Latest Euro 2008 News

CLAIREFONTAINE, France (AP) _ France will be without key players and its coach Raymond Domenech will be sitting in the stands when Les Bleus play Italy in a crucial European Championship qualifier. Defenders William Gallas and Willy Sagnol are both injured, and captain Patrick Vieira is struggling to overcome a thigh injury to be ready in time for Saturday's Group B match in Milan's San Siro stadium. ``William is a mainstay in the team,'' France winger Franck Ribery ...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) _ A Danish fan who attacked a referee during a European Championship qualifier between Sweden and Denmark has been charged with violence and trespassing, police said Tuesday. The man, who cannot be named under a court order, stormed the pitch June 2 and tried to attack German referee Herbert Fandel for sending off a Danish player and giving a penalty to Sweden. If found guilty, he faces up to three years in prison. ...

GENEVA (AP) _ UEFA awarded Sweden a 3-0 victory over Denmark on Friday after last week's European Championship qualifier was abandoned because a Danish soccer fan attacked the referee. Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen was also banned for three competitive internationals, after punching Sweden striker Markus Rosenberg in the stomach during the same match on Saturday. In addition, UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body fined the Danish Football Association 100,000 Swiss francs (C$86,000) and ordered it to play their next ...

VADUZ, Liechtenstein (AP) _ Liechtenstein secured its first points in the 2008 European Championship qualifiers on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Latvia. Mario Frick scored in the 17th minute after a pass from Martin Buechel. Liechtenstein defended its lead against strong attacks from Latvia throughout the rest of the Group F match, with goalkeeper Peter Jehle making several good saves to make up for his team's 4-1 defeat by ...

LONDON (AP) _ World Cup champion Italy could be in serious jeopardy of missing out on next year's European Championship if it fails to beat Scotland on Wednesday. And England coach Steve McClaren will likely be looking for a new job if his team doesn't get a big win at Andorra. Twenty more Euro 2008 qualifying games are scheduled for Wednesday, with Group B looking most interesting as qualifying nears ...

ROME (AP) _ Italy coach Roberto Donadoni is fed up with media criticism that he's lost control of his team. The Azzurri, who face Scotland in European Championship qualifying in Bari on Wednesday, trail the Scots and France by five points in Group B. ``If the results don't come, it's right to criticize and draw conclusions. But if, if, if. Let this team play. I don't understand why there are ...

NYON, Switzerland (AP) _ UEFA president Michel Platini will write to all 53 European soccer associations to urge them to combat violence. Platini, who was elected president of European soccer's governing body in January, has been trying to clamp down on violence on the field and in the stands since he took office. Last week, he met with government and police experts from around the continent, reiterating his plea for ...

LISBON, Portugal (AP) _ Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari picked three under-21 players Thursday for this month's European Championship qualifiers. The Brazilian called up Werder Bremen striker Hugo Almeida and Sporting Lisbon midfielder Nani into his 22-man squad. Both have previously been called into the senior squad but have never played. PAOK goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes replaced injured second-choice Quim Silva of Benfica. Portugal has made a jittery start to its ...

PARIS (AP) _ France has called up midfielders Abou Diaby of Arsenal and Lassana Diarra of Chelsea for a European Championship qualifier against Lithuania. Depleted by injuries to Thierry Henry, captain Patrick Vieira, and Franck Ribery, France coach Raymond Domenech also selected Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Frederic Piquionne for the March 24 match in Kaunas. Juventus striker David Trezeguet was not called up although Domenech said he does not ...

A plan to expand the 2012 European Championship from 16 to 24 teams is certain to become reality, according to UEFA president Lennart Johansson. Johansson said the Scottish Football Association's proposal will be accepted at the UEFA Congress in Duesseldorf on Jan. 25-26. ``I am convinced that the majority will vote for this change,'' Johansson told the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung on Saturday. The Swede said small countries find it difficult to qualify for the final tournament. ``On the other ...

