Zlat's amazing Carroll (are you Ibrahimovic in disguise?)

 

Much has been made of England's tactical approach to Euro 2012, but their conservative approach went out of the window against Sweden as the Three Lions roared to a 3-2 victory.

Striker Andy Carroll came into the team and made an instant impact, heading home the opener with a towering header from a Steven Gerrard cross.

However, the Swedes took the lead, thanks to a double from Olof Mellberg before goals from Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck sealed victory for England and a good night for Hodgson and his men.
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Fans fly the Irish flag while players wave white ones

 

After a 3-1 defeat to Croatia in their opening game of Euro 2012, Republic of Ireland took on reigning world and European champions Spain, hoping to pull of a shock and keep their Euros dreams alive.
Unfortunately for the Irish, those dreams quickly turned into a nightmare as an early goal from Fernando Torres set the tone for a difficult evening for the Boys in Green.

Goals by David Silva, Cesc Fabregas and a second for Torres followed as Spain ran out 4-0 winners to put an end to Giovanni Trapattoni's hopes of a quarter-final berth, despite the magnificent backing from the Irish fans.
 

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Bendtner takes Ronaldo back to school

 

Portugal may have left it late, but they still did just enough to beat Denmark 3-2 in their Group C clash on Wednesday night.

Both Pepe and Helder Postiga combined to give the Seleccao a commanding two-goal lead, but Nicklas Bendtner gave the Danes a lifeline by maintaining his 100 per cent record against their opponents.

However, talisman Cristiano Ronaldo did not help his country's cause by fluffing a pair of gilt-edged chances to extend his side's lead in the second half, inevitably allowing Bendtner to equalise with a clinical finish.

Nonetheless, Silvestre Varela's dramatic winner secured a vital win, but were it not for the Porto super-sub, the Arsenal striker could have made Ronaldo pay for his inexplicable profligacy in front of goal.
 
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Poland and Russia help football triumph over hooligans

 

Hours after some of their supporters clashed on the streets of Warsaw, Poland and Russia went to battle on the pitch on Monday night and produced a thrilling exhibition of free-flowing football.
More than 120 fans were arrested as riot police fired rubber bullets to disperse supporters following violent scenes in the Polish capital in the build up to kick-off.

But with Euro 2012 quarter-final spots up for grabs in Group A, the co-hosts and their neighbours ensured that the beautiful game was the real winner as goals from Alan Dzagoyev and Jakub Blaszczykowski saw the game end in a 1-1 draw.
 

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Shevchenko's Ukrainian dream comes true

 

Andriy Shevchenko is undoubtedly one of the finest finishers of all time. However, during his goal-shy time with Chelsea, the Ukraine forward could only imagine moments like the two he experienced last night.

The national icon received a huge cheer when named among Oleg Blokhin's starting lineup, with the striker facing a fight against time and fitness throughout the entire 2011-12 campaign in order to be ready for the tournament.

But after falling behind, thanks to Sweden's own hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the 35-year-old sent the crowd into raptures when he found the net with two superb headers in quick succession, securing an emotional victory in the co-hosts' European Championship debut.
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Buffon blocks goal-shy Torres' scoring thoughts

 

He had the chances to break down Italy's resolute defence and hand Spain a victory in their opening Group C clash but Fernando Torres' poor club form appears to have followed him into Euro 2012.

After Cesc Fabregas, the player who was selected to lead the Spanish attack in favour of Torres, cancelled out Antonio Di Natale's opening goal for Italy, the Chelsea man was brought on to grab the winner for the reigning European champions.
But after Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a superbly timed last-ditch tackle to stop Torres from scoring, the Chelsea man followed with a wayward lob over an open goal after being put clean through.
 

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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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