A dramatic injury-time winner from David Villa handed Spain three key points and the lead in Group D while Sweden were left to cry over their missed chances. The Spaniards struggled for long spells of the game but were overall the better side. The Scandinavians managed to survive until the 92nd minute but then collapsed under the strike of current Euro 2008 top scorer Villa.

Due to injuries Sweden boss Lars Lagerback was forced to change the side which was successful against Greece. Christian Wilhelmsson, out for the rest of the tournament, was replaced by striker Johan Elmander, who re-adapted himself to the right winger position. In defence Fedrik Stoor stepped in for Niclas Alexandersson.

Following the positive performance against Russia, Spain boss Luis Aragones named an unchanged formation. Marcos Senna was preferred to Xabi Alonso and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas was once again left on the bench.

As expected, Spain were in control of the game from the very start. Andres Iniesta went close with a powerful left foot shot while the Swedes were patiently preparing their counter attacks. However, the Spaniards proved once again to be a clinical side and following a corner kick they took the lead. David Silva crossed the ball into the box and Fernando Torres showed all his scoring talents by deflecting the ball into the net in front of two Scandinavian defenders.

Sweden’s reaction was positive but unsuccessful. Elmander’s effort from the edge of the penalty area only hit the side netting while Henrik Larsson’s lob went wide. Spain looked comfortable and able to keep possession but lost confidence when captain Carles Puyol was forced to make his way out due to a muscular injury replaced by Raul Albiol.

Just before the half hour mark Sergio Ramos should have been booked by the referee for a dive, while an active Elmander went close with a header. Sweden seemed confident at this stage and ready to hit the Spanish defence which had already been weakened by Puyol’s injury. At the 34th minute Stoor delivered a great cross from the right flank for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who controlled the ball scruffily but brilliantly turned around Ramos and beat Iker Casillas with an accurate shot.

David Villa tried to regain the lead for Spain but his screamer was controlled by Isaksson. The pressure was mounting and the Spaniards should have been awarded a penalty just before the break when Elmander knocked down Silva in the box with his right shoulder. The referee waved off the protests but the Iberians felt rightly aggrieved.

During the break Ibrahimovic was left in the dressing room since he is not ready to play the full 90 minutes and Rosenberg took his place.

Spain were again dangerous with Villa but 10 minutes into the second half Elmander was brought down on the right flank by Carlos Marchena, who saw yellow for his foul. Anders Svensson was also booked a few minutes later.

Aragones then opted for a double change taking off Iniesta and Xavi for Fabregas and Santi Cazorla. The substitutions seemed to work but Spain missed a fantastic chance at the 63rd minute. Silva controlled a low pass but his shot from the edge of the box was deflected by Isaksson, Villa jumped into the ball but his tap in smashed into the ‘keeper’s chest. The Valencia ace then crossed into the box before the ball went out but Torres’ poor attempt was cleared by the Swedish defence.

A few minutes later Senna’s long-distance attempt was deflected by the ‘keeper. Sweden struggled to come out of their half while Spain were piling on the pressure. A few corner kicks didn’t help the Iberians to regain the lead but the Scandinavians looked less of a threat without Ibrahimovic.

Larsson stepped in for a tired Elmander with 12 minutes to go and Sweden went close to score with a high ball from the left side which went through the box with no one able to touch it in.

Kim Kallstrom stepped in for Henrik Larsson while Fabregas earned a corner at the 85th but the Spaniards couldn’t create any openings. Just before full time Villa controlled the ball with his chest passed it onto Torres whose effort was once again saved by an outstanding Isaksson. Sweden went up front looking for a winner but Ljungberg’s attempt went out wide.

