Live Football Match USA vs Mexico

Aug. 10, 2011 @ 9 p.m. ET

Arguments about the player handovers

This month a host of friendly exhibitions between international teams will take place. Unfortunately these matches are just before the start of the new season. Managers are voicing there irritation quite loudly, "We're fighting a losing battle," Guardiola said during the European champion's U.S. trip last week. "National teams control everything and will continue to set the agenda." "That date in August is a very bad one and we have to change that. As soon as possible," Theo van Seggelen, secretary general of the FIFPro players' unions group, told The Associated Press. Several other prominent managers and football figures have also made similar comments about the FIFA schedule.

This Sunday U.S and Mexico will go head to head in that very schedule, to stream that match live click here.

USA vs Mexico

US Soccer

VS.

Mexico Soccer

Watch Live Match Brazil vs Paraguay

Copa America 2011 Argentina

Brazil

Paraguay

The 2011 Campeonato Sud-americano Copa America, better known as the 2011 Copa America or the Copa America Argentina 2011, will be the forty third edition of the Copa America, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America. The competition is organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and will be held in Argentina from July 1 to July 24, 2011. The defending champion is Brazil. The highest finishing CONMEBOL team will earn the right to compete for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Brazil.

Brazil vs. Paraguay

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Watch Live Peru Vs Maxico Match

Copa America 2011 Argentina

Mexico Football Team

Peru Football Team

Copa America 2011 today will face Mexico vs Peru. Both teams are seriously lacking in attacking talent and both teams are in seriously in need of a win to have a good chance at advancing. Mexico and Peru are both participating in the 2011 Copa America without their best attacking players, but in their 1st games, they fared differently.

Mexico are fielding a youth team for the tournament, with Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez also out of contention and they seem to be paying the price and are sitting bottom of their group, Mexico enters the game several degenerate morale loss in the first round of Chile 2-1

Peru got a little luckier, as a seemingly brilliant and stacked Uruguay side played poorly en route to a 1-1 draw against the Peruvians. Peru are Two-time Copa America runners-up, (they won twice in the tournaments previous guise as the South American Championship) and while they don’t (quite) deserve the title “sleeping giants” they have a great chance to cause a surprise this year, starting with Mexico.

Peru are without both Jefferson Farfan and Claudio Pizarro, who are almost certianly their best two attacking players. Their goal scorer against Uruguay was Paolo Guerrero, a man who has played very little football over the last two seasons after a promising start to his career in the Bundesliga.

Peru                           vs.                             Mexico 

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Copa America 2011: Argentina vs Colombia Big Soccer Match Today

The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América Argentina 2011, will be the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America. The competition is organized by CONMEBOL, South America’s football governing body, and will be held in Argentina from July 1 to July 24, 2011. The defending champion is Brazil. The highest finishing CONMEBOL team (other than Brazil) will earn the right to compete for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Brazil.

VS

Watch This Game Live

The Copa America 2011, The Copa America 2011 called Tim Cup considered as the best in the world. Most of the People love to watch the Copa America 2011 football league considered as the best in the world. Last Match Argentina had to share their points because of the draw. Today is really a big challenged day for Argentina.



When Start the Argentina-Colombia Match
Match scheduled/Argentina vs Colombia Kick Time:
Kick Off Time: 00:45 until 02:45 GMT
Kickoff Date: 07-07-2011 Tuesday, July 07, 2011
Vanue - Stadium:n/l
League: Argentina vs. Colombia Live


Match on : Argentina vs Colombia Live


Argentina vs Colombia Live (Copa America 2011)


Argentina Team Squad Copa America 2011


Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Juan Pablo Carrizo (River Plate)

Defenders: Gabriel Milito (Barcelona), Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid), Nicolas Burdisso (Roma), Javier Zanetti (Inter), Nicolas Pareja and Marcos Rojo (Spartak Moscow), Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht), Ever Banega (Valencia), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter), Javier Pastore (Palermo), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Diego Milito (Inter)



Colombia Team Squad Copa America 2011

Goalkeepers: Nelson Ramos (Millonarios), Luis Martinez (Once Caldas)

