Showing posts with label EURO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EURO. Show all posts
Monday, 16 November 2015
France 2-0 Germany
France 2-0 Germany: Giroud & Gignac on target to down world champions
Olivier Giroud and Andre-Pierre Gignac were on target but it was Anthony
Martial who stole the show as France beat Germany 2-0 on Friday.
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Ukraine 0-1 Spain
Ukraine 0-1 Spain: Fabregas misses penalty on 100th appearance
Captain Cesc Fabregas missed a penalty on his 100th international
appearance as Mario Gaspar's debut goal earned Spain a 1-0 win over
Ukraine in Kiev on Monday.With Spain having already sealed their Euro 2016 place, the Chelsea man skippered a youthful XI but failed to cap his special night with a goal, instead seeing a penalty saved after defender Mario scored the crucial strike midway through the first half.
The Villarreal full-back was one of two debutants in the visitors' defence, alongside Xabi Etxeita, but his well-taken header was enough to limit Ukrainian hopes of progression. Second-placed Slovakia did enough to go through with a 4-2 win in Luxembourg.
Fabregas should have made life more comfortable but failed to double the lead, with Mykhaylo Fomenko's side refusing to give up hope of snatching a top-two position after falling behind.
The 28-year-old - playing in front of a watching Jose Mourinho - was withdrawn shortly after the hour mark having missed his fourth spot-kick for Spain in as many attempts.
While it was a frustrating evening for Fabregas, the likes of Mario and Nolito bolstered their chances of featuring in France next year with strong displays, and David de Gea pulled off a string of impressive saves to leave Ukraine having to negotiate the play-offs.
Debutant Mario endured a tricky start in Kiev. He was outfoxed down the left early on by Artem Kravets, who cut inside and crossed only to see Ruslin Rotan fail to add the finish in the area.
Milestone man Fabregas had Spain's first chance when he collected Isco's pass, surged through the middle, and fired narrowly over the crossbar nine minutes in.
Having first saved from Kravetz, De Gea then produced a magnificent reflex stop to deny Rotan with his right foot, before Mario headed Spain into the lead.
Thiago Alcantara and Nolito combined down the left before the Bayern Munich man found Mario at the far post to ensure a dream debut for the full-back.
Just a minute later, Fabregas looked set to celebrate his landmark appearance with a goal having been fouled in the area by Oleksandr Kucher, but Andriy Pyatov produced a strong right-handed save to deny the skipper from the spot.
Spain were almost pegged back when Denys Garmash headed over amid pinball in the Spain box, with De Gea clearing a dangerous whipped free-kick from the left on the stroke of half-time.
And Fomenko's men brought that momentum into the second half as the lively Andriy Yarmolenko twice went close to levelling, while Spain had the ball in the net courtesy of Mikel San Jose prior to the hour mark only for it to be ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
De Gea again showed his quality to palm away another Garmash header as Ukraine's increased pressure coincided with Luxembourg fighting back from 3-0 down to within a goal of Slovakia.
However, there was to be no turnaround in Luxembourg - Slovakia re-establishing a two-goal cushion - and Spain's much-changed back line shut out the hosts to extend their winning run to five matches.
Netherlands 2-3 Czech Republic
Netherlands 2-3 Czech Republic: Van Persie own goal compounds Dutch misery against 10 man visitors
Netherlands failed to book a place in the play-off stage of Euro 2016 qualifying following a 3-2 defeat at home to 10-man Czech Republic.
Danny
Blind's side needed to win their final Group A fixture and hope Iceland
beat Turkey in order to finish in third place, but were unable to do
their part and Fatih Terim's men won in Konya anyway.
After a
positive start from the hosts, Pavel Kaderabek and Josef Sural fired
Czech Republic into a two-goal lead inside 35 minutes, drawing jeers
from the Amsterdam Arena crowd.
Home spirits were lifted when Marek Suchy was dismissed for his challenge on Memphis Depay on the stroke of half-time.
However,
Robin van Persie - making his 101st Netherlands appearance as a
first-half substitute - put the ball in his own net in the 66th minute.
Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar pulled one back four minutes later and Van Persie scored his
50th international goal in the 83rd minute, but a win would not have
been enough anyway given Turkey's victory as, fittingly, Blind's team
ended a dismal qualification campaign in defeat.Netherlands wasted no time in setting about their task, with Anwar El
Ghazi calling Petr Cech into action inside the opening minute before
Wesley Sneijder blazed over nine minutes later.
But Netherlands'
desire to push for an opener left them exposed defensively, and Czech
Republic soon began to capitalise on that.
Jeroen Zoet needed to
be bailed out by Virgil van Dijk after spilling a Sural cross at the
feet of Theodor Gebre Selassie, and in the 24th minute the visitors
broke the deadlock.
A slick move through the centre of the pitch was completed by Kaderabek, who guided the ball beyond Zoet at his near post following a pass from Jiri Skalak.
Whistles
rang out inside the Amsterdam Arena as the Dutch adopted a more
conservative approach, but 11 minutes later the deficit increased.


Tomas Necid found Sural in the box and he lifted the ball over a weak challenge from Van Dijk before sliding a finish into the back of the net.
With his team in dire straits, Blind replaced left-back Jairo Riedewald with Van Persie.
And
Dutch hopes of turning the game around were given a boost two minutes
before the interval as last man Suchy was shown a red card for bringing
down Depay.
Van Persie and Depay both passed up opportunities to
test Cech early in the second half so Blind made another attacking
change - striker Bas Dost on for centre-back Van Dijk.
Netherlands' lack of ingenuity proved costly in the 66th minute as the Van Persie headed a Skalak free-kick into his own goal to compound the hosts' misery.
Huntelaar restored a modicum of respect four minutes later as he climbed above Vaclav Prochazka to nod Sneijder's corner past Cech.
Van Persie then reduced the deficit to a single goal, stabbing a flick-on from Dost beyond Cech with seven minutes remaining.
The
damage had already been done, however, with Netherlands finishing
fourth in the group while Czech Republic leaped above Iceland to take
first place.
Wales 2-0 Andorra
Wales 2-0 Andorra: Ramsey & Bale strike to give Dragons victory
Second-half goals from Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale ensured Wales ended their triumphant Euro 2016 qualifying run with a 2-0 Group B victory over Andorra.
Wales'
progress to a first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup was
confirmed on Saturday, despite a 2-0 loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
A
capacity crowd gathered in Cardiff, hoping for a return more befitting
of their heroes' achievement, but Chris Coleman's team were frustrated
by Andorra during a goalless first half.
Bale schemed relentlessly in his attempts to unpick the minnows' dogged defence, while goalkeeper Ferran Pol impressed.
Ramsey
pounced to get the party started in the 50th minute and Bale fittingly
snared his seventh goal of a talismanic qualifying campaign four minutes
from time.
Belgium ensured they finished top of the group with a
3-1 victory over Israel - a statistic that mattered little in the Welsh
capital as the celebratory strains of 'Bread of Heaven' boomed around
the stands before full-time.
The feel-good atmosphere inside
the Cardiff City Stadium was punctured in the fifth minute when a
sickening clash of heads between James Chester and Victor Moreira left
the Andorra midfielder prone on the turf.
Moreira left the field
on a stretcher following a lengthy period of treatment, after which the
visitors had to repel a predictable threat.
Bale collected Sam
Vokes' lay-off to thrash a shot across goal from the left-hand corner of
the box – Pol responding with a fine save.
The Real Madrid star
was then cynically scythed down by Ildefonso Lima, the defender booked
for his troubles, before sending an 18th-minute free-kick narrowly wide.
David Edwards replaced ankle-injury victim Hal Robson-Kanu as
the half reached its midway point and the Wolves midfielder had a
close-range header cleared off the line by Lima shortly after his
introduction.
Pol was at full stretch to tip over and spare Max
Llovera the embarrassment of heading into his own net and the keeper
tipped a flicked Ramsey header onto the crossbar as Andorra approached
the break under relentless pressure.
Tom Lawrence came on for
his Wales debut at the interval in place of Edwards, but Bale was the
architect when the opening goal arrived.
