Group C Matchday 2

Spain: Casillas, Piqué, Ramos, Arbeloa, Alba, Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso, Busquets, Silva, Torres SUBS: Valdés, Reina, Albiol, Martínez, Juanfran, Fàbregas, Cazorla, Navas, Pedro Rodríguez, Negredo, Mata, Llorente.

2' Cox tried a speculative shot, obliging Casillas to get down low to save. After this, it was an onslaught...

1-0 on 4'. Torres, scoring his twenty-eighth goal for Spain in 95 games. David Silva's shot was blocked in front of goal, the ball ran to Fernando Torres on the right, he ran past one defender, eyed up the goal and fired a rocket over Given.

6' David Silva shot at Given; 7' Torres shot just wide; 22' Given palmed away an Iniesta shot; 24' David Silva headed over; 25' Alonso shot over; 41' Xavi shot weakly at Given; 43' Xavi close-range shot blocked; 44' Alonso shot wide from outside the area. Quite how Ireland survived until the interval losing by only one goal...

In the second half, it became more and more obvious, since it was one of those games where you are outplayed, outclassed and the aim is to lose by the minimum number of goals possible. In the end Ireland held their heads up high, never gave up and always pressed for the goal. The Republic leaves the competition but the objective was not to win it, it was to take part...and there is still a game against Italy to come.

47' Given saved a shot from Xavi; 47' Given saved a shot from Iniesta, the ball ran to David Silva 49 minutes 2-0. 55' a reflex save from Given saved from Xavi, arguably the best save of the tournament so far; 62' Busquets shot wide.

64' Ireland came into it, the Spanish defensive wall blocking McGeady; 66' McGeady created a corner...70' Torres, isolated, scored his second goal, 3-0. 74' Robbie Keane forced Casillas to make a good save with a strong shot from the left of the area.

82' Given saved a shot from Santi Cazorla. The corner resulted in the ball running to Fabregas. 4-0.

Ireland leave the tournament having made lots of friends.

Group C (FIFA ranking pre-tournament)

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

Spain (1)                     1          1          0          5          1          4

Croatia (8)                   1          1          0          4          2          4

Italy (12)                     0          2          0          2          2          2

Rep. Ireland (18)         0          0          2          1          7          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

Fixtures (Times GMT)

Monday June 18 Croatia v. Spain 19.45

Italy v. R. Ireland 19.45

Scenarios:

Ireland eliminated

The winner between Spain and Croatia passes

The loser passes if Italy does not win against Ireland

If Italy wins, the loser in the Spain v. Croatia match is eliminated

A draw between Spain and Croatia and a win for Italy would see three teams drawn on 5 points.

In this case, here are the UEFA rules:

Final group rankings
To avoid doubt, and in order to ensure that the criteria related to the direct confrontation between the teams remaining equal in points after the group phase are reapplied, the UEFA Executive Committee decided at its meeting in Istanbul on 20 March 2012 to amend paragraph 8.07 of the Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2010-12 as follows - in particular the new clause d) shown in bold:

"If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
a) Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
b) Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question;
c) Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
d) If, after having applied criteria a) to c), two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to c) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine the final rankings of the two teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria e) to i) apply in the order given;
e) superior goal difference in all group matches;
f) higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
g) position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system (see annex I, paragraph 1.2.2);
h) fair play conduct of the teams (final tournament);
i) drawing of lots"

Group A (FIFA ranking pre-tournament) After 2 games

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

Russia (11)                  1          1          0          5          2          4

Czech Republic (26)    1          0          1          3          5          3

Poland (65)                 0          2          0          2          2          2

Greece (14)                 0          1          1          2          3          1

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

Fixtures (Times GMT)

Saturday June 16 Czech Republic v. Poland 19.45

Greece v. Russia 19.45

Scenarios

Russia-Greece

Russia wins: passes to next round

Draw: Russia passes to next round

Greece wins: passes to next round if Poland draws with the Czech Republic

Poland-Czech Republic

Poland wins: passes to next round

Draw: Poland leaves the competition

Poland loses: Czechs pass to next round

Group B (FIFA ranking pre-tournament)

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

Germany (2)                2          0          0          3          1          6

Portugal (5)                 1          0          1          3          3          3

Denmark (10)              1          0          1          3          3          3

Netherlands (3)            0          0          2          1          3          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

Fixtures (Times GMT)

Sunday June 17 Denmark v. Germany 19.45

Portugal v. Netherlands 19.45

Scenarios :

Denmark v. Germany

Germany wins: Germany through

Draw: Germany through

Denmark wins: Denmark through if Portugal loses or draws

Portugal v. Netherlands

Portugal wins: Portugal through

Draw: Netherlands out; Portugal through if Germany wins or draws

Netherlands wins: Goal difference among the teams with three points

Group D (FIFA ranking pre-tournament)

                                   W        D         L          GF       GA      P

Ukraine (50)                1          0          0          2          1          3

England (7)                  0          1          0          1          1          1

France (16)                 0          1          0          1          1          1

Sweden (17)                0          0          1          1          2          0

Ukraine 2                    Sweden 1

Shevchenko (2)            Ibrahimovic

England 1        France 1

Lescott         Nasri

Fixtures (Times GMT)

Friday June 15 Ukraine v. France 17.00

Sweden v. England 19.45

Tuesday June 19 England v. Ukraine 19.45

Sweden v. France 19.45

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

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