June 13, 2008

FEARLESS Croatia pulled off a memorable 2-1 win over Group B favourites Germany to move to the brink of a place in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals.

Darijo Srna beat Marcell Jansen to poke home a curling cross from the left by Danijel Pranjic in the first half and Ivica Olic tapped the ball in early in the second period after a centre by Ivan Rakitic had struck Lukas Podolski and a post.

Germany pulled one back in the 79th minute through Podolski but Croatia held on for a victory that revived memories of their 3-0 triumph over Germany in the 1998 World Cup quarter-finals, a match that featured their coach Slaven Bilic.

To add to Germany's misery substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger became the first player to be sent off at these finals when he pushed Jerko Leko to the ground in retaliation for a tackle from behind in injury time.

Croatia top the group with six points, ahead of Germany on three.

“I want to congratulate both teams for a great game of football,” Bilic said. “We played some outstanding football and nothing less is required to beat Germany.

“We kept going forward throughout and always looked threatening while our back four held firm when they put us under pressure.”

Bilic's team certainly kept things tight early on and were dangerous in attack.

Pranjic gave Germany a warning of what was to come when he whipped in a cross that the defence struggled to clear.

The same player then headed over the bar, with keeper Jens Lehmann beaten, and Christoph Metzelder produced a last-gasp sliding tackle to deny Olic.

The first goal came in the 24th minute, Srna proving too sharp for Jansen.

Croatia nearly made it 2-0 when Olic headed down and Niko Kranjcar blasted over.

The Germans went close with a Michael Ballack free kick and a header from Metzelder that flashed over.

Coach Joachim Loew sent on David Odonkor to add pace on the right and Ballack shot over from the edge of the area.

The second goal had an element of luck about it but it was reward for the excellent attitude Croatia showed and they managed to hold on after Podolski netted his third goal of the tournament for Germany.

Asked why his team failed to build on their opening 2-0 win over Poland, captain Ballack said: “Perhaps we thought we had already achieved something. We played poorer in all areas.

“We knew we were up against tough opponents so that surprises me. It's bitter. Now we have to win the next match (against Austria on Monday).”

June 14, 2008

A PENALTY save by Gianluigi Buffon spared Italy a second defeat of Euro 2008 but the world champions' involvement in the tournament was still left hanging by a slender thread after a 1-1 draw with Romania.

Adrian Mutu gave his side the lead 10 minutes into the second half but Romania's star striker was unable to beat Buffon with an 80th-minute spot-kick that would almost certainly have sealed a famous victory.

Christian Panucci had cancelled out Mutu's opener within a minute but the Italians never seriously threatened to go on from there to claim the victory they needed to haul themselves off the bottom of Group C.

After a goalless draw in their opening match against France, the Romanians will go into their final game against the Dutch knowing a win over a side they beat during qualifying will be enough to put them into the last eight.

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni was not too downcast declaring that he hadn't given up hope of making the last eight.

“We created a lot of chances, but, unfortunately we had to settle for a draw,'' he said.

“Nevertheless, we remain on course,'' added Donadoni, who signed an extension to his contract prior to the tournament that takes him up to the 2010 World Cup.

His Romanian counterpart, Victor Piturca, was delighted with the performance and the result.

“We witnessed a hell of a match,'' said Piturca, who is in his second spell as national coach.

“It's a very good result for us, because don't forget we were playing against the world champions.''

An Italian side featuring five changes from the line-up that began Monday's 3-0 defeat by Holland appeared to have heeded Donadoni's call for a display of focused anger in reaction to that humiliating defeat with a high-tempo start.

The early pressure almost yielded a goal after 10 minutes, when recalled captain Alessandro del Piero nodded Simone Perrotta's chip wide from close range.

The Italians quickly found themselves on the back foot however, and there was an echo of the defensive lapses that contributed to the defeat by the Dutch when Mutu broke clear and forced Buffon to make the first of three crucial saves at his near post.

Luca Toni sent a Fabio Gross cross looping over the bar from beyond the back post but most of the first-half action came at the other end.

