Football: Spain make history to retain European title

KIEV: Spain on Sunday retained their European championship title in style, beating Italy 4-0 in the Ukrainian capital Kiev to become the first side to complete back-to-back wins in the competition's 52-year history.

Manchester City's David Silva opened the scoring in the 14th minute, heading home a pinpoint cross from Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas, after a fired-up Spain, earlier accused of playing a "boring" possession game, came out all guns blazing.

Jordi Alba made it two on 41 minutes after he ran onto a sublime through-ball from his new Barca team-mate Xavi Hernandez and slotted a left-foot shot past the advancing Gianluigi Buffon.

Fernando Torres - who scored in Spain's 1-0 Euro 2008 final win against Germany four years ago - made it three with six minutes left while his Chelsea colleague Juan Mata made it four on 88 minutes.

"La Furia Roja" are now the only side to have won three consecutive major titles, with European wins either side of their World Cup victory in 2010.

Tens of thousands of people young and old thronged the streets of Rome and Madrid to watch the game on giant screens, with both historic capitals a sea of green, white and red Italian tricolors and red and yellow Spanish flags.

But it was Spanish fans who erupted at the final whistle with shouts of "Campeones! Campeones! (Champions! Champions!)" in scenes of wild celebration that brought unbridled joy to a nation struggling with recession.

"Today the whole country is united as one and everyone is in the Euro. And the crisis? No-one is thinking about the crisis," said 23-year-old business student Miguel Revert outside a central Madrid sports bar.

Spain's players will be greeted by King Juan Carlos in Madrid on Monday, before being hailed by adoring fans in an open-top bus that will travel through the capital's streets.

Sunday's final was the 31st match in three weeks of football involving 16 teams in Poland and Ukraine, which despite misgivings before the start of the tournament, has generally been considered to have gone well.

Before the competition started, there were fears about the readiness of the eight match venues and other infrastructure as well as high travel and accommodation prices for fans, particularly in Ukraine.

Racism was also a worry, amid claims that far-right gangs were rife in football grounds in both countries, while Ukraine also faced a boycott from European nations over the alleged mistreatment of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Some racist chanting from foreign fans and violent clashes between Poland and Russia fans were seen and organisers courted controversy at the last by inviting the controversial Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to the final.

But the worst fears have not materialised, allowing the focus to remain mostly on the pitch, with high-quality matches attracting record television viewing figures in Europe and around the world.

UEFA president Michel Platini told reporters he felt proud of both co-hosts, while Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said it had been an "honour" to stage the competition.

"It seems to me that we've succeeded," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

"Even though the Polish and Ukrainian teams aren't playing in the final, one thing's clear: Poland and Ukraine have won Euro 2012," added Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski.

Poland and Ukraine are hoping to reap the benefits from holding such a "mega-event", particularly in tourist revenues, with Euro 2012 helping to shatter myths of the former communist east European nations being cold and inhospitable.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 foreign fans by independent pollsters PBS indicated that 73 percent said they would come back to Poland within three years, while 89 percent said they would recommend Warsaw to family and friends.

Some even compared Euro 2012 to the ground-breaking recognition of the Solidarity trade union led by Lech Walesa in 1980 that triggered a wave of anti-communist sentiment and ultimately played a part in the collapse of the eastern bloc.

The next competition will be held in four years' time in France.

Football: Centurion Alonso sends Spain into Euro semi-finals

DONETSK, Ukraine: Spain moved a step closer to an unprecedented treble of consecutive major international honours by beating France 2-0 in Donetsk on Saturday to reach the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

Goals in each half from Xabi Alonso, on his 100th international appearance, sent the world and European champions into a semi-final with Iberian rivals Portugal in the same Donbass Arena stadium on Wednesday.

It was Spain's first competitive win in seven attempts against France, who were bidding to become the first team to eliminate Spain from a major tournament since the French side that reached the 2006 World Cup final.

While Spain can now contemplate the prospect of facing the in-form Cristiano Ronaldo, France return home after fulfilling their objective of reaching the last eight, only to fall short against the world's top national side.

"Is a quarter-final the level where France is at the moment? I don't know, what I do know is that the best sides will be in the semi-finals and France won't be," said France coach Laurent Blanc.

In an attempt to nullify Spain's attacking threat, Blanc opted for a conservative 4-5-1 formation, with right-back Mathieu Debuchy lining up in an unfamiliar right-wing role ahead of Anthony Reveillere.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, meanwhile, elected to deploy Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas instead of Fernando Torres at the centre of a fluid attacking configuration.