Defenders: Mario Yepes (AC Milan), Aquivaldo Mosquera (America, Mexico), Luis Perea (Atletico Madrid), Cristian Zapata, Pablo Armero (both Udinese), Camilo Zuniga (Napoli), Yulian Anchico (Pachuca), Juan Valencia (Atletico Junior)

Midfielders: Juan Cuadrado (Udinese), Elkin Soto (Mainz), Abel Aguilar (Hercules), Fredy Guarin (Porto), Carlos Sanchez (Valenciennes), Gustavo Bolivar (Deportes Tolima)

Forwards: Hugo Rodallega (Wigan Athletic), Adrian Ramos (Hertha Berlin), Teofilo Gutierrez (Racing Club), Radamel Falcao Garcia (Porto), Jackson Martinez (Chiapas), Dayro Moreno (Once Caldas)

Watch Live FIFA Woman's World Cup France vs. Germany

The 2011 FIFA Woman's World Cup will be the 6th instance of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for woman's national association football teams. It has been scheduled to take place between 26 June and 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007.

The matches will be played in 9 stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final being played at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. 16 teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in 2009. In the 1st round of the tournament finals, the teams compete in round robin groups of 4 teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These 8 teams advance to the knockout stage, where 2 rounds of play decide which teams will participate in the final.

France

VS.


Germany

France vs. Germany


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Watch tihs game Live FC Timisoara vs. KF Shkendija

International Friendly Matches

European Union
Besides qualifying for euro 2008 or World Cup 2010 there are also international friendly matches.

FC Timisoara

vs.

KF Shkendija


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Match scheduled:
Last updated: 05-07-2011 from 15:30 until 17:30
04-07-2011 on 21:28
Friendly Match

Brazil lacked sharpness : Menezes

Brazil coach Mano Menezes has bemoaned his side's "lack of sharpness" after their shock 0-0 draw with Venezuela in their Copa America Group B opener.

Brazil, ranked 63 places above Venezuela in the FIFA rankings, was expected to steamroll past their less illustrious opponents on Sunday, but instead was held to a goalless draw.

Almost uncharacteristically, the Brazilians lacked much invention and guile in attack, and failed to genuinely trouble Venezuelan custodian Renny Vega, who was rarely called into any action of note.

Speaking after the game, Menezes admitted his charges had not performed on the day.

Menezes said on the Copa America's official website, "In the first half, we had chances to score, But in the second it was different. We lacked sharpness."

After starting with Ganso, Robinho, Alexandre Pato and Neymar in attack, Menezes threw on Elano, Fred and Lucas Silva in the 2nd half to no avail.

"We tried in both sides, both we could not be faster, and could not sneak a player in the area.

"Venezuela worked very hard."

Brazil's next opponents, Paraguay, are likely to pose an even greater challenge, and Menezes has warned his team that the Gerardo Martino's men will have "more responsibility" than Venezuela, and that it would be unlikely that his charges get to dominate as they did on Sunday.

"We will see a very balanced match."

Brazil then end their group campaign against Ecuador on July 13, and will be looking to finish in the top two to guarantee their progress to the quarter-finals.

Mexico midfielder Jonathan dos Santos issues public apology

Mexico midfielder Jonathan dos Santos has publicly apologized for his part in the incident which saw him and 7 team mates handed 6 months international suspensions.

8 members of Mexico's Copa America squad were suspended last week for violating team discipline.

The players - Dos Santos, Nestor Vidrio, Israel Jimenez, Jorge Hernandez, David Cabrera, Marco Fabian, Javier Cortes and Nestor Calderon - were also fined 50,000 Mexican pesos (around £2,640) each.

Barcelona B midfielder Dos Santos, 21, told www.fcbarcelona.cat: "I'm here to face the music. I have committed misconduct.

"I am very sorry for what I did and I apologies to the team, my team mates, the entire coaching staff and people of Mexico. I am here and I assume responsibility."

He added: "I have to apologies to my club, and to my family.