Gabriel Tomas's low drive from fully 40 yards was bound for the bottom corner before Buffon reached it at full stretch and the Italians had a huge let-off in the 20th minute, Cristian Chivu's free-kick deflecting off Panucci onto the inside of the post.

Toni's power in the air appeared to be Italy's most likely source of a goal and, after Perrotta failed to finish off one of his knockdowns, the Bayern Munich striker forced Bogdan Lobont into two good saves in quick succession in the closing minutes of the first half.

The lanky forward thought he had finally got the better of the Romanian goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time but his finish from Gianluigi Zambrotta's cross was disallowed for a debatable offside decision against del Piero, who was judged to have strayed fractionally offside as Zambrotta sent in his cross.

That pattern continued after the interval but it was Romania who were to take the lead.

There appeared little danger as Romanian right-back Cosmin Contra hammered a free-kick forwards from deep inside his own half but Zambrotta's header back to Buffon was under-cooked and Mutu was able to dart in and smash the ball past the Italian goalkeeper from close range.

The equaliser came in less than a minute, Giorgio Chiellini heading Daniele de Rossi's corner back across goal to allow Panucci to bundle the ball over the line.

Lobont had to throw himself to his right to palm away de Rossi's diving header 15 minutes from the end.

But it was the Romanians who should have claimed victory after Panucci was judged to have brought down Mutu as they tussled for a cross at the near post.

The Fiorentina striker got up to take the penalty himself but his strike was nowhere near the corner and Buffon got a hand to it before a fortunate ricochet off his boot carried the ball over the bar.

June 14, 2008

FRANCE stood on the brink of elimination after Holland maintained their dream start with a 4-1 win over the 2000 champions here to book their place in the quarter-finals

Goals from Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder and second half substitutes Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben knocked the stuffing out of France and left the Oranje army marching on to join Portugal and Croatia in the last eight.

For France, this defeat, coming on top of their opening draw with Romania, meant their first major finals without Zinedine Zidane are turning into a nightmare and they now must beat world champions Italy in their final Group C clash.

With just one point they not only need to beat the Azzurri but also pray Holland can beat Romania, who are on two points.

“As long as our destiny is in our own hands we can go through. We must not give in. We must play a high-level match we are capable of'' against the Italians,'' said France coach Raymond Domenech, who wielded the axe on the side that failed to fire in the goalless draw with Romania.

He notably brought back Thierry Henry, who at least netted a consolation.

“It's a shame,'' said Henry. “At 2-1 we could have given them cause to doubt, but they got their third right from the restart. Now we have to go out and beat Italy.''

In contrast to Domenech, his Holland counterpart, Marco van Basten, was a picture of contentment, the former Dutch great saying: “We can only be happy after first beating the world champions 3-0 and France 4-1.

“We were a little lucky today, we made goals at the right time. I want to congratulate our defence and the whole team for their healthy spirit.

“To be No.1 in the group is very positive for us.''

Aside from the inclusion of Henry, France's all-time top scorer, who was fully recovered from a thigh problem that kept him out of Monday's drab opener.

Domenech also introduced Sidney Govou, this pair replacing Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema.

Domenech made one further switch, replacing defender Eric Abidal with Manchester United's Patrice Evra while Patrick Vieira was on the bench.

France from the off were a more urgent purposeful and menacing outfit compared to four days ago in Zurich with Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda combining well up the left flank.

But the Dutch it was who took a 10th-minute lead, Kuyt heading in Rafael van der Vaart's corner from the left to the delight of the fans.

With French backs to the wall they only had one option - to attack - and in the 22nd minute went close to equalising when Ribery played in a great ball from the right only for Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar to save Govou's angled shot.

Down at the other end Sneijder, who had left such a mark on the Italian defence, tried a long range effort which was safely gathered up by Gregory Coupet.

As half-time approached Henry, who had not seen much of the ball, showed what a threat he could pose when turning on the edge of the box and shooting just over the crossbar.