Abandoning their usual possession-focused approach, France retreated and allowed Spain to take the initiative, and Fabregas had an early penalty appeal turned down after his heels were clipped by Gael Clichy.

With two right-backs on the pitch, France's right flank should have been impregnable, but it was from a move down the left that Spain went ahead in the 14th minute.

Andres Iniesta released Jordi Alba and he held off the stumbling Debuchy to cross for the unmarked Alonso, whose downward header gave the number 14 a 14th international goal.

The lead established, Spain slipped into their familiar passing rhythm and France were left to rely on the forward forays of lone striker Karim Benzema.

One such raid drew a free-kick in an advantageous position, and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas did well to touch Yohan Cabaye's subsequent attempt over the crossbar.

The low number of fans supporting the two teams made for a subdued atmosphere, while the closest Spain came to extending their lead before half-time was a Gerard Pique header that looped well over.

The start of the second half was similarly muted. Debuchy headed over from Franck Ribery's dinked cross, while Hugo Lloris had to race to the edge of his box to claw the ball away from Fabregas at the other end.

Blanc introduced Samir Nasri, Jeremy Menez and Olivier Giroud from the bench, but still the men in the all-white change strip were unable to capitalise on the promising openings they procured.

There were few scares for Spain in the final 10 minutes, and they made sure of victory in injury time when Alonso swept home a penalty after Reveillere had bundled substitute Pedro Rodriguez to the deck.

It will come as scant consolation to France, but they will not have long to wait for revenge.

The sides are due to meet again in a qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup in Spain on October 16.

Football: Ronaldo heads Portugal into semi-finals Euro 2012

WARSAW: Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero as Portugal beat an ultra-defensive Czech Republic 1-0 at the National Stadium here on Thursday in their quarter-final to qualify for the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

Ronaldo headed home a cross from Joao Moutinho 11 minutes from the end to set up a possible semi-final against either world champions Spain or France.

It was just reward after another starring performance from the Real Madrid man against opponents who failed to register a single shot on target and were hindered by the absence of injured playmaker Tomas Rosicky.

"We had the quality to pass into the semi-finals," said Ronaldo.

"We are happy but know the next match will be difficult but the team is very mature and we are ready.

"There are big smiles and good music all round us!"

Portuguese winger Nani, who also had an outstanding game, said that the victory while long in coming was deserved.

"We played really well, we were stylish on the pitch and it was a great team effort," said the Manchester United star.

"Now its going to be more difficult in each game but we are very confident.

"I had a couple of chances which went close but thats how it is in football, Ronaldo as well went close but he hit the target in the end."

Czech coach Michal Bilek admitted graciously that his side had been outclassed.

"The Portuguese were the best side, much stronger in the footballing sense," saoid the 47-year-old.

"Their attack is very strong. Petr Cech pulled off some stunning saves to keep us in the game.

"We had wanted to play with a solid defence and rely on the counter-attack, but we started to run out of energy during the second-half."

As is so often the case in knock-out matches in big tournaments, the first half was a cagey affair.

Portugal struggled to string two passes together while centre-backs Pepe and Bruno Alves resorted to lumping long aimless balls up the field.

Czech Republic had some joy down their right with one particularly dangerous cross from Theodor Gebre Selassie only just being cut out by Pepe.

Moutinho hit a weak shot from 20 yards that Petr Cech gathered easily.

But then the Ronaldo show really took off.

The Real Madrid star sprung into life in the 25th minute as he darted across field, played a one-two with former Manchester United team-mate Nani, shrugged off Michal Kadlec and fired straight at Cech.

It was a rare burst of activity in an up-until-then tame affair but even that wouldn't have counted as referee Howard Webb penalised Ronaldo for pushing.

The 27-year-old was only just getting started, though.

On 33 minutes, Pepe lobbed a ball into the box and Ronaldo sent an overhead bicycle kick wide of the upright.

Next up, he sent a free-kick from almost 30 yards swerving wide but in stoppage time at the end of the half he demonstrated his full talent.

Raul Meireles knock a long ball into the box which Ronaldo controlled on his chest before turning Kadlec and prodding the ball past Cech, only to see it come back off the post.

It took Portugal only 20 seconds after the restart to show their intent as Meireles crossed for Hugo Almeida, a first half substitute for Helder Postiga, who seemed to have pulled a hamstring, but the Besiktas forwad headed over when it looked easier to hit the target.