"I have a very clean record 9 years at the club and there has never been any problem with me.

"I have always been disciplined but we are all human beings – we have all made mistakes.

"I have decided to participate with the Barcelona foundation and also do something in Mexico to offset the damage."

The Mexican federation did not disclose details of the incident, which reportedly took place after a 1-0 Copa America warm-up win over Ecuador, but said the players were sorry for their actions.

Bolivia hold hosts in opening match of Copa America: Aguero rescues Argentina.

Hosts Argentina came close to suffering a shock defeat in the opening match of the Copa America as they had to battle back to draw 1-1 with Bolivia in La Plata.


Argentina fell behind to Edvialdo Rojas' 48th-minute opener, finally drawing level 14 minutes from time when substitute Sergio Aguero tucked home a sweet volley.

The hosts were the overwhelming favorites heading into the Group a encounter despite suffering a 6-1 reverse to Bolivia in their last meeting in April 2009 - when the extreme altitude in La Paz undoubtedly played a key role in the one-sided outcome.

On home soil, Sergio Batista's men were tipped to dominate but spurned a number of clear-cut chances, including one in the very first minute when Carlos Tevez produced a poor header when in a good position.

Ezequiel Lavezzi fired wide for Argentina in the 24th minute, while on the half-hour Tevez again had a good opening but Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Erwin Arias made the save.

Esteban Cambiasso was also guilty of spurning a good chance when he miscontrolled in the area, and Argentina were soon made to pay for their lack of cutting edge as Bolivia went ahead three minutes into the second half.

The goal was clever but could have been avoided as Rojas flicked a low corner kick inside the near post, where Ever Banega should have done much better with his attempted clearance.

The goal appeared to rattle the hosts for a time, with Lavezzi guilty of throwing away good attacking positions with woeful crosses from the right wing.

Argentina's fortunes turned on the 70th-minute introduction of Aguero, who replaced the ineffective Lavezzi and quickly set about getting his side back on level terms.

The Atletico Madrid striker's big moment arrived just minutes later, Aguero setting himself perfectly to volley brilliantly into the far corner after being teed up by Nicolas Burdisso's chest down.

Argentina had the best of what chances there were in the final minutes, but in the end the hosts will have been happy to escape with a point after a disjointed display.

Colombia and Costa Rica are the other teams in Group A and meet in the second game of the tournament on Saturday.

Cesc Fabregas will not request to going to Barcelona.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas insists he will not force a move to La Liga giants Barcelona.

Speculation has been afire over Fabregas' future this summer, especially with the 24-year-old making no secret of his desire to one day return to the Nou Camp.

Arsenal team-mate Bacary Sagna further fanned the flames on Tuesday by declaring that he was aware of Fabregas' wish to join Barcelona this summer.

However, the Spanish international has now come out and insisted that he will not hand in a transfer request.

"I am an Arsenal player," Fabregas said, according to The Guardian.

"I have been very happy for eight years and I am very happy. I am not thinking about football now, just about my holidays."

Still, Fabregas refused to definitely rule out a move away from the Emirates Stadium.

"I am not going to talk about any team - but I can't say no to anyone because you never know what could happen in the future.

"I have values and after all I have done in eight years here, I am not going to say a word that would ruin everything. I have always acted with discretion.

"Everyone sees things in a different way but these decisions, not everything depends on the player.

"If I said anything else it would be a lie, it would give rise to speculation that is not true."

Fabregas did admit that winning titles remains at the forefront of his ambitions, and conceded that moving to Barcelona would offer him an excellent shot at silverware.

"Barcelona are the best team in the world and going there guarantees titles. But I owe myself to Arsenal."

Fabregas, who won both Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Spain admits to being frustrated at the lack of success in the past few seasons at the Emirates Stadium.

"Any player who says he is not frustrated at not winning titles is lying.

"There is a good team and a good manager and one of the most faithful fan bases in Europe. With those I believe we can make progress and one day win an important trophy.

"I am ambitious. [But] I have not spoken to the manager.

"He is the boss, he makes decisions and I don't know if they want to sell me or not."