Germany will pay the fine imposed by UEFA for disturbances caused by its fans in Slovakia but will appeal against compensating the Slovak soccer federation. UEFA fined Germany 12,500 euros (C$18,245) for the rowdy behaviour of its fans in Bratislava during Germany's 4-1 win in a 2008 European Championship qualifying match on Oct. 11. Germany's soccer federation was also told to compensate the Slovaks for the property damage caused by ...

Wayne Rooney's first England goal in more than a year has taken some of the pressure off coach Steve McClaren. For now. A glance at England's Euro 2008 group shows England has a lot to worry about over the winter before resuming its qualifying campaign in late March. Just minutes before Rooney's goal in Amsterdam helped England to a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Wednesday's friendly, England had slipped ...

Three-time champion Germany should move closer to qualifying for the 2008 European Championship by beating Cyprus on Wednesday, while ailing Portugal hopes to get back in contention with a victory over Kazakhstan. Five other qualifying games will be played before the long winter break, while most of the other big teams are involved in friendlies, including Netherlands-England, France-Greece and World Cup champion Italy at home against Turkey. The Germans should ...

Clarence Seedorf could play for the Netherlands for the first time in more than two years after he was called up Monday for this week's friendly against England. The 30-year-old AC Milan midfielder was named as cover for Wesley Sneijder who injured his knee Sunday. Sneijder could still play in Wednesday's match at the Amsterdam Arena. Seedorf has scored 11 goals in 77 internationals, but has not played for the ...

The English Football Association says it will contest a UEFA charge that it failed to control fans at England's 2-0 Euro 2008 qualifying loss to Croatia. Fighting broke out before the Oct. 11 game as England fans tried to get into the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb. Croatian security staff decided to close the gates, and England fans clashed with riot police. UEFA charged both the FA and the Croatian federation ...

Croatians celebrated Thursday after one of the country's greatest victories in international soccer. ``Great, fantastic, amazing,'' President Stipe Mesic said after Croatia beat England 2-0 on Wednesday in a European Championship qualifier. In a separate message of congratulations, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader wrote: ``We beat a big national team. Victory against England is a colossal achievement.'' Stores in the capital flew national flags and people savoured coffees and cigarettes over ...

Slovakia coach Dusan Galis quit Thursday, a day after his team lost to visiting Germany 4-1 in a European Championship qualifying match. Slovakian soccer federation president Frantisek Laurinec said in a statement that Galis stepped down after reaching ``a mutual agreement'' with the federation. ``I thank Dusan Galis for his service and his contribution to the Slovak national team,'' Laurinec said. The federation said it will soon decide who will ...

Substitute David Trezeguet scored two goals Wednesday to help France beat the Faeroe Islands 5-0 in a European Championship qualifier. Louis Saha, Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry also scored as France bounced back from Saturday's 1-0 loss to Scotland. France and Scotland have nine points in Group B from four matches. Italy is third with seven. Les Bleus wasted several chances against a team 177 places below it in FIFA ...

Euzebiusz Smolarek scored two first-half goals Wednesday to lead Poland to a 2-1 win over Portugal in a European Championship qualifier. Smolarek gave Poland the lead in the ninth minute, knocking in a rebound off a volley from Mariusz Lewandowski. In the 18th, Smolarek scored his second. The Borussia Dortmund winger latched onto a through ball from forward Grzegorz Rasiak and sent a right-footed shot past Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira. ...

Craig Bellamy scored one goal and set up another to help Wales beat Cyprus 3-1 Wednesday and earn the principality its first points in European Championship qualifying. Jason Koumas gave Wales the lead in the 33rd minute, bouncing a header over kneeling Cyprus goalkeeper Michalis Morfis. Robert Earnshaw made it 2-0 in the 39th after Bellamy beat the offside trap and crossed to Earnshaw, who sidefooted the ball in. Bellamy ...