Having been struck by a
botched Andorran clearance, Bale flighted a cross from the right for
Ashley Williams to draw another stop from Pol before Ramsey slammed home
the rebound from close range.
The Arsenal midfielder almost
added a more accomplished second as the hour approached, slaloming
through a clutch of Andorra challenges before dragging his eventual shot
wide.
Pol's yellow card for timewasting at 1-0 down demonstrated the
limited scope of his team's ambition, while the direct dribbling of
Ramsey and Bale caused increasing trouble for weary opponents.Having tirelessly led the line, Vokes sent his latest headed attempt off target in the 72nd minute and the Burnley striker fluffed his lines when Pol spilt a Williams effort.
Vokes' personal frustrations continued, but Bale extinguished his by swivelling to slam a low shot beyond Pol and lap up a hero's acclaim.
Belgium 3-1 Israel
Belgium 3-1 Israel: Hazard seals top spot for Wilmots' men
Second-half goals from Dries Mertens, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard
sealed a comfortable 3-1 victory for Belgium over Israel in their final
Euro 2016 qualifier.
The win means Marc Wilmots' side have
finished top of Group B, two points clear of fellow automatic qualifiers
Wales. Bosnia-Herzegovina finished in the play-off place following
their 3-2 victory over Cyprus.
Radja Nainggolan tried his luck
from long-range early on and was not too far away from Ofir Marciano's
top corner. The hosts threatened again when De Bruyne made good ground
down the left and sent in a low cross, but Romelu Lukaku could not quite
convert from a tight angle at the second attempt.
It was Israel
who came even closer to finding the first goal, though. After Tal Ben
Haim II had been fouled by Nainggolan, captain Zahavi struck a brilliant
free-kick which bounced away off the post.
Belgium responded
quickly and would have gone ahead if not for Mertens' shocking miss. The
lively De Bruyne found space on the right this time and another low
cross took the keeper and the away defence out of the game, but the
Napoli attacker was unable to roll into an empty net at the far post.

Vincent
Kompany - controversially selected after Manchester City boss Manuel
Pellegrini said prior to the international break he should not play
while he recovered from a calf injury - almost marked his return with a
goal, as his impressive shot from the edge of the box drifted just over.
Lukaku
threatened early in the second half but was off target again after
rounding Marciano having latched on to a Hazard throughball, before
Kompany headed a De Bruyne corner straight at the keeper.
But on
64 minutes, the breakthrough did arrive. De Bruyne found Mertens in the
penalty area and the 28-year-old worked half a yard of space from Tal
Ben Haim and beat Marciano at his near post.
Belgium made it two
with 12 minutes left on the clock. After Nainggolan had been fouled 25
yards from goal, De Bruyne's bouncing free-kick found the bottom corner,
although Marciano should have done better having got two hands to it.
Hazard
then forced Marciano into a low save before De Bruyne had a left-footed
drive pushed past the post as the home side dominated the closing
stages.
The third goal was coming and it arrived after a slick
passing move. Mertens found Hazard in oceans of space inside the box and
the Chelsea star slotted a simple finish past Marciano for his sixth
goal in his last eight internationals.
Israel did get a late
consolation in the 88th minute, with Zahavi's inswinging cross
powerfully headed home by Hemed, but the visitors were well beaten as
Belgium eased their way to next year's finals in France.
Serbia 1-2 Portugal
Serbia 1-2 Portugal: Matic and Kolarov see red mist amid Nani and Moutinho goals
Portugal made it seven consecutive wins in competitive fixtures under Fernando Santos as they overcame nine-man Serbia2-1 in their final Euro 2016 qualifier in Belgrade.
The Iberian side recovered from defeat in their opening Group I
fixture against Albania – when Paulo Bento was at the helm – to book
their place in France with a 1-0 win over Denmark on October 8, so
Santos took the chance to rest key players for their trip to Serbia.The most notable absentee was captain Cristiano Ronaldo, but Nani – wearing the armband in the Real Madrid forward's stead – stepped up with the opening goal inside five minutes.
Radovan Curcic's men – only playing for pride after a turbulent campaign that included a three-point deduction following crowd trouble in their clash with Albania – took time to recover from the early strike, but finally equalised after 65 minutes through Zoran Tosic.
However, the hosts were made to rue their missed chances as Joao Moutinho curled home from 20 yards 12 minutes from time, keeping Santos' 100 per cent record in qualifying intact.
Things got even worse for Serbia late on, as Aleksandar Kolarov and Nemanja Matic were dismissed, ending their campaign with the same ill-discipline with which it started.
Serbia immediately went on the attack inside a buoyant Stadion Partizana, earning a corner inside the opening minute. Adem Ljajic's delivery only needed the slightest of touches from Dusko Tosic to divert it into the back of the net, but the defender could not oblige.
That initial promise soon evaporated, though, as Portugal took the lead with five minutes played.
Danny tore through the Serbia defence before pulling a save from Vladimir Stojkovic with a stabbed effort from the top of the box, but Nani was on hand to convert on the follow-up.
Fernando Santos' men quickly became more reserved in attack, instead focusing on maintaining a solid defence and forcing the hosts out into the wide areas.
As a result, it took Serbia a while to forge meaningful openings.
Ljajic called the Portuguese into action in the 38th minute shortly after a tame effort from Tosic, but his shot from an acute angle was batted away at the near post following a neat one-two with Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Inter man continued to be the hosts' greatest threat after the interval, dragging a strike wide of the target following a cutback from Kolarov in the 53rd minute.
Matic and Tosic both went close before Portugal's resistance was finally broken just past the hour, with the latter firing home from 12 yards following Kolarov's low delivery to the penalty spot.
Portugal were not to be denied a seventh straight win in Group I, though, as Moutinho, picked out by a clever cutback from Eliseu, bent an exquisite shot into the top-right corner in the 78th minute.
The goal caused Serbia to lose their cool, with Kolarov shown two bookings in the space of a minute – the second of which came after being substituted – before Matic was also dismissed for an elbow on Andre Andre.
Portugal were joined in the automatic qualification spots by Albania after they beat Armenia 3-0, leaving Denmark to contest the play-offs.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 Wales
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 Wales: Coleman's men end 57-year finals drought despite defeat
Wales qualified for Euro 2016 despite suffering a 2-0 defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina at the Stadion Bilino Polje.
Chris
Coleman's side would have secured their place in France with a point,
but Israel's loss to Cyprus secured progression from Group B regardless,
as well as moving Bosnia third in the pool.
Bosnia set about
their task immediately and dominated possession from the early
exchanges, though Edin Visca was unable to convert their first, and
best, opening of the first half.
Wales threatened on the break
but were unable to take the chances they forged, and it proved costly as
substitute Filip Djuric headed Bosnia ahead with less than 20 minutes
remaining.
Bosnia then made sure that their destiny was in their
own hands going into their final fixture against Cyprus as Vedad
Ibisevic turned home Djuric's shot at the back post in the final minute
of normal time.
With three points crucial to the ambitions of
Bosnia, the game began in an open manner with Wales looking to play on
the counter-attack.
A slip from Ben Davies gifted the hosts the
opening chance with nine minutes played as Miralem Pjanic seized
possession and slid a neat pass through to Visca, who dragged his shot
from the right-hand side of the box narrowly wide of the far post.
As
Bosnia assumed control of possession, Aaron Ramsey almost caught Asmir
Begovic out of position with an ambitious 35-yard free-kick that flew
narrowly wide of the target four minutes later.
The hosts were
finding it difficult to break down Wales' five-man defence and, six
minutes later, Begovic became the first keeper to be forced into a save,
but Bale's skidding set-piece effort required little movement to deny.
In
the last action of the first half, Hal Robson-Kanu released Ramsey in
behind the defence, but the Arsenal man dallied on the ball and Neil
Taylor was unable to slide home as Begovic smothered it.
Gaps
continued to show in the Bosnia defence and one such opening presented
Bale with a great chance to open the scoring 11 minutes after the
restart. After being released by Joe Ledley, though, he skewed a wild
shot wide of the near post.
It proved a costly miss in the 71st minute as Bosnia finally broke the deadlock.
Ibisevic
stopped Ashley Williams from getting his head to Pjanic's free-kick
from deep, and substitute Djuric looped a header beyond Wayne Hennessey
and into the back of the net.
Ramsey missed a chance to draw
Wales level and Mehmed Bazdarevic's men rounded off the scoring in the
90th minute as Ibisevic was in the right place at the right time to tap
home from Djuric's cross-goal shot following a corner.
Although
Wales place in France was secured despite the defeat, they slipped to
second as Belgium triumphed over Andorra 4-1. Bosnia, meanwhile, just
need to match or better Israel’s result in their final outing against
Cyprus.
Friday, 9 October 2015
Inggris 2-0 Estonia
Laporan Pertandingan: Inggris 2-0 Estonia
Inggris sukses mempertahankan rekor kemenangan 100% setelah menang
2-0 atas Estonia, Sabtu (10/10) dini hari WIB, di Wembley Stadium. Theo
Walcott dan Raheem Sterling menjadi pencetak gol dalam laga ini.Berkat kemenangan ini, The Three Lions mengantongi 27 poin dari 9 laga di Grup E, sementara harapan Estonia untuk lolos ke Euro 2016 nyaris kandas.
Babak Pertama
Inggris langsung menerapkan permainan dengan tempo tinggi seiring ancaman mereka berikan ke gawang Estonia di awal laga. Sayang, sepakan voli Theo Walcott yang merupakan kesempatan pertama dalam laga ini mampu diamankan oleh Mihkel Aksalu.
Sang penjaga gawang kembali beraksi tak lama kemudian. Mulanya, ia berhasil meninju umpan silang Ryan Bertrand, tetapi Ross Barkley ada di posisi yang tepat untuk melakukan tembakan voli. Tembakan keras pun dilakukan, tetapi Aksalu sudah kembali ke tempat dan berhasil menggagalkan peluang tersebut.
Situasi yang sama terus berulang hingga menit 30, tetapi angin ganti berpihak pada Estonia setelahnya. Mereka berhasil mengancam gawang Joe Hart walau tak satupun ancaman tersebut berhasil menaklukkan sang penjaga gawang Inggris.
Baru jelang bubaran, The Three Lions menemukan ritmenya dan sukses memecahkan kebuntuan. Theo Walcott sukses menyambut umpan Ross Barkley dan menaklukkan Aksalu. Keunggulan satu gol itu bertahan hingga jeda.
Babak Kedua
Tempo tinggi kembali diterapkan oleh Inggris di paruh kedua. Sterling langsung menciptakan peluang untuk dirinya, tetapi kegemilangan Aksalu berhasil menghentikan sepakan Sterling. Harry Kane coba menyambut bola, tetapi sang penyerang gagal menyarangkan bola ke gawang Estonia.
Barkley kembali dengan sentuhan kedua kaki layaknya Iniesta, dia mengelabui dua pemain bertahan Estonia dan mendapatkan ruang tembak. Namun, Aksalu tampil heroik dibawah mistar dan berhasil menepis tendangan sang gelandang muda.
Adapun Aksalu tidak selamanya bisa menghentikan ancaman Inggris. Di penghujung laga, Sterling berhasil menemukan ruang di kotak penalti dan menyambut umpan silang Jamie Vardy. Winger Manchester City itu sukses menggandakan keunggulan timnya.
Wasit memberikan waktu tambahan tiga menit, tetapi tak banyak yang terjadi setelahnya. Inggris menurunkan tempo dan menjaga keunggulan mereka, seiring kemenangan 2-0 mereka kantongi setelah wasit membunyikan peluit panjang.
Susunan Pemain
Inggris : Hart; Clyne, Smalling, Cahill, Bertrand; Milner, Barkley, Sterling, Lallana, Walcott; Kane
Estonia : Aksalu; Pikk, Klavan, Jaager, Mets; Kallaste, Dmitrijev, Vassiiljev, Teniste; Purje, Zenijo
Spanyol 4-0 Luksemburg
Laporan Pertandingan: Spanyol 4-0 Luksemburg
Spanyol melangkah ke putaran final Piala Eropa 2016 setelah
menundukkan Luksemburg 4-0 di kualifikasi Grup C, Sabtu (10/10) dinihari
WIB.Dengan kemenangan itu Spanyol mengoleksi 24 angka dan memuncaki klasemen Grup C. Sementara Luksemburg tertinggal 20 angka dari La Furia Roja.