During stoppage time when both sides seemed to be settling for a draw, Villa superbly controlled a deep ball from Ramos he then went past Hansson and knock it behind Isaksson, almost handing Spain the mathematical victory in Group D and a place in the quarter-finals.
Sweden: Isaksson; Stoor, Hansson, Mellberg, Nilsson; Elmander (S Larsson 79), Svensson, Andersson; H Larsson (Kallstrom 86), Ibrahimovic (Rosenberg 46), Ljungberg

Spain: Casillas; Ramos, Puyol (Albiol 24), Marchena, Capdevila; Senna; Silva, Xavi (Fabregas 59), Iniesta (Cazorla 59); Torres, Villa

Ref: Vink (Hol)

Ref From channel4.com

Holland despatched France 4-1 in the match of the tournament so far. The result ensures that they will win Group C regardless of the outcome of their meeting with Romania – a scenario that effectively takes Italy’s fate at Euro 2008 out of their own hands.

It was a game that France simply had to win, and the return of Thierry Henry had boosted their morale. Meanwhile, Holland’s opening display against Italy suggested they could be considered the new favourites for the tournament.

The tone was set for the encounter within the first five minutes as French midfielder Claude Makelele delivered a cynical block on Dutch counterpart Dirk Kuyt. Referee Herbert Fandel chose to keep his cards in his pocket, but it was a decision that lit a fire under the Oranje army.

In the 10th minute the Liverpool midfielder got his revenge as he stole in to head past Gregory Coupet from a Giovanni Van Bronckhorst corner. With Florent Malouda pulling and tugging him all over, the blonde bomber did well to free himself in order to net on the occasion of his 40th Dutch cap.

Holland’s confidence was sky-high and Wesley Sneijder lashed in a fierce shot shortly after which swirled just over the French bar. Raymond Domenech’s men appeared shell-shocked and were struggling to find their shape and rhythm, with the fear of a last day winner-takes-all clash against Italy already beginning to form in their minds.

The passing from Marco Van Basten’s side was sublime and in the 18th minute an intricate maze of triangular passing pin-balled their possession to the verge of the box where only a last ditch block from Lilian Thuram prevented Ruud Van Nistelrooy snatching a shot at goal.

Moments later Thuram inadvertently headed in to the path of Kuyt who somehow managed to redirect the ball with a hooked shot that just evaded the frame of the goal. For the first 20 minutes it was an orange onslaught.

Finally, France began to show some life as Sydney Govou wriggled free from his marker and forced Edwin Van Der Sar to react, before minutes later a quick one-two with Henry threatened to set the Lyon striker free before a burly Dutch interception halted the move.

The match took a twist for the surreal on the half hour mark as the increasingly dirty Makelele flashed a flailing arm in to the face of Rafael Van Der Vaart in the centre of the park. He received a yellow card for his effort but somehow also won the resultant free-kick from the man in black.

Small victories can be pivotal in the bigger picture and in the moments following that incident France twice tested the attention of Van Der Sar, a ‘keeper not averse to spilling long-range efforts. Firstly Govou and then Franck Ribery zipped shots along the turf but the Dutch net-minder was wide awake to both – but Les Bleus engine was finally starting to chug in to life.

On 37 minutes Ribery escaped down the flank, latching on to a Govou pass, and his whipped cross just eluded both Henry and Malouda. At the other end Sneijder let loose with another powerful effort from outside the box, which Coupet dealt with. The ‘end-to-end’ philosophy had not been better demonstrated in the tournament.

However, it was a fleeting flurry of fantasy football and as the half petered out the tempo dropped. It seemed that a crucial spell of play was beginning – where a goal for either side could have swung the match pendulum. Alas, no more net-ripplers emerged and the sides headed down the tunnel with Holland 1-0 up.

France were out of the traps much quicker after the interval, Ribery firing across the goal and then Henry seeing his shot during a penalty area skirmish hit Andre Ooijer’s hand. A penalty was claimed but Mr Fandel waved away French appeals – nevertheless the Cockerels had their dander up and for the first time Holland looked flustered.

Shortly after a tussle between Henry and Ooijer saw the Dutchman enter the book. The finger of fate had truly spun towards France and on 54 minutes Henry found himself clean through on goal, but this is not the Thierry of old and he didn’t have the va-va-voom to finish the job – his chipped shot going far too high.

Just before the hour though the Dutch opened their magic box. Van Nistelrooy pirouetted on the ball on the halfway line to set Arjen Robben free, the Real Madrid winger bursting down the flank before crossing for fellow substitute Robin Van Persie whose sweet connection was palmed by Coupet but still agonisingly squirmed over the line for 2-0.