Van Basten introduced Robben for Orlando Engelaar at the start of the second half which was barely seconds old when Henry flew in a cross from the right only for Giovanni van Bronckhorst to knock it to safety.

In the 50th minute the French then made heated protests for a penalty claiming Andre Ooijer had handled a shot from Govou in the box but they were dismissed by German referee Herbert Fandel.

“It's a shame there was no recourse to video,'' said Domenech afterwards.

France were all over the Dutch at this point and Malouda's enterprising overhead bicycle kick found Henry on a one-on-one with van der Sar but the Barcelona striker's extravagant lob went sailing over the bar.

Van Basten them made his second switch, bringing on van Persie for Kuyt.

Both his changes proved masterful as in the 59th minute Robben raced down the left wing to cross for van Persie whose shot slid over the line despite Coupet getting a hand to it.

France got the goal they deserved in the 71st minute after a cute angled cross from Sagnol was flicked past van der Sar by Henry near the far post.

But that only served to spur the Dutch on and one minute later a flash of individual brilliance from Robben made it 3-1, the winger racing down the left and shooting high into the near corner of Coupet's goal.

Sneijder rounded off the night, flashing in the fourth in injury time.

The only consolation for him and his team came from the spirited manner that France succumbed to a Dutch team that underlined its status as one of the favourites for the European crown.

June 15, 2008

STRIKER David Villa scored in stoppage-time to give Spain a 2-1 victory over Sweden in a scrappy Group D encounter at Euro 2008.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic looked to have earned his side a share of the points with a 34th minute equaliser, after Spain had taken a deserved lead on 15 minutes with a clever finish from striker Fernando Torres.

But Villa, who hit a hat-trick in Spain's opening 4-1 rout of Russia, secured the points with a close-range finish on the break in the second minute of stoppage-time.

The result puts Spain close to a place in the quarter-finals with six points from two games, though Sweden are still in the race on three points.

Spain took the initiative early on at the Tivoli Neu stadium, with Xavi marshalling the midfield and Torres giving full-back Mikael Nilsson some early problems with his surging runs into the area.

It came as little surprise when Spain took the lead, Torres getting in front of his man and steering the ball in with the sole of his boot after David Silva had clipped the ball into the area following a corner.

Largely deprived of possession, Sweden had to rely on isolated counter-attacks involving Fredrik Ljungberg and Ibrahimovic, although Johan Elmander almost equalised a minute after the Torres goal when he lashed the ball into the side netting.

Spain suffered a major setback when experienced centre-back Carles Puyol was forced off through injury and replaced by Raul Albiol midway through the first half.

Sweden responded by upping the pressure on the back four.

The tactic paid off 11 minutes before the break when Ibrahimovic controlled an Elmander cross at the second attempt, turned past full-back Sergio Ramos and beat Casillas with an angled shot.

Sweden coach Lars Lagerback took Ibrahimovic off at half-time and replaced the lanky striker, who has been suffering a knee problem, with Markus Rosenberg.

David Silva and Torres were both denied during a goalmouth scramble and keeper Andreas Isaksson turned a rasping drive from Marcos Senna around the post soon after.

A draw was very much on the cards until Villa's late strike.

June 15, 2008

GREECE'S reign as European champions came to an end in Salzburg when Russia defeated them 1-0 in their Group D Euro 2008 match.

A goal by Konstantin Zyryanov in the 33rd minute was enough to see off the Greeks, a howler by one of their few world-class players, goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis, contributing.

The result keeps alive Russian hopes of making the last eight, but they will have to beat Sweden on Thursday (EST) to progress.

Spain have qualified as group winners while the Greeks join an unenviable list of European champions to go out in the first round - Czechoslovakia in 1980, Denmark in 1996 and Germany in 2000.

Greece's veteran German coach, Otto Rehhagel, refused to be too downcast.

"I am not as disappointed as all that," the former Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich coach.

"Because I knew at what level we were and everything had to come together for us to beat the Russians. Our problem is that we score so few goals."

