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PORTUGAL 2-0 TURKEY

Losers on the opening day four years ago, Portugal made a sure-footed start to UEFA EURO 2008™ as second-half strikes from Pepe and substitute Raul Meireles secured all three points against Turkey at the Stade de Genève.

Just deserts
It was a deserved victory for Luiz Felipe Scolari's men who also rattled the woodwork twice through Nuno Gomes. For Turkey, by contrast, defeat here continued their unhappy sequence of results against not just Portugal but also teams coached by Scolari – his Brazil beat them twice at the 2002 FIFA World Cup – and made Wednesday's Group A meeting with Switzerland a virtual eliminator.

Upwardly mobile
Portugal entered the tournament seeking to continue their upwards trajectory in European finals: quarter-finals in 1996, semi-finals in 2000 and runners-up in 2004. And they made the early running here, with Bosingwa hitting the outside of the post with a low cross inside two minutes. After 42 goals this season for Manchester United FC, Cristiano Ronaldo, understandably, found himself crowded by white shirts in the initial stages but his threat was evident from the game's first corner, delivered by Simão. Ronaldo appeared poised to strike only for Servet Çetin to produce a timely block. Portugal did get the ball in the net from another Simão corner in the 17th minute but Pepe's header was ruled out for offside.

Survivors
At the other end, Nihat Kahveci saw a free-kick in a promising position trickle behind off the Portugal wall. Nihat was one of only two survivors from Turkey's 2002 World Cup team in the starting lineup alongside Emre Belözoğlu, and he and his fellow forwards – Kazım Kazım and Mevlüt Erdinç, both playing their first competitive internationals – had scant opportunities in a first period controlled by Portugal. With the half-hour approaching, Simão curled a free-kick narrowly over and moments later there was a collective holding of the breath as Ronaldo cut inside to escape the shackles of Hakan Balta and proceeded to weave his way between three white shirts. If the finish was lacking, Ronaldo then drew a fine save from Volkan Demirel with a low free-kick driven in from the left. Although the ball bounced in front of Volkan, he managed to get a fingertip to it and touch it on to the far post.

Breakthrough
With João Moutinho also going close, it was no surprise Turkey coach Fatih Terim sought to tighten up his midfield for the second half, sending on Sabri Şarıoğlu. Yet Turkey were soon on the back foot once more. Simão dispossessed the dawdling Gökhan Zan and Nuno Gomes nipped in to fire the loose ball against the inside of the upright. After Gökhan, injured in that incident, limped off to be replaced by Emre Aşık, Portugal came again, Ronaldo shooting low at Volkan. The breakthrough finally came after 61 minutes. Pepe, carrying the ball forward with an assuredness not usually associated with centre-halves, played a one-two on the edge of the box with Nuno Gomes and burst through to finish past Volkan for his first international goal. Nuno Gomes nearly added a second soon after, only to see his header rebound off the crossbar. Turkey's hopes of snatching a late equaliser vanished with Tuncay's air shot before Meireles, also with a maiden Portugal goal, doubled the lead in added time, sliding the ball into an empty net after Moutinho's trickery had taken out Volkan.

Ninja

Originally Posted by digital_brain

Czech - 1
Swiss - 0

Though Swiss were the dominating side, they failed to convert their chances ...

The Swiss were denied atleast two penalties

prongs

TODAY'S MATCHES
CROATIA V/S AUSTRIA 21:00hrs
GERMANY V/S POLAND 00:15hrs

patch01

Portugal

prongs

croatia 1 - 0 austria

Luka Modric's penalty gave Croatia a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Austria.Austria were impressive but Petr Cech's goalkeeping skills kept all shts from austria at bay.

germany 2 - 0 poland
Lukas Podolski collected a brace as the Germans show a killer instinct in front of goal to dominate the Poles 2-0.

Bayern Munich team-mates Miroslav Klose and Podolski - two of three Poland-born players in the Germany squad - combined in the 20th minute for the latter to put the 1996 European champions ahead, before Podolski sealed the win midway through the second half.

patch01

^^ mate, thanks for the updates, I haven't had chance to stay up for the games

repped ya

Ninja · 01:21 PM

I watched both the games yesterday. I wanted Germany to lose

, but they were as clinical as ever

Podolski was just a treat to watch. He overshadowed both Miraslov klose and Ballack

The game played between croatia and austria was a lot more interesting..

croatia 1 - 0 austria

Luka Modric's penalty gave Croatia a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Austria.Austria were impressive but Petr Cech's goalkeeping skills kept all shts from austria at bay.

Petr Cech??

But petr cech plays for Czech Republic, rite

Sandeep

Croatian keeper is Stipe Pletikosa! Must be a typo!

But nice report ther!

Sandeep · 06:07 PM

I am waiting for Italy-Netherland. Money on Italy.

Just once, eight years ago, have the FIFA World Cup holders won the ensuing UEFA European Championship. Italy, beaten in that 2000 final, begin their bid to emulate France on Monday against a Netherlands team confident they can overcome the absence of Arjen Robben.
Burden
Azzurri coach Roberto Donadoni succeeded Marcello Lippi after the 2006 World Cup victory in Germany and, as he considered the Netherlands encounter in Berne, as well as the subsequent Group C tests against Romania and France, he admitted that their exalted status could be a burden. "When a side are world champions, there are obviously expectations," Donadoni said. "People think that because you won the World Cup it is a guarantee that you are going to win. But it happens at club as well as international level – you can win the UEFA Champions League but it doesn't mean you will win it again. Every time there is a different winner and it is very difficult to repeat victories."
Materazzi favoured
The captain from 2006, Fabio Cannavaro, is out with an ankle injury and Marco Materazzi is favourite to take his place alongside Andrea Barzagli in central defence while Antonio Di Natale could beat the squad's new skipper, Alessandro Del Piero, to a start on the left of the attack. Christian Panucci did tweak a knee tendon on Friday but Donadoni – who was still experimenting with different lineups in Sunday training – said the right-back has "no problem" now. As for Italy's opponents, Donadoni said: "The Netherlands did well in qualifying and have some interesting players with plenty of skill, so we have taken that into consideration. It is not going to be easy." He added: "I think the Netherlands team are helped by the fans all dressing in orange – you really notice them. Aesthetically, it is beautiful."
Van Persie hope
Donadoni's former AC Milan club-mate Marco van Basten, who was already without Ryan Babel for the tournament, lost winger Robben to a groin injury which the Netherlands coach said looks likely to rule him out for "at least seven days" – including for the France game on 13 June. However, Robin van Persie is training again after a thigh complaint and may yet pip Ibrahim Afellay or Dirk Kuyt to selection. Right-back Mario Melchiot, meanwhile, has recovered from a pubic bone problem. Van Basten said: "Robben is an important player – it is a disadvantage that he is not playing. But we played a lot of qualifying matches without Arjen and other players, so we are still capable of getting a good result."
'Difficult job'
Not that it will be easy against Italy, whom the Netherlands have not defeated since 1978. "Two years ago they were world champions and they still have mostly the same players," the Oranje trainer continued. "It is going to be a difficult job for us and the group will be difficult with France and Romania. We will have to perform very well but we will give it a try."

From euro 2008 Website.

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sorry abt the mistake guys got confused between croatia and czech rep