Ronaldo then clipped the outside of the post with a free-kick from fully 30 yards.

Moutinho and Meireles combined to play Ronaldo in behind the defence as he came in off his left wing but his finish was skewed high and wide.

Porto's Moutinho had a crack from 20 yards on 64 minutes but Cech tipped it over the bar while Almeida sent another header woefully over.

Meireles cleverly played in Nani on 74 minutes but the winger's shot was deflected over the bar.

The goal Portugal's domination richly deserved finally came on 79 minutes as Moutinho made a determined run down the right and produced a peach of cross that Ronaldo headed home on the dive.

Full-back Joao Pereira had a chance to seal the match but he shot wide when well placed.

Lucky England stumble into quarter-finals. England 1-0 Ukraine

DONETSK, Ukraine: England scraped into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 here Tuesday after a goal-line refereeing blunder helped them to a 1-0 win over Ukraine which sent the co-hosts crashing out.

A 48th-minute header from returning talisman Wayne Rooney was enough to see England finish top of Group D and send them into a quarter-final in Kiev on Sunday against Italy.

However Ukraine -- missing injured captain Andrei Shevchenko -- were desperately unlucky not to have earned at least a draw after Marko Devic had a clear goal wrongly disallowed on 62 minutes.

Devic had powered into the box and his looping shot had flown over keeper Joe Hart towards goal.

John Terry launched himself into an acrobatic clearance to hook the ball away but despite furious Ukrainian appeals, no goal was given.

Television replays, however, showed the ball had crossed the line by several inches but had incredibly been missed by the additional assistant referee stationed behind the goal.

It was a goal-line controversy that echoed Frank Lampard's disallowed effort for England against Germany at the 2010 World Cup and is almost certain to hasten the introduction of goal-line technology.

FIFA is expected to approve the introduction of two systems which are currently being tested at a meeting after the European Championships.

England will head to their quarter-final meeting with Italy chastened by the knowledge that on another night they could have been heading home after being outplayed for much of the match.

England coach Roy Hodgson was proud of the way his players had battled to preserve their advantage and make it five games unbeaten since he took over.

"It was a very good defensive and disciplined performance," he said.

"We could have shown some more composure on the ball but we are a fledgling team and we can work on that part."

England captain Steven Gerrard was satisfied that they had achieved their target of topping the group.

"It was a difficult group and our aim was to win it. It's fantastic that we have done," he said.

"Wayne Rooney's goal shows how important he is to the team. He adds something different and a cutting edge and can score goals from anywhere."

 England had ridden their luck in a one-sided first-half which Ukraine dominated, carving out a string of promising openings only to be denied by either desperate defending or the goalkeeping of Joe Hart.

Rooney's long-awaited return to the starting line-up failed to galvanise the England attack as manager Roy Hodgson had hoped for, and the Manchester United striker looked hopelessly short of match-sharpness.

All too often, Rooney's first touch or timing let him down, a sure sign of the England talisman's anxiety and general ring-rustiness.

That was best illustrated by the striker's failure to convert a golden English chance on 28 minutes, with an unmarked Rooney mistiming his jump to glance a header from an Ashley Young cross wide.

Otherwise it was all Ukraine, who had started brightly with Denys Garmash letting fly as early as the sixth minute.

Terry then had to be alert shortly afterwards, snuffing out the danger after Andrei Yarmolenko threatened to dart clear into the box.

Scott Parker then hurled himself into the path of a Devic shot on 12 minutes as England continued to struggle to get in the game.

Terry was pressed into action once again on 18 minutes when he blocked a shot from Yevgeny Konoplyanka with his shoulder as the Ukrainian onslaught continued.

A Young mistake then let in Oleg Gusev, who cut in from the right and shot over the bar.

A goal seemed to certain to come in the 30th minute when Artem Milevskiy released Yarmolenko into the area only for Hart to save well from close range.

Yarmolenko then had the Ukrainian fans roaring in delight with a mazy dribble into the box that Lescott scrambled clear.

But somehow England had managed to stay level at the break and then three minutes after the restart they got a goal that stunned the hosts.

Steven Gerrard beat Yarmolenko down the right and sent a dangerous cross into the six-yard box. The ball took touches off two Ukrainian defenders before skidding through goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov to Rooney for the simplest of headers.

"It is nice to score in a major finals as its been a while," he said.