The Greeks had shown a marginally more adventurous approach than in their first match, and their Atletico Madrid full-back, Giourkas Seitaridis, got down the right flank in the 12th minute and put in a dangerous cross only for Russia goal'keeper Igor Akinfeev to gather safely.

The Russians bit back a minute later as the Greeks lost possession in midfield, and the ball reached striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, whose lob Nikopolidis tipped over the bar for a corner.

The Greeks failed to clear the resulting corner and Yuri Zhirkov rattled a vicious volley just wide of the goal.

Greece, though, had the clearest chance of the opening 20 minutes, as a free-kick was floated in and Euro 2004 hero Angelos Charisteas went up for the ball unmarked just two metres from the goal. But he unbelievably failed to make any contact and the ball bounced just wide of the goal off Igor Semshov's shoulder.

Russia deservedly took the lead in the 33rd minute as Nikopolidis astonishingly chased a lob which was drifting wide instead of allowing Ioannis Amanatidis to do the job of clearing the ball. A brilliant overhead kick by Sergei Semak set up Zyryanov to tap the ball home.

Russia were all over Greece, and the defending champions were further unsettled in the 40th minute when Rehhagel decided to replace Seitaridis with playmaker Georgios Karagounis, who had been surprisingly left out of the starting line-up.

Karagounis's first contribution, though, was to go into the referee's book in the 42nd minute for pulling back Semshov as he burst clear over the halfway line.

Charisteas's dreadful evening continued in the first minute of the second half as he got into a good position but lobbed his effort lamely into the goalkeeper's hands with just Akineev to beat.

Pavlyuchenko hardly looked like a man who was struggling to make the match with a groin problem as twice in the opening minutes of the second period he forced Nikopolidis into saves.
Pavlyuchenko produced a brilliant piece of skill in the 52nd minute as he nutmegged a Greek defender and advanced into the penalty area but his shot to the near post went wide.

Karagounis replied, at last forcing Akineev into making a save, though the shot was straight at the keeper. That effort seemed to give the Greeks a sense of much needed urgency, as captain Angelos Basinas was well placed outside the box but got under the ball and lofted it high over the bar.

Russia, though, kept creating chances but they failed to take them.

A delightful backheel by Pavlyuchenko inside the box set up Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, but he sent his shot wide of the far post. Bilyaletdinov nearly had another clear chance after the hour mark but Traianos Dellas put in a last-ditch tackle to send the ball for a corner.

But Russia only really went close to doubling their lead with 10 minutes to go, when Zhirkov floated a free-kick just wide of the post.

June 16, 2008

SWITZERLAND departed Euro 2008 with their heads held high after beating a second-string Portugal side 2-0 in Basel.

Hakan Yakin's second-half double provided the Swiss supporters with a measure of consolation after narrow defeats by the Czech Republic and Turkey had ensured their side would not go beyond the first round.

Already sure of top spot in group A, Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari took the opportunity to rest most of the players who will be back here on Friday (EST) to contest a quarter-final against Germany, Austria or Poland.

Portugal still showed enough flashes of the quality that has made them one of the tournament favourites to have put the match beyond reach before Hakan latched on to Eren Derdiyok's flick to fire the 71st-minute opener through the legs of Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo.

Then, with seven minutes left, Tranquillo Barnetta was pulled down by Fernando Meira and Hakan slotted in the penalty to make sure Swiss coach Jakob Kuhn's ended his international career with a victory.

"I'm very pleased that we were able to give this gift to the fans,'' Kuhn said. "But of course there is a bit of sadness because we deserved to take at least a point from both of our first two games and it now looks as if that would have been enough to qualify us for the quarter-finals."

Ricardo, centre-back Pepe and full-back Paulo Ferreira were the only survivors from the Portuguese side that started the 3-1 win over the Czech Republic in midweek.

Scolari said afterwards he regretted not changing his entire line-up to ensure there was no risk of key players getting injured or picking up yellow cards.

