goal" wasn't. Devic's shot was blocked by John Terry, the question remaining if it was on the line or over it. In the end it would not have made a difference because France lost by 2-0 and England, with a draw, would have won the group; neither would Ukraine have passed.

 

Full marks however to Ukraine for a wonderful three games of bold, courageous football.

 

 

 

France 0 Sweden 2

               Ibrahimovic, 54

               Larsson, 90+1

 

 

France: Lloris, Debuchy, Rami, Mexès, Clichy, Ribéry, Nasri, M'Vila, Diarra, Ben Arfa, Benzema SUBS: Mandanda, Carrasso, Evra, Réveillère, Koscielny, Cabaye, Valbuena, Matuidi, Ménez, Malouda, Martin, Giroud.

Sweden: Isaksson, Mellberg, Granqvist, M Olsson, J Olsson, Larsson, Svensson, Källström, Bajrami, Ibrahimović, Toivonen SUBS: Wiland, Hansson, Lustig, Antonsson, Safari, Elm, Wernbloom, Holmén, Wilhelmsson, Elmander, Hysén, Rosenberg.

 

The statistics for the first half show a clear domination for Laurent Blanc's team, with a ball possession of 53 to 47 per cent, ten shots for France (two on target) against four shots to Sweden, one on target and a save apiece for goalkeepers Lloris and Isaksson.

 

How things changed in the second half. 53' Larsson shot at goal; 54' 1-0 - an amazing volley by Zlatan Ibrahimović in mid-air shooting into the bottom right-hand corner from in front of goal. The second came on 90+1' after Samuel Holmén hit the bar, the ball bounced to Sebastian Larsson, who shot into the roof of the net. 2-0 to Sweden in a game in which France dominated more but...

 

 

Group D (FIFA ranking pre-tournament)

  

 

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

England (7)                2          1          0          5          3          7

France (16)                1          1          1          3          3          4

Ukraine (50)                1          0          2          2          4          3

Sweden (17)                1          0          2          5          5          3

 

Games

 

Ukraine 2                    Sweden 1

Shevchenko (2)            Ibrahimovic

 

England 1        France 1

Lescott         Nasri

´

Ukraine 0   France 2

                   Ménez; Cabaye

  

England 3   Sweden 2

Carroll,       o.g. Johnson

Walcott      Melberg

Welbeck

 

 

England 1 Ukraine 0

Rooney

 

Sweden 2 France 0

Ibrahimovic

Larsson

 

 

Group C Matchday 3

 

 

 

Group C (FIFA ranking pre-tournament)

 

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

Spain (1)                     2          1          0          6          1          7

Italy (12)                    1          2          0          4          2          5

Croatia (8)                   1          1          1          4          3          4

Rep. Ireland (18)         0          0          3          1          9          0

 

Games

 

Italy 1               Spain 1

Di Natale     Fabregas

 

Croatia 3              Republic of Ireland 1

Mandzukic (2)       St. Ledger

Jelavic

 

Croatia 1      Italy 1

Mandzukic  Pirlo

 

Rep. Ireland 0 Spain 4

                        Torres (2); David Silva; Fabregas

 

Croatia 0 Spain 1

                Navas

 

Italy 2 Rep. Ireland 0

Cassano

Balotelli

 

 

Group B (FIFA ranking pre-tournament)

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

Germany (2)              3          0          0          5          2          9

Portugal (5)                2          0          1          5          4          6

Denmark (10)              1          0          2          4          5          3

Netherlands (3)            0          0          3          2          5          0

  

Games

  

Germany 1 Portugal 0

Gomez

Denmark 1            Netherlands 0

Krohn-Dehli

 

Denmark 2    Portugal 3

Bendtner (2)  Pepe, Postiga, Varela

 

Germany 2 Netherlands 1

Gomez (2)  Van Persie

 

Denmark 1    Germany 2

Krohn-Dehli  Podolski, Bender

 

Netherlands 1 Portugal 2

Van der Vaart Ronaldo (2)

 

Group A (FIFA ranking pre-tournament) After 3 games

 

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

Czech Republic (26)  2          0          1          4          5          6

Greece (14)                1          1          1          3          3          4

Russia (11)                  1          1          1          5          3          4

Poland (65)                 0          2          1          2          3          2

  

 

Games

 

Russia 4             Czech Republic 1

Dzagoev (2)       Pilar

Shirokov

Pavlyuchenko

  

 

Poland 1              Greece 1

Lewandowski      Salpingidis

 

Czech Republic 2 Greece 1

Jiracek                  Gekas

Pilar

 

Poland 1                             Russia 1

Błaszczykowski                  Dzagoev

 

Czech Republic 1 Poland 0

Jiracek

 

Greece 1 Russia 0

Karagounis

 

  

Quarter-finals

 

1. Czech Republic v. Portugal Thursday June 21 in Warsaw

2. Germany v. Greece Friday June 22 in Gdansk

3. Spain v. France Saturday June 23 in Donetsk

4. England v. Italy Sunday June 24 in Kyiv

 

Semi-finals

 

Wednesday June 27 Winner of quarter-final 1 and 3

Thursday June 28 Winner of quarter-final 2 and 4

 

Final

  

Sunday July 1

 

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru