Messi steals the limelight from Euro 2012

 

All the attention may be on events at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine but Lionel Messi still managed to hog the limelight after his hat-trick in Argentina's 4-3 friendly win over Brazil on Saturday.

The Barcelona star's superb treble in front of 82,000 fans at the Meadowlands Stadium in New York - home of American football teams the Giants and the Jets - took his season's tally to a remarkable 82 goals for club and country to single-handedly beat the combined number of times the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Portugal found the net on the same day.

And with his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo firing blanks, Messi proved once again why he is rated as the world's best player.

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Czech mate! Dzagoev topples Cech in Group A clash

 

Euro 2012 got underway yesterday and a thrilling 1-1 draw between co-hosts Poland and Greece was followed with barnstorming Russia display against the Czech Republic.
Alan Dzagoev got Russia on their way in the 15th minute before Roman Shirokov added a second for Dick Advocaat's side. The Czechs threatened a revival after Vaclav Pilar pulled a goal back in the second half but Dzagoev struck again while a fine effort from Roman Pavlyuchenko late on put the tie beyond doubt.

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Euro 2012 race set to start

 

The day has finally arrived. Euro 2012 will kick off this evening as tournament co-hosts Poland take on Greece in Group A's opening fixture.

With all 16 nations having made all of their final preparations ahead of the tournament, it's now left to us to sit back and enjoy day after day of world-class football.
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Platini turns from Euro '84 hero to Euro 2012 fat cat

 

Michel Platini, once a magician on the pitch, fired France to victory in the 1984 European Championship having displayed some of the finest football the world had ever seen.

Cut to a scene 28 years later, however, and the same man was sat in a press room packed with journalists, being told that players at Euro 2012 will face a booking if they walked off the pitch in protest of racist abuse.
Platini's demeanour on Wednesday cut a stark contrast to the one during his playing days, as the Uefa president offered a prickly response to questions regarding racism during the tournament...
 

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Blanc puts his Euro 2012 cards on the table...

 

France capped their Euro 2012 preparations with an impressive 4-0 victory over Estonia on Tuesday as Laurent Blanc's side look in good shape for their Group D opener against England next Monday.

Blanc's charges started their European Championship warm-up in unconvincing style as they found themselves two goals behind in their first friendly against Iceland, but second-half strikes from Mathieu Debuchy, Franck Ribery and Adil Rami secured victory and boosted confidence within the French camp.
A tricky tie against Serbia was next up for France, but Les Bleus grabbed a 2-0 victory courtesy of early goals from Ribery and Florent Malouda.

Ribery was on target once more as he got his French side on their way against Estonia before Karim Benzema's double and a late strike from Jeremy Menez sealed Tuesday's convincing win.

With France looking so strong, can they brush aside England, Sweden and Ukraine to top Group D and make a challenge on Spain's Euro 2012 crown?

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Euro 2012 squads arrive in need of an immediate health check

 

Euro 2012 has yet to get underway but various nations are already smarting from injuries and withdrawals.

England are first in the casualty queue as Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard and, most recently, Gary Cahill have all been ruled out of the tournament, leaving Roy Hodgson reaching for cover.

Yann M'Vila is a doubt for France's opener against England after suffering from an ankle sprain, while Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has only recently returned to training following a thigh problem.
Elsewhere, Italy defender Andrea Barzagli is a doubt for the tournament due to a calf problem, while Nani is Portugal's biggest injury concern with a knock to his right foot.

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Europe's giants take an unlikely beating

 

Saturday saw shock results all over the continent as some of Europe's best and brightest were brought down to Earth by the smaller nations.

Netherlands lost 2-1 at home to Bulgaria, Germany were blown away by Switzerland in an extraordinary 5-3, while Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal could only draw 0-0 with lowly Macedonia.

It was a day in which the Davids of European football delivered some unexpected beatings to the much-fancied Goliaths, putting preconceptions into doubt ahead of Euro 2012...

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Old man Ferdinand left behind as Terry & Co. board Roy’s Euro 2012 plane

 

There were always likely to be a few high-profile names missing from Roy Hodgson's England squad for Euro 2012, but not many predicted it would be Rio Ferdinand who was absent.

The Manchester United defender was apparently left behind due to "footballing reasons", and he confirmed via his Twitter account that he was "gutted" not to be involved, and realistically may not get another call-up in his career.

So now the veteran centre-back is left grounded as John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Hodgson jet off the Poland and Ukraine.

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Deutschland in Euro 2012

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