While Fabregas has stopped short of out rightly declaring he wants a transfer to Barcelona, the lack of a statement of his desire to stay is bound to worry all involved at Arsenal.

Fabregas has made over 300 appearances for Arsenal, but only has an FA Cup final victory in 2005 to show for his time at the Emirates, although he was unlucky to miss out on the UEFA Champions League the following year.

Guus Hiddink unmoved over the Chelsea job

Guus Hiddink's agent insisted on Wednesday the Dutchman would not quit as Turkey manager to take over at Chelsea, despite the resignation of the man who appointed him.

But Cees van Nieuwenhuizen admitted he was unable to say for certain whether Hiddink would snub the Blues if they reached an agreement with the Turkish Football Federation to release him from his contract.

Yesterday saw TFF president Mahmut Ozgener announce he would not stand for another term in office, a decision which fuelled speculation over Hiddink's position.

Ozgener has been a staunch ally of the 64-year-old but the former's impending departure will diminish any say he has if Chelsea decide to test the TFF's resolve to keep Hiddink.

Hiddink is renowned for not breaking contracts but Van Nieuwenhuizen was uncertain whether his client would consider being bought out of the final year of it as the same as a breach.

"I really have no idea," Van Nieuwenhuizen told Press Association Sport, insisting Ozgener's announcement had "not had any effect" on Hiddink's own position.

He added: "The contract is with the Turkish Football Federation and not the individual president."

Asked if Hiddink was concerned or upset about Ozgener's departure, Van Nieuwenhuizen said: "Guus is somebody who can accept the facts of life."

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay yesterday refused to comment on reports Hiddink is the club's number one target as he visited Hong Kong ahead of their pre-season tour of Asia.

He did reveal, however, that he hoped to make an appointment within the next fortnight.

Van Nieuwenhuizen maintained today there had been no formal contact between Hiddink - who is also currently in Asia - and the Blues over the vacancy.

Transfer Tracker in TEAMtalk's

Check out TEAMtalk's record of which players have been linked with which clubs in the Premier League so far this summer.

It can be hard keeping up with all of the transfer speculation through the summer transfer window, but we're here to make your life easier.

We're keeping a list of all the signings in the Premier League - and we'll add in every rumour we report too.

We even have profile pages for the players - click on a name down the right to read their stats from last season, plus all the latest news and speculation concerning them.

ARSENAL

Rumours: Gervinho, Keisuke Honda, Bojan Krkic, Chris Samba, Charles N'Zogbia, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Romelu Lukaku, Falcao, Karim Benzema, Gervinho, Phil Jones, Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard, Scott Parker, Peter Odemwingie, Axel Witsel

Done Deals: Carl Jenkinson (Charlton, undisclosed fee)

ASTON VILLA

Rumours: Ben Foster, Scott Dann, Wayne Bridge

Done Deals:

BLACKBURN

Rumours: Cedric Hengbart, Benjani, Jermaine Jones, Seb Larsson, Vicente, Derek Riordan, Matt Mills

Done Deals:

BOLTON

Rumours: Beram Kayal, Daniel Sturridge, Darren Pratley, DJ Campbell, Bradley Johnson, Matt Mills

Done Deals:

CHELSEA:

Rumours: Diego Godin, Javier Pastore, Romelu Lukaku, Luka Modric, Sergio Aguero, Neymar, Kaka, Peter Odemwingie, Wesley Sneijder

Done Deals:

EVERTON

Rumours: Gervinho, Craig Mackail-Smith, Joey Barton, Jay Bothroyd, David Vaughan, Miroslav Klose (signed for Lazio), Chris Brunt, Dedryck Boyata, Shane Long

Done Deals:

FULHAM

Rumours: Kevin Strootman, Daniel Osvaldo, DJ Campbell, Felipe Menezes, Victor Obinna, Csaba Somogyi

Done Deals: Dan Burn (Darlington, undisclosed)