"They played normally and we had a few opportunities but we did not score the goal we wanted and later on we saw the consequences of that," Scolari said.

"I could not have imagined (the match finishing) this way. I should have been more careful and replaced 11 rather than eight.''

In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco, Ricardo Quaresma seized the opportunity to show that Portugal's reserves of skill run deep with an outrageous piece of trickery to create his side's first chance, in the 8th minute.

Shaping to cross from the left of area, the Porto winger swung his right boot around the back of left leg to deliver the ball, with astonishing accuracy, to the near post. Sadly Helder Postiga's finishing was not of the same standard and the striker's header comfortably cleared the bar.

Pascal Zuberbuhler was making his last international appearance in the Swiss goal and he was given the opportunity to demonstrate his reflexes remain sharp at the age of 37 when he turned Nani's free-kick onto the bar after it had taken a late deflection off Pepe.

A long-range effort from Gokhan Inler and a Hakan Yakin header from the midfielder's corner gave Ricardo some work to do.

But Portugal were finding chances easier to come by and Postiga should have scored after Nani had caught Inler in possession on the left.

Advancing into the box, the Manchester United winger cut the ball back for the former Tottenham striker, who attempted to place the ball in the corner of the net but saw his tame shot blocked by Philippe Senderos on the six-yard line.

Ferreira was fortunate to escape with only a booking after his late lunge felled Behrami at full pace and Scolari opted to substitute the Chelsea defender minutes before half-time rather than risk another wild challenge resulting in suspension for the quarter-final.

Portugal's domination continued into the early stages of the second half, Nani striking the base of the post after being given a clear run at goal by Miguel Veloso's angled throughout ball before Quaresma's swerving shot produced another good save from Zuberbuhler.

It was to be the co-hosts who finished stronger, however. Inler was unfortunate when his 25-yard drive shaved the outside of Ricardo's right-hand post but Hakan's coolness in front of goal finally ensured the Swiss were rewarded for their efforts.

June 16, 2008

TEN-man Turkey made the greatest of escapes to book their Euro 2008 quarter-final berth as they came from 2-0 down to stun the Czech Republic 3-2 in Geneva.

The Turks had looked dead and buried on 62 minutes after a first-half header from giant Czech striker Jan Koller and a second-half strike by winger Jaroslav Plasil looked to have made the result safe for the Euro 2004 semi-finalists.

But three goals in the last 15 minutes - including two by captain Nihat Kahveci in the 87th and 89th minutes - put them in the quarter-finals.

Turkish coach Fatih Terim, who may well earn an even higher title than his present nickname 'The Emperor', had a clear message for the Turkish people.

"I send a message to my country and I say to the people 'get on the streets, celebrate this victory, profit from this moment'!

"I said after beating the Swiss (2-1 winning with another late goal) that people would remember us. I say that again today (Sunday)!"

Czech captain Tomas Ujfalusi was left as stunned as his shell-shocked teammates.

"We led 2-0 and should have controlled things from there," said the former Fiorentina defender.

"But we completely messed up the end of the match. We went onto the back foot after their first goal and all we can say is we are distraught."

There was no need for the anticipated historic penalty shoot-out after Turkey's late showing when Arda Turan hit a superb strike past Petr Cech to give his side hope with 15 minutes left.

And Villareal's Kahveci struck twice - the first coming from an unbelievable howler by the normally sound Cech - to put his side into the last eight and set up a quarter-final clash against Group B winners Croatia in Vienna on Friday.

There was intense drama in the dying stages when Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel was shown a red card, but Turkey were not to be denied to leave the Czechs heart-broken.

A penalty shootout had been a pre-match option as both teams had come the Stade de Geneve with identical Group A records from their two previous games.

But in the end Turkey join Portugal in the quarter-finals, while the Czechs pack their bags.

Czech coach Karel Bruckner - who now steps down after a seven-year reign - had opted for Nuremberg's towering Koller as the lone striker up front in place of totally out of form ex-Liverpool forward Milan Baros, who was to show how far he had fallen since being top scorer at the championships four years ago by being booked even though he never got on the pitch.