As France pushed on looking for a way back Holland began to look increasingly dangerous on the counter, but in 90 breathtaking seconds of madness the game took a whirlwind turn. At one end Willy Sagnol overlapped beautifully to create space and cross for Henry to redirect the ball with the slightest of touches beyond a helpless Van Der Sar.

But before the French fans had a chance to sit down after their celebrations Robben had zipped away down the wing at the other end. After a brief dilly-dally in the area to consider his way around William Gallas he unleashed an impossible shot from the tightest angle into the roof of the net – the two-goal margin was restored.

The French were shell-shocked and their efforts became more scrappy and desperate. Holland on the other hand continued to excite and entertain whenever play allowed them to. On 83 minutes a long ball forward to Van Nistelrooy allowed the equine attacker to attempt a lobbed header, only an outstretched Coupet arm managed to flick the bouncing ball around the post.

Shortly after Van Bronckhorst fired a cross-field pass for Van Persie, which forced Coupet to race out to clear the ball. It was going to take a second ‘Miracle of Berne’ for Domenech’s boys to salvage anything from the game.

The miracle never came though and in injury time Sneijder struck a brilliant shot beyond Van Der Sar – meaning that the Netherlands have put seven past the two 2006 World Cup Finalists.

The result ensures that Holland win Group C, and they now have an interesting dilemma. Van Basten holds a sword of Damacles over the heads of both France and Italy going in to the final double-header of matches. If they were to take their foot off the gas against Romania, and lose, they would still go through as group winners but importantly they would also eliminate two deadly rivals by aiding Romania’s path in to the quarter-finals.

Could we be about to see Italy fall victim to another Euro stitch-up?
Holland: Van Der Sar; Boulahrouz, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst; De Jong, Engelaar (Robben 46); Kuyt (Van Persie 55), Van Der Vaart (Bouma 78), Sneijder; Van Nistelrooy

France: Coupet; Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Evra; Makelele, Toulalan; Govou (Anelka 75), Ribery, Malouda (Gomis 60); Henry

Ref: Fandel (Ger)

Ref From channel4.com

Christian Panucci and a Gigi Buffon penalty save on Adrian Mutu keeps Italy in Euro 2008 by holding Romania 1-1. It’ll all go down to the final game of Group C against France.

Roberto Donadoni made sweeping changes from the side that was thrashed 3-0 by Holland, introducing Fabio Grosso, Simone Perrotta, Daniele De Rossi, Giorgio Chiellini and captain Alessandro Del Piero. This was a must-win game to avoid crashing out in the first round and Romania had a point under their belts after frustrating France in a goalless encounter.

Many Serie A notables were in the Romanian ranks, including Inter’s Cristian Chivu, Fiorentina star Adrian Mutu and Paul Constantin Codrea of Siena. The last time these teams met in a major competition was Italy’s 2-0 victory in the Euro 2000 quarter-finals, followed by three Azzurri wins between qualifiers and friendlies without conceding a goal. Romania’s only triumphs were both 1-0 in a March 1989 friendly and Euro ‘84 qualifier.

Italy were immediately more aggressive and effective, Del Piero’s deflected header turned wide from a couple of yards from Perrotta’s assist. De Rossi was halted at the byeline by a desperate Mutu tackle, then as the move continued Luca Toni couldn’t get enough contact on a blazing Mauro Camoranesi cross from the left.

However, as against Holland, they were left exposed to the counter as Gigi Buffon got down smartly to save Mutu’s angled drive. Toni nodded another Grosso cross over the bar, but Buffon performed another fine intervention on a daisy-cutter of a touched-on free kick from Gabriel Tamas.

Buffon was beaten on 20 minutes by a curling Chivu free kick that took a massive deflection off Christian Panucci’s back to crack against the base of the upright. There was a blow for Romania moments later, as teammates Mirel Radoi and Razvan Rat clashed heads and the former could not continue, making way for Steaua Bucharest companion Nicolae Dica.

Del Piero came flying in and was inches away from getting his head to a sweeping Grosso centre, while Toni’s header skimmed the post from a Camoranesi cross.