LIVERPOOL

Rumours: Keisuke Honda, Bojan Krkic, Alexander Doni, Scott Parker, James McCarthy, Romelu Lukaku, Stewart Downing, Phil Jones, Gervinho, Fabio Coentrao, Jordan Henderson, Charles N'Zogbia, Charlie Adam, Jose Enrique, Connor Wickham, Axel Witsel, Chris Brunt, Matias Silvestre

Done Deals: Jordan Henderson (Sunderland, £16m rising to £20m)

MANCHESTER CITY

Rumours: Javier Pastore, Romelu Lukaku, Phil Jones, Fabio Coentrao, Alexis Sanchez, Wesley Sneijder, Sergio Aguero

Done Deals:

MANCHESTER UNITED

Rumours: Mesut Ozil, Phil Jones, Shinji Kagawa, Luka Modric, Nikica Jelavic, Ashley Young, David De Gea, Jack Rodwell, Wesley Sneijder, Samir Nasri

Done Deals: Phil Jones (Blackburn, £16.5m)

NEWCASTLE

Rumours: Cedric Hengbart, Charles N'Zogbia, Seb Larsson, Gervinho, Karl Henry, Achille Emana, Demba Ba, Pierre Webo, Neil Taylor, Craig Gardner, Shane Long

Done Deals: Mehdi Abeid (Lens, free), Yohan Cabaye (Lille, undisclosed)

NORWICH

Rumours: Jimmy Bullard, Craig Mackail-Smith, Miroslav Klose (signed for Lazio), Robert Snodgrass, Bradley Johnson

Done Deals: James Vaughan (Everton, £2.5m), Steve Morison (Millwall, undisclosed)

QPR

Rumours: Cedric Hengbart, Lucas Neill, Craig Mackail-Smith, DJ Campbell, Danny Graham, Joe Cole, Ashley Williams, Matt Mills

Done Deals:

STOKE

Rumours: Youssef El-Arabi, Cedric Hengbart, Charles Kabore, Liam Ridgewell, Cameron Jerome, Sebastien Bassong, Christian Poulsen, Erik Huseklepp, Seb Larsson, Carlton Cole, Bradley Johnson, Victor Obinna, Matt Mills

Done Deals:

SUNDERLAND

Rumours: Peter Crouch, Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Darron Gibson, Keiren Westwood, David N'Gog, Charles N'Zogbia, Seb Larsson, David Vaughan, DJ Campbell, Pierre Webo, Demba Ba, Craig Gardner, Ji Dong-won

Done Deals: Ahmed Elmohamady (ENPPI, undisclosed)

SWANSEA

Rumours: Marcos Senna, Steven Caulker, Fabio Borini

Done Deals: Danny Graham (Watford, £3.5m)

TOTTENHAM

Rumours: Asamoah Gyan, Abel Hernandez, Ryan Shawcross, Scott Parker, Romelu Lukaku, Phil Jones, Falcao, Gervinho, Charlie Adam, Leandro Damiao, Didier Drogba, Joe Cole

Done Deals: Brad Friedel (Aston Villa, free)

WEST BROM

Rumours: Eiji Kawashima, Tomasz Kuszczak, David Vaughan, Zoltan Gera, Danny Graham, Bradley Johnson, Pierre Webo, Mark Schwarzer, Matt Mills

Done Deals: Gareth McAuley (Ipswich, free), Billy Jones (Preston, free)

WIGAN

Rumours: Cedric Hengbart, Bradley Johnson, Ali Al-Habsi

Done Deals:

WOLVES

Rumours: Matt Mills, Jamie O'Hara, Shane Long

Done Deals:

Have we missed anyone out? Use the story comment facility below to let us know which transfer rumours you want us to chase up - or who you would like them to sign this summer.

Dons and Crawley in cup face-off

Crawley Town will host AFC Wimbledon in a Carling Cup preliminary round tie next month, with holders Birmingham given a bye to the third round.

Following a draw to determine home advantage, the Football League's two newest clubs will meet at Crawley's Broadfield Stadium on Friday, July 29 for a place in the first-round proper.

The preliminary round is necessary as holders Birmingham were relegated, but due to their Europa League commitments will not compete in the competition until round three.