Terim opted to play Fenerbahce's Semih Senturk alongside hero Kahveci up front in a traditional 4-4-2 formation unlike the 4-3-3 he used against the Swiss.

With so much at stake, the Turks made an aggressive start with Brazilian-born Mehmet Aurelio picking up a second yellow card of the tournament joining fellow midfielder Mehmet Topal in the referee's book.

After sustained Czech pressure, the decision to play Koller paid off on 34 minutes when he scored his 55th goal in his 90th, and what was to turn out to be his last appearance, for his country.

Juventus defender Zdenek Grygera whipped in a cross and Koller rose highest and although Demirel palmed the ball onto the underpart of the cross bar, it flipped into the net.

It was no more than the Czechs deserved and Bruckner must have wondered why his side were not more than 1-0 up at the half-time break.

As the rain poured at the start of the second-half, so Turkey stepped up their attack with Kahveci twice going close, but Cech was solid in the Czech goal.

The Czech Republic looked to have sealed the match when they took a 2-0 lead as Plasil hit a bullet strike as he used the wet turf brilliantly to slide onto Libor Sionko's cross on 62 minutes which gave Demirel no chance.

But Turkey showed fighting spirit and deserved to pull a goal back after laying siege to the Czech goal as winger Halil Altintop slid in a cross and Turan rifled his shot home.

And a mistake by Cech put Turkey back in the tie when skipper Kahveci pounced on the Chelsea goalkeepers mistake with just three minutes left.

And his winner right at the death put Turkish fans in seventh heaven and leave many a Czech supporter with their head in their hands.

June 17, 2008

CROATIA striker Ivan Klasnic became the first kidney transplant patient to score at a World Cup or European championships when he got the only goal in Croatia's 1-0 win over Poland in their Euro 2008 Group B match.

Victory ensured that Croatia finished with a perfect nine points in the group and set them fair for their quarter-final with Turkey in Vienna on Friday - for the Poles - who co-host the next finals with Ukraine - it means they leave for home with just a point.

It also leaves their veteran Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker without a win at a European Championships or World Cup finals.

Poland pressed early on desperately in search of an early goal to give them some hope, but it was the Croats who had the better and sharper chances.

First to rattle the cage of the nervous Poles was Danijel Pranjic, who was put clear on the left but his curling effort drifted wide of Polish ‘keeper Artur Boruc's far post.

The Croats then went even closer in the 19th minute as Ivan Rakitic once again showed how dangerous he is at crossing the ball - his deflected cross against the Germans had led to Jens Lehmann fumbling the ball and gifting the Croatians a goal - as his free kick was met by central defender Hrvoje Vejic, though his header went narrowly past the post.

Croat coach Slaven Bilic had to make a change 25 minutes into the encounter as he was forced to take off the injured Dario Knezevic and replace him with Manchester City's Vedran Corluka.

Croatia didn't let up at all as Klasnic - also the first player to appear at a major finals having had a kidney transplant - was released. But with only Boruc to beat, he found like many before him that the Celtic goalkeeper was equal to the task.

Boruc must have seen his value in the market rise enormously here during the tournament and yet again he was Poland's saviour with 10 minutes remaining from the break he once again got down to deny the Croatians, this time Pranjic.

Poland weren't helping their cause by giving the ball away and Jerko Leko was just wide with a long range low effort from outside the penalty box after the ball was lazily given to him by Polish midfielder Mariusz Lewandowski.

Boruc might as well not have had a defence as in time added on in the first-half Klasnic turned his marker and zeroed into the box but his shot was blocked by the Polish goalkeeper and Rakitic was unable to keep his follow-up down.

However, Boruc was like former English King Canute unable to keep the waves out permanently and Klasnic was to justifiably and emotionally slot home brilliantly from the left side of the box after the outstanding Pranjic pulled the ball back for him.