Rat unleashed a fierce left-foot strike from 25 metres that swept just wide of the target. Codrea shoved Del Piero over outside the box, but the captain blasted well over.

There was a great chance when Toni knocked down Zambrotta’s cross for Perrotta, but some desperate defending blocked his path from six yards. From the resulting corner, Bogdan Lobont tipped a Chiellini header out from under the crossbar. Another corner and an even better Lobont save on Toni. The siege continued with Toni’s header for Chiellini and the former Fiorentina goalkeeper flying in to punch it off his foot.

Mutu was the first into the book for a very high tackle on Andrea Pirlo. Toni hit the back of the net from a touched-on corner kick in first half stoppages, but it was disallowed for an offside position that replays show was an incorrect decision, as Codrea was clearly keeping him and Del Piero in play.

The second half started in similar fashion, Lobont fingertipping a Pirlo cross off the head of Toni. Codrea anticipated Del Piero as he was lining up the shot from the D on Toni’s assist, though Buffon smothered a Mutu long-range attempt.

Against the run of play, Romania took a shock lead on 55 minutes. Mutu pounced on a disastrous defensive error, Zambrotta’s weak back header, to run alone into the box and smash his finish into the near top corner where Buffon could not reach.

The lead lasted all of 60 seconds before Italy drew level. Chiellini knocked down a De Rossi corner kick for Panucci to tap in from a yard at the back post. It was Italy’s first goal in the competition. Donadoni knew a win was necessary and threw on Antonio Cassano for Perrotta and an all-attack formation, moving Camoranesi into the centre.

It was end to end stuff and Grosso flung himself at Florentin Petre to charge him down when clear on goal. Petre made way for Banel Nicolita, while Pirlo and Chivu were booked for late challenges.

Cassano and Del Piero combined brilliantly down the left and the Juventus man threaded through for Toni, but he was a yard too slow to tap in from seven yards. Del Piero accidentally charged down a shot from teammate De Rossi.

Grosso had to rescue another chaotic situation in his own box, closing down Niculae following a lucky ricochet, then Chiellini headed away a Nicolita strike. Lobont was almost caught out by a dangerous Zambrotta cross-shot, blocking it just before the entire ball crossed the line.

Dorin Goian was booked for time-wasting and will be suspended for the next game.

In a splendid team move, Toni knocked down the ball with his chest for De Rossi’s diving header, bringing another fantastic save out of Lobont on 75 minutes.

Fabio Quagliarella replaced captain Del Piero, handing the armband to Buffon. It was almost an own goal as Cassano’s backheel sent Zambrotta running and Lobont smothered a defensive header.

Moments later Zambrotta again got to the byeline from Cassano and the cross was deflected to flash across an empty net. Panucci’s error handed Nicolita the ball and De Rossi came flying in to clear before he could shoot.

There was further controversy on 80 minutes when the referee pointed to the spot for Panucci’s challenge on Dica. It seemed a harsh decision, but Buffon made it academic as he parried Mutu’s fairly central penalty! It was an instinctive save, the ball riocheting off his hand to strike his leg and go out.

Donadoni’s final substitution was Massimo Ambrosini for Camoranesi. Toni was livid soon after as he fell when trying to get to Cassano’s cross, but the referee was correct in awarding the foul against him.

A dispirited Mutu made way for Cocis in the final minutes and Cassano’s cross-shot landed on the roof of the net following a smart Grosso dummy. A crucial tackle stopped Grosso’s slalom in the box during stoppages and at the other end De Rossi was harshly booked for what seemed to be a well-timed challenge on ex-Milan man Cosmin Contra.
Italy: Buffon; Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso; Camoranesi (Ambrosini 85), Pirlo, De Rossi, Perrotta (Cassano 56); Del Piero (Quagliarella 77), Toni

Romania: Lobont; Contra, Tamas, Goian, Rat; Radoi (Dica 25), Codrea, Chivu; Mutu (Cocis 88), Petre (Nicolita 60); D Niculae

Ref: Ovrebo (Nor)

Missed penalty: Mutu 81 (R