Lukas Podolski scored two goals Wednesday to help Germany beat Slovakia 4-1 in a European Championship qualifying match. The Bayern Munich forward's 13th- and 72nd-minute goals were augmented by Michael Ballack in the 25th and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 36th as Germany moved to 3-0 in Group D. ``People said it would be hard to keep up the level after the World Cup, but we showed today we can do ...

Malta upset Hungary 2-1 Wednesday in a European Championship qualifying match. Andre Schembri scored a goal in each half to hand Malta coach Dusan Fitzel his first win since taking charge of the Mediterranean island nation. It was only Malta's fourth official victory and first since beating Estonia 1-0 in a 1993 World Cup qualifier. Schembri put Malta ahead in the 13th minute with a well-taken strike. Hungary equalized five ...

Robin van Persie scored one goal and the Netherlands later benefited from an own-goal in a 2-1 win over Albania on Wednesday in European Championship qualifying. Khalid Boulahrouz headed the ball to Van Persie, who slotted the ball under Albania goalkeeper Arian Beqaj in the 14th minute. The hosts took a 2-0 lead in the 41st when Nevil Dede turned the ball into his own net off a cross from ...

Jan Koller scored in the 64th minute Wednesday to help the Czech Republic hold Ireland to a 1-1 draw in European Championship qualifying. Kevin Kilbane gave Ireland the lead in the 62nd minute of the Group D match after Damien Duff's cross was deflected by a defender. Kilbane then chipped the ball past goalkeeper Petr Cech. Two minutes later, Koller got past Ireland defender Paul McShane and beat diving goalkeeper ...

Angelos Charisteas scored an early penalty Wednesday to lead Greece to a 4-0 win over 10-man Bosnia _ its third straight European Championship qualifying victory. Christos Patsatzoglou, Giorgos Samaras and Costas Katsouranis scored for Greece in the second half. Charisteas converted in the ninth minute, silencing 18,000 fans at Bilino Polje Stadium. Russian referee Yuri Baskalov awarded the penalty after Dalibor Silic used his hand to block a cross from ...

Italy beat 10-man Georgia 3-1 Wednesday in European Championship qualifying. Daniele De Rossi scored the first goal for the world champions in the 17th minute, but Giorgi Shashiashvili equalized for Georgia in the 25th. Mauro Camoranesi then put Italy ahead in the 61st and Simone Perrotta secured the victory with another goal 10 minutes later. Italy, which beat Ukraine 2-0 Saturday, improved to seven points in Group B, while Georgia ...

England goalkeeper Paul Robinson made two mistakes, and Croatia won 2-0 Wednesday to be part of a four-team tie atop Group E of European Championship qualifying. Eduardo da Silva, a naturalized Brazilian, scored in the 61st minute with a looping header on a cross from Niko Kovac that caught Robinson off his line and helped end England's run of six straight shutouts. Eight minutes later, Gary Neville aimed a simple ...

Guus Hiddink earned his first competitive win as coach of Russia on Wednesday when his team beat Estonia 2-0 in European Championship qualifying. Pavel Pogrebnyak scored in the 78th minute and Dmitry Sychev added another in injury time. Both came on as substitutes. The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Raio Piiroja was sent off in the 89th minute. Russia has five points from three games in Group E, ...

Poland has struggled in European Championship qualifying and faces Portugal on Wednesday with winger Cristiano Ronaldo in top form. With four points from three games, the Poles want at least a draw. Portugal, on four points from two games, hasn't lost on the road in international qualifying for 10 years. ``Of course we're going there looking for a win, even though we know Poland is a tough outfit,'' said Ronaldo, ...

It took Italy three months to post its first victory since winning the World Cup. Another win at Georgia on Wednesday in a European Championship qualifier will go long way to prove that the team is over its post-World Cup slump for good. ``Not winning was weighing on us, so the Ukraine win was very important,'' Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro said. ``But if we don't win in Georgia, everything we've ...