The Carling Cup therefore requires one club fewer in the first round, so the two clubs placed lowest in the domestic league system last season will meet in a one-off game.

The draw for the first round takes place at 10am on Thursday.

Still learning in Herring of England U21s football team.

Team talk's Jon Holmes believes Stuart Pearce's England Under-21 side will improve as he reflects on their European U21 Championship opener.

The rangy center-back strode forward from deference and played a perfectly-weighted pass down the wing for his jet-heeled team-mate to run onto. The right-back cut into the area and found the striker, who managed to stay level with the last defender (just) before coolly turning and firing home.

Put Gerard Pique, Dani Alves and David Villa in those respective roles and you could imagine Barcelona coming up with a goal like that - so it is to the immense credit of Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker and Danny Welbeck that they managed to pull off the move when combining for England Under-21s' equaliser against Spain in Herring on Sunday.

The Barca benchmark standard was often referred to during commentary, in the Sky Sports studio and online during the European U21 Championship Group B game. The young Spaniards staged an exhibition of tiki-taka passing, a midfield carousel spun round the English by man-of-the-match Thiago Alcantara, skipper Javi Martinez and scorer Ander Herrera. Like Thiago, two more Spain players in Jeffren and Martin Montoya are also La Masia graduates in the U21 team. Their technical superiority to England could not be disputed.

But for all their poise and intricacy, particularly in the first half, Spain failed to carve out clear-cut chances against a rearguard that grew in strength as the game progressed, and it seemed appropriate that it should have been Smalling and Walker - England's two outstanding players - who instigated the attack for Welbeck's late leveller. On the evidence of the opening four games of this tournament in Denmark, Stuart Pearce can call upon the sturdiest defence of the eight competing nations, and building quickly and confidently from the back to the flanks looks like England's most profitable route to goal. Pearce clearly has some polishing to do - Phil Jones and Frankie Fielding were occasionally caught up in meandering triangles which ended with the ball being hoofed upfield (or even straight into Thiago's back) and Ryan Bertrand's position may yet come under threat from Danny Rose, whose most comfortable position appears to be left-back. However, as a unit, the defence proved encouragingly resilient.

Meanwhile, England skipper Michael Mancienne, a defender selected in midfield, was the fall guy. According to Opta stats, his passing accuracy was actually 100% but relatively few passes were made to midfield colleagues or forwards and therein lay the U21s' problem. After the match, Pearce spoke of Spain's "arrogance"; they were not afraid to give the ball to a team-mate even if he was being marked, such was the confidence that the team-mate would in turn retain possession while his colleagues ran off the ball, creating space and keeping the carousel turning. England were somewhat fearful, and on finding the path through midfield closed down, a longer pass was inevitably attempted, resulting in a more helter-skelter approach.

Pearce has also come in for heavy criticism, his tactics picked apart as a result of the failed Mancienne experiment. Yet it seems harsh to overly castigate the manager after the first game of a tournament (after all, Bobby Robson tinkered after England kicked off their Italia 90 campaign with a dreary 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland and ended up a national hero). Pearce is without England's best midfielder in Jack Wilshere, saw his team concede on a set-piece to a sneaky blend of Alberto Botia's blocking and Herrera's 'wristball' that extra officials would probably have spotted had they been utilised by UEFA at this tournament, and his half-time team-talk clearly energised England into playing a more patient, pressing game in the second half.

The young Lions will see more of the ball in Wednesday night's clash with Ukraine, who will be without their injured captain Taras Stepanenko. The Czech Republic were able to open Ukraine up down the right flank in their meeting, so the raiding Walker should be prominent again - but England's midfielders must show the 'arrogance' Pearce has demanded of them if they are to claim victory.

