May 24, 2013

Soccer Recap: Spain, Germany, USA and England find form in World Cup qualifying

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Spain celebrates during the FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Belarus at the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, on October 12, 2012. (Viktor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images) (PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — World and European champion Spain romped to a 24th straight qualifying win on Friday, although no one in the country was able to see it. [...]

Soccer Euro 2012: Italy topples England on PKs

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick Sunday to send Italy through to the European Championship semifinals with a 4-2 win in the shootout following a 0-0 tie with England and a spot. Ashley Young hit the crossbar with England’s third, and Ashley Cole’s attempt was saved by Gianluigi Buffon. Italy [...]

FIFA Blatter: Goal-line technology a ‘necessity’

FIFA President Blatter speaks during a news conference after the 62nd FIFA Congress in Budapest

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The most powerful man in soccer called goal-line technology a “necessity” Wednesday, only hours after Ukraine was denied what appeared to be a legitimate goal in its must-win match against England at the European Championship. “After last night’s match GLT is no longer an alternative but a necessity,” FIFA President Sepp [...]

Euro 2012 Roundup: Denmark, Portugal wary of late Dutch rally

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(Reuters) – Denmark and Portugal will fret a little more going into Sunday’s final Euro 2012 Group B matches having watched Greece, all but down and out after two games, dump Group A leaders Russia out of the tournament on Saturday. The Netherlands, pointless after two defeats but boasting a squad oozing with talent which [...]

Soccer Euro 2012: France weather storm, England sink Sweden

France's Cabaye celebrates after scoring a goal against Ukraine during their Group D Euro 2012 soccer match at Donbass Arena in Donetsk

(Reuters) – France brushed aside co-hosts Ukraine 2-0 in a Group D game suspended for 55 minutes by a violent thunderstorm and England fought back to beat Sweden 3-2 after more enthralling action at Euro 2012 on Friday. Sweden became only the second team after Ireland to be eliminated before the final round of games, [...]

Soccer Euro 2012: Germany beat Dutch, Portugal strike late

Germany's Gomez scores a goal against Netherlands' Stekelenburg during their Euro 2012 Group B soccer match at the Metalist stadium in Kharkiv

(Reuters) – Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 on Wednesday to move within touching distance of the Euro 2012 quarter-finals and Portugal kept their chances alive with a last-gasp 3-2 victory over Denmark. Mario Gomez scored twice for Germany, taking his tally to three goals in two games and leaving the Dutch needing victory over Portugal [...]

Soccer: UEFA to investigate racist chanting at Euro 2012

Italy's Balotelli reacts during their Group C Euro 2012 soccer match against Spain at the PGE Arena in Gdansk

Euro 2012 matches between Spain and Italy and Russia v Czech Republic, the governing body said on Tuesday. “Following the provision of new independent information today, regarding the two cases of alleged racist chanting in the Spain-Italy and Russia-Czech Republic matches, UEFA is now conducting further investigations,” UEFA said in a statement. “There are, however, [...]

Soccer: Distractions hit England, Italy ahead of Euro 2012

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England’s Wayne Rooney is suspended for the first two games of Euro 2012 because of a needless tackle late in an October match. (Scott Heppell/Associated Press) (PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — It takes just one miss, one flub, one moment of wandering concentration and a country’s tournament can be over at the European Cup. In [...]

Euro 2012 Preview

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 As we enter the weekend and the start of Euro 2012, our own Cory Forgeron breaks down group play   Group A: Poland: Key Players: Wojciech Szczesny (GK), Robert Lewandowski (ST) Expectations: The co-hosts here are in a group that’s really open for the taking. Russia is still probably the favourites, but Poland will have [...]

Soccer Euro Roundup: Sweden defeats Serbia in final tuneup

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Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic controls the ball during the international friendly soccer match between Sweden and Iceland. (Bjoern Larsson Rosvall/AFP/Getty Images) Sweden 2, Serbia 1 (PhatzRadio /CBC Sports) —- STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a second-half penalty to give Sweden a 2-1 win over Serbia on Tuesday in the host’s final tuneup for the European [...]