International

Netherlands 3 Italy 0: World champions humbled by Dutch

Defeat Italy can endure. Humiliation on this scale, they will find harder to take. The world champions were swept away last night by Marco van Basten's Dutch team and finally we can say that Euro 2008 has begun in earnest with a game adorned by one bizarre refereeing decision, a fabulous goal and a shock to the biggest reputation on the continent.

Inside International

France 0 Romania 0: Rib�ry old boys left high and dry as Romanians tread water

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

France's coach, Raymond Domenech, said his team would be either "in the tournament or in the lake" after the opening game of Group C and, having failed to break down a deadly dull Romanian side, they were left teetering on the edge at best. Matches against the other more fancied members of the section, the Netherlands (on Friday) and Italy will decide whether they sink or stroll happily on.

Capello's England in fantasy land

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Fabio Capello appears a man without artifice. His predecessor, Steve McClaren, had his teeth fixed and took the advice of PR guru Max Clifford. Sven Goran Eriksson wore platform shoes and modish spectacles. Capello has the natural style of any expensively dressed Italian but, in general, he has ego but not vanity. At his core there seems to be a belief that there are no short cuts, that faking gets you nowhere and the individual is part of the collective.

Today in Euro 2008: Zurawski could miss rest of finals with thigh injury

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Captain Maciej Zurawski could miss the rest of Euro 2008 after sustaining a thigh injury in Sunday's 2-0 defeat by Germany in their opening Group B match. "Zurawski has strained quads and some bleeding so he may be unavailable for the rest of the tournament," the team doctor Jerzy Grzywocz said yesterday. "For the moment, he will take no part in the next two games."

Fabregas looking at place on bench

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Will it be in the Tivoli Neu Stadion tonight, in Salzburg a week tonight, or in the Vienna quarter-final? Guessing when Spain implode is a saloon bar standard at major tournaments and Euro 2008 is no different. In theory Spain have the right balance of youth and experience, pace and technique, to win their first major honour since 1964. That has been the case before but even so, the wheels should not come off the roadshow tonight.

L�w's strategy tells as Germany make flying start

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

In his first game in charge of Germany at a major tournament, Joachim Löw did everything right. He picked the right starters, he made the right substitutions and he chose the right game plan to get the Germans off to a flying start in their attempt for a fourth European Championship title.

Swedes keep Ljungberg on pedestal

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

In Salzburg the statues have been fenced off to protect them from the Euro 2008 revellers, but the wraps have been removed from Sweden's Fredrik Ljungberg following his recovery from a broken rib. Now all the 31-year-old midfielder has to contend with is a bruised ego as he goes into tonight's Group D fixture against Greece with his club, West Ham United, putting him up for sale.

Switzerland 0 Czech Republic 1: Frei injury deals hosts' hopes a hammer blow

Monday, 9 June 2008

"That's football," Switzerland's phlegmatic coach Köbi Kuhn said several times in the aftermath of his team's unlucky defeat in the opening match of Euro 2008. He might have added: it waits until you are down, then kicks you in the guts. Or in the knee, in the case of his captain, Alex Frei, whose ligament injury just before half-time will cause him to miss the rest of the tournament.

Germany 2 Poland 0: Polish-born Podolski strikes twice to double German delight

Monday, 9 June 2008

Locally this stadium is known as the UFO because of its resemblance to a spaceship. But there was nothing unidentified about what flew last night. German hopes are soaring again with a hard-earned victory over a committed Polish side who will have caused a ripple of apprehension among their other Group B opponents.

France put faith in old guard for final push

Monday, 9 June 2008

Thierry Henry remains a doubt and his old Arsenal colleague Patrick Vieira will be missing as France set out against Romania tonight two years down the road from defeat on penalties in the World Cup final and Zinedine Zidane's shameful exit from international football. They are approaching the crossroads that all ageing squads eventually reach.

Austria 0 Croatia 1: Modric's class sends shiver of anticipation and fear

Monday, 9 June 2008

For the watching Fabio Capello, the first match of this tournament to be played in its Austrian half offered reasons both to be encouraged and to be fearful. Croatia, England's first serious opponents when the World Cup qualifiers begin in the autumn, were manifestly superior, their class implicit in nearly every touch, but they had a desperate struggle attempting to put away their game.

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