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The tournament got off to a slow start on Saturday, with Belarus and Iceland serving up a dull first half in Aarhus. The second period turned on a tackle made by Coventry's Aron Gunnarsson, who brought down Stanislav Dragun in the box for a penalty and was (harshly) sent off. Belarus were indebted to their goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor, who made several fine stops to deny Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, and although midfield general Mikhail Sivakov took the man-of-the-match honours, the stand-out performer in my opinion was attacking midfielder Aleksandr Perepechko. The Dinamo Minsk forward was only called into the squad at the last minute after an injury to star man Vladimir Yurchenko and his industry and intelligent use of the ball (his chipped pass for Maksim Skavysh's late clincher was delightful) marked him out. Belarus were the rank outsiders going into this tournament but Perepechko's accomplished performance demonstrates the strength in depth in their ranks.

Gutor wasn't the busiest goalkeeper in Group A at the weekend, however. After a low-key opening ceremony with plastic-sheeting Viking long-boats and a rendition of the official tournament song by Bryan Rice (not to be confused with the Nottingham Forest cult hero), Switzerland's Yann Sommer lived up to his burgeoning reputation with a brilliant display to keep hosts Denmark at bay, even if he was fortunate to keep a clean sheet (Nicki Bille Nielsen was incorrectly flagged offside when he netted in the Danes' last hurrah). We should be seeing Sommer in the Champions League next season as he steps up to become FC Basel's first-choice number-one, and likewise Granit Xhaka and goalscorer Xherdan Shaqiri. Shaqiri made multiple first-half attempts to replicate his goal against England in Euro 2012 qualifying, cutting in from the right and letting fly from 25 yards, but showed he is much more than just a one-trick pony by jinking into the box from central midfield and firing emphatically past Mikkel Andersen for the only goal. Christian Eriksen was eclipsed by Shaqiri in Aalborg but winger Daniel Wass, who has recently signed for Benfica, looked very dangerous on the Danes' right flank and they will need his energy if they are to beat Belarus on Tuesday.

The stand-out individual on match day one was probably Czech Republic skipper Borek Dockland, whose brace of goals secured a 2-1 win over Ukraine in the Group B clash in Viborg. Dockal spent last season on loan at relegated Turkish Super Lig club Konyaspor from Slovan Liberec, but looks destined for more high-profile surroundings on Sunday's evidence . Right-back Ondrej Celustka was also impressive, while the much-fancied attacking duo of Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka were disappointing for Ukraine - but substitute Maksym Bilyi produced a lively goalscoring cameo from the bench and is likely to be unleashed from the off against England on Wednesday, with a reshuffle necessary as a result of Stepanenko's injury.

The tournament continues on Tuesday with Switzerland playing Iceland in Aalborg, before Denmark host Belarus in Aarhus. On Wednesday, Spain face Czech Republic in Viborg before Pearce's England take on Ukraine in Herning.

In Europa League fulham seal their place

Fulham will play in the Europa League next season via the Barclays Premier League's Fair Play League.

Mark Hughes' side had just one player sent off in league matches all season - that happened in the very last game leading to suggestions that relegated Blackpool could pip them to the spot.

Chelsea finished top of the Fair Play League but had already qualified for the Champions League, along Manchester United who were third in the table, while second-placed Tottenham already sealed their place in the Europa League by finishing fifth in the Premier League this season.

The Premier League said in a statement: "Fulham FC has finished the season as the highest placed club in the 2010/11 Fair Play League that has not already qualified for UEFA competitions via the 2010/11 Barclays Premier League.

"The club will take the additional European place awarded to England and compete in next season's UEFA Europa League."

England received an additional Europa League place for next season after finishing second in UEFA's national fair-play table based on results from all UEFA club and international matches played over the season.

Pledges safety at Euro 2012 by Polish chief

Polish Football Association president Grzegorz Lato has apologised for the recent behaviour of Polish football fans.

However, he insists the hooliganism problem will be eradicated before the country's co-hosting of the European Championships next summer.

Lato, who was the leading goalscorer at the 1974 World Cup, used a press conference in Warsaw to mark a year until the start of UEFA's flagship tournament to issue his apology to Lithuanian supporters after violent clashes marred a friendly between the two nations back in March.

"I was shocked by the hooligans, I never experienced anything like that when I was playing," he said.