Babak I
Tampil dominan di 45 menit pertama, Spanyol bisa meraih keunggulan saat turun minum. Namun demikian, ada sejumlah pemain yang harus minggir karena mengalami cedera.
David Silva adalah di antaranya. Gelandang Manchester City tersebut harus ditarik keluar di menit sepuluh dan digantikan Juan Mata karena mengalami cedera.
Dugaan awal David Silva mengalami cedera pada engkel, yang memaksanya menyudahi laga lebih awal.
Saat pertandingan berjalan semakin larut, Alvaro Morata ikut keluar lebih awal, yaitu di menit 33 dan digantikan oleh Paco Alcacer.
Morata diketahui bermasalah dengan otot betis dan tak bisa melanjutkan permainan.
Namun Spanyol bisa menegaskan dominasi mereka. Penguasaan bola dominan berada di kaki Spanyol dengan ancaman ke gawang Iker Casillas hanya datang dari Stefano Bensi di pertengahan laga.
La Furia Roja akhirnya bisa unggul setelah bola sepakan Pedro Rodriguez, yang berhasil dibendung kiper Sebastian Joubert, diteruskan Sancti Cazorla dengan sontekannya di menit 43. Spanyol pun memimpin 1-0 hingga turun minum.
Babak II
Dominasi Spanyol berlanjut di babak kedua. Bahkan hingga menit ke-60, bola sebanyak 75 persen dikuasai tim besutan Vicente Del Bosque dengan 18 kali tendangan.
Dan di menit 67, Spanyol menggandakan keunggulan mereka. Adalah Alcacer yang menjadi pencetak gol buat Spanyol setelah memaksimalkan umpan terobosan dari Cesc Fabregas.
Luksemburg berusaha langsung membalas, tapi Casillas melakukan penyelamatan apik dengan memblok bola tendangan Gerson.
Alcacer mendapat kesempatan lain di menit 74, tapi kansnya di menit 80 yang akhirnya bisa berujung gol ketiga buat Spanyol. Gerak cepat Jordi Alba, yang kemudian memberikan bola kepada striker pengganti Morata tersebut untuk dituntaskan dengan sontekan mudah yang membawa Spanyol memimpin 3-0 dengan laga menyisakan sepuluh menit lagi dari waktu normal.
Spanyol tak berhenti disitu karena Cazorla melesakkan gol kedua di laga ini lewat sepakan terarah dari luar kotak penalti di menit 85. Gol tersebut menjadi yang terakhir di laga ini dan Spanyol menang 4-0.
Thursday, 8 October 2015
Portugal 1-0 Denmark
Moutinho Secures Qualification For Portugal
Euro 2016 Qualifier Match Report: Portugal 1-0 Denmark 08 October 2015
he hosts went close going ahead in the 10th minute when Bernardo Silva picked out Ronaldo, who forced Kasper Schmeichel into a low save from the edge of the area.
Nicklas Bendtner squandered a chance for the visitors in the 14th minute when he blazed an effort wide of the target from close range.
Portugal continued to push for the opener and they went close in the 34th minute when Moutinho's effort from the edge of the area sailed just over the crossbar.
Selecao had the best chance of the half in the 40th minute when Ronaldo picked out Nani in the box, however the Fenerbahce winger's header rattled the frame of the goal.
Despite the slow start to the half from both sides, it was the home side who broke the deadlock in the 66th minute, as Moutinho found space on the edge of the area, before curling an past Schmeichel.
Denmark pushed for an equaliser and went close in the 76th minute when Kvist forced Rui Patricio into a stop with an effort from 25-yards out.
The visitors went close once again in the 82nd minute when Christian Eriksen picked out Bendtner in the box, however the striker's header sailed wide of the post.
However, despite a late surge from Denmark, Portugal managed to see out the final stages to claim the win and cement their top spot in Group I.
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