"It's nice to do it for the team as well as the lads were fantastic and defended really well."

Yet Ukraine fought back brilliantly, with Milevskiy heading just over the bar on the hour mark before the flashpoint involving Devic and Terry that ensured the headlines would be dominated by the goal-line technology debate.

Shevchenko's arrival from the substitutes bench on 70 minutes threatened a revival but there was to be no fairytale ending for the veteran striker as England hung on desperately.

Football: LionsXII keep title hopes alive with win in Terengganu

SINGAPORE: A whole new player was forged in the heat of last Friday's sizzling 9-0 thumping of Sabah at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

On Tuesday night, Hariss Harun was the brightest spark in the clammy, slippery conditions in Kuala Terengganu where V Sundramoorthy's charges ground out a 1-0 win over Terengganu in the Malaysian Super League (MSL), thanks to an 89th minute strike by substitute Sufian Anuar.

Known for his no-nonsense, hard-tackling style, Hariss showed he was capable of flicked passes, through balls and forward runs to support the attack, even turning winger on a couple of occasions.

"Hariss was great in the middle of the park, he's a captain who leads by example," said Sundram.

"It's a deserved victory, the boys worked hard and played according to instructions not allowing Terengganu time on the ball. That's important playing away from home against a team like Terengganu. We have to make sure that we are tight and go on the counter to win the game."

The win keeps alive the Lions XII's fast-fading title challenge alive as Kelantan also notched an away victory on the night, beating Kuala Lumpur 1-0. The LionsXII are six points ahead of second-placed Kelantan but have played five games more.

The following weeks will see Kelantan make up the fixture-deficit, with the Lions XII left with only two fixtures left in their maiden season.

Football: Ronaldo double sends Dutch crashing out in Euro 2012

KHARKIV, Ukraine: Portugal beat the Netherlands 2-1 on Sunday to set up a Euro 2012 quarter-final with the Czech Republic and condemn the Dutch to a first group-stage European Championship exit since 1980.

Needing to win by two clear goals to stand any hope of progressing, Holland took an early lead through Rafael van der Vaart but were undone by goals in each half from man of the match Cristiano Ronaldo.

From a Dutch perspective, the final score was rendered immaterial as Denmark's 2-1 loss to Germany in the other Group B match meant they would not have qualified for the last eight even in case of victory.

Portugal, for whom Ronaldo belatedly reproduced his Real Madrid form at this tournament, will compete for a semi-final place against the Czechs in Warsaw on Thursday.

Runners-up at the World Cup two years ago and top scorers in qualifying, the Netherlands leave Ukraine with their tails between their legs after three consecutive defeats.

Mindful of the pressing need for goals, Holland coach Bert van Marwijk handed starts to both Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and van der Vaart, who replaced captain Mark van Bommel and inherited the captain's armband from him.

Van der Vaart needed less than 11 minutes to vindicate his manager's decision, collecting a pass from Arjen Robben and shaping a delightful 25-yard shot inside the left-hand post to put Holland ahead.

However, if the Dutch thought they were in for a comfortable evening, Portugal quickly had them on their toes with a flurry of chances sparked by Ronaldo drifting inside and brushing the post with a low strike.

Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was allowed to shine on his 50th appearance, thwarting Helder Postiga following an errant back-pass by Gregory van der Wiel and then showing sharp reflexes to box away a Ronaldo header.

Holland failed to heed the warnings though, and in the 28th minute Ronaldo levelled, powering onto Joao Pereira's incisive, stabbed pass and clipping the ball past Stekelenburg from close range.

Strangely, scoring the opening goal seemed to have inhibited the Dutch, and they were cowed even further by Ronaldo's equaliser.

So often scorned for his international displays, Ronaldo was a man transformed, and after working Stekelenburg with an audacious dipping shot from 35 yards, he crashed a header narrowly wide from a corner.

Van Marwijk gambled in the second half, throwing on winger Ibrahim Afellay for left-back Jetro Willems, but still Portugal came, Nani spurning a good chance by firing at Stekelenburg after Ronaldo had rolled the ball across goal.

The Madrid man was not so forgiving when Nani returned the favour in the 74th minute, checking inside sharply to send van der Wiel sprawling and then calmly beating Stekelenburg at his near post.

Van der Vaart hit the post with a right-foot curler, but it was the only bright moment in what was a desperate second period for the Dutch, who saw Ronaldo wobble an upright in the final minute.