"I can only apologise to our friends in Lithuania for what happened."

But the 61-year-old believes that any such concerns and controversies will be stamped out well in advance of the first game on July 8 next year and said: "Look at the situation around the world. The Polish people will be sitting with Englishmen and with Spaniards and other nations.

"The safety and security of fan zones is the most important thing - a lot of media are writing good things about Poland. Euro 2012 will be very safe."

Lato also pointed to the good behaviour shown by Polish supporters in recent tournaments and used the example of the poor behaviour of English football fans in recent years and the way that has now been quashed.

"England did everything to finish the problem and did it successfully," he said.

"We have very good fans; please remember what they were like in Germany (for the 2006 World Cup) and Austria and Switzerland (for Euro 2008). They were great, in spite of our results."

UEFA's general secretary, Gianni Infantino, also acknowledged the recent outbreak of violence, including the hooligans who clashed with police and caused severe stadium damage after Legia Warsaw's penalty shoot-out victory over rivals Lech Poznan in the Polish Cup final, but he too is confident there will be no similar scenarios at next summer's tournament, shared between Poland and Ukraine.

"It is an issue we are taking very seriously," he said.

"We have seen recently some crowd trouble and security issues. We are working closely with the government, authorities and the police."

When asked about the comparisons to England's battle with hooliganism, Infantino praised the Polish efforts thus far and said: "There is the same determination to clean up and eradicate it."

The co-hosts have both also come under close scrutiny after facilities and infrastructures in the majority of the eight host cities fell behind schedule, but Infantino stressed the matter is in hand.

"There have been a few hiccups along the way and I have lost a few hairs worrying about preparations - it has certainly not altered our faith in this project," he said.

UEFA are currently hosting an official media tour of the two nations with tours of all the stadiums, airports and new transport links, the vast majority of which still require work.

Mancester United won the champions league troffy

Sir Alex Ferguson believes a Champions League final win over Barcelona at Wembley would end any debate about the merits of his current Manchester United side.

The Red Devils will be crowned champions for a record 19th time next Sunday, after what promises to be, for the opposition at least, a tense last-day encounter with relegation-threatened Blackpool at Old Trafford.

Yet still the doubters remain, unconvinced by the 1-1 draw at Blackburn on Saturday that ensured United would win the Premier League for the fourth time in five years.

No-one questions how good Barcelona are though, which is why Ferguson believes any criticism can be ended by beating Pep Guardiola's men in the Champions League final on May 28.

"Beating Barcelona would end all arguments about this team," said Ferguson.

"I know we are playing a terrific team but would you back against us in a big way? I don't think you would.

"We are capable of doing very well."

Ferguson knows the challenges will be coming at his team from all angles next season.

Chelsea are expected to be a far more consistent force and while such bitter disappointment this term may restrict Arsenal's ability to respond, Liverpool and, particularly, FA Cup winners Manchester City both look certain to do better than this season.

Not that Ferguson is concerned about that.

Even before United secured the championship that swept them past Liverpool, he had already pledged to remain in post for at least another season.

And there is no sense of any desire to take a back seat.

"I will not be taking it easy because we have won the title," Ferguson pledged on MUTV.

"The ambition of the club doesn't alter. It doesn't go away. That is the responsibility as manager of Manchester United.

"You always expect Liverpool to challenge us. You always expect Manchester City to challenge us.

"The great thing about us is that we accept challenges. It doesn't matter where it comes from.

"Our job is to get better and we will try to be better next year."

There are a few issues for Ferguson to resolve.

Atletico Madrid's David de Gea is thought to have been lined up as a successor to retiring goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, while a couple of additional new faces are anticipated, including Wesley Sneijder.

But a decision about Paul Scholes' future is still awaited with chief executive David Gill not entirely convinced the veteran midfielder will extend his stay at Old Trafford.

"It wouldn't surprise us if Paul Scholes retired," said Gill on BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

"On the hand, we are enjoying the success we are having, so at the end of the season, he will have a conversation with Sir Alex about that.

"I am sure he will let us know his decision and we will respect it."