That seemed to spark some life from the Poles as first Marek Saganowski - himself no stranger to health problems as he was told he would never walk again after a serious motorcycle accident in the 1990's - had a firm header well saved by Vedran Runje and then Brazilian-born striker Roger Guerreiro turned brilliantly but saw his shot go wide of the post.

The Poles fire was doused really by that stage till a fine piece of individual skill by Euzebiusz Smolarek saw him turn smartly and fire a curling effort just wide.

Poland were denied a point three minutes from time as Runje denied Tomasz Zahorski, running out of his goal to block him with his legs.

June 17, 2008

MICHAEL Ballack struck a thunderbolt free-kick to send an unconvincing Germany through to the Euro 2008 quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over co-hosts Austria.

Germany, needing to avoid defeat to stay in the tournament, looked nervous in the first half but Ballack's strike from 25 metres at the start of the second changed the game and took them through as Group B runners-up behind Croatia.

They will go on to face Group A winners Portugal in Basel on Thursday.

It was the first time the three-times winners have reached the quarter-finals since last clinching the trophy in 1996 in England and also gave them only their second win since then in the finals.

They started their campaign here by beating Poland 2-0 before losing to Croatia 2-1 on Thursday to put their tournament survival in some jeopardy.

"The team put up a great fight. At the start we should have gone in front and the match would have been easier. The way it worked out we had to fight to the last minute," Ballack said.

"It's our own fault we ended up in this situation due to the Croatia match. It meant we couldn't play relaxed."

Germany coach Joachim Loew described the match as an "enormous pressure situation - it was a game full of emotions".

Austria, needing a win to stand a chance of going through, gave Germany a few nervous moments, particularly in a first half that ended with the two coaches sent to the stands by the referee after a dispute with the fourth official.

Austria coach Josef Hickersberger described Ballack's decisive strike as "sensational" and added: "Unfortunately, we weren't able to do up front what we had hoped."

Germany should have given themselves the perfect start, and silence the majority of the 51,000 home crowd, when Miroslav Klose ran through the Austrian defence on the right of the area and crossed low for Mario Gomez.

The German forward was just a metre out with an open goal but he mishit his shot, the ball flew up high and Gyorgy Garics headed it back off the line.

Austria's game plan focused on hitting Germany on the break and the tactic almost paid off in the 19th minute when Erwin Hoffer was put through on goal, only for his control to let him down, giving Jens Lehmann the chance to gather.

Ballack's free kick, belted right-footed into the top corner and clocked at 121 kilometres an hour by Germany TV company ARD, should have given the Germans the chance to pick off Austria on the break but they remained cautious.

Austria, however, were short of ideas themselves and well before the end they were reduced to taking pot shots mainly from outside the area.

June 18, 2008

WORLD champions Italy beat old foes France 2-0 to go through to the Euro 2008 quarter-finals as Group C runners-up with a helping hand from the Netherlands while their rivals and 2006 World Cup finalists exited.

The French endured a wretched night, suffering two major blows in the first 25 minutes, with first star midfielder Franck Ribery stretchered off then Eric Abidal red-carded with Andrea Pirlo converting the penalty.

Daniele de Rossi added Italy's second after the break to send the world champions on a last eight date with Spain in Vienna on Monday (EST).

The win would have been inconsequential if the Romanians had beaten Holland, but the Dutch instead beat Romania 2-0 to make it three wins out of three.

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said that despite the outside pressures after two successive poor results, a 3-0 defeat by the Dutch and a 1-1 draw with Romania, there had always been inner belief in the squad.

"We have never lost hope, even in the most difficult times,'' said the former AC Milan and Italy midfielder.

"We put in a good performance and the team was cohesive and came together.

"I never had any worries about the Dutch as I know well the spirit of Marco van Basten (who was his teammate at AC Milan)."

Despite the catastrophic defeat France coach Raymond Domenech, remained stoic in defeat.

"I am proud of the players," said the 56-year-old, whose future must be in doubt even though his contract runs till 2010.

"The manner they stuck to it despite all these circumstances which are so similar to the World Cup final, lose to a penalty again and a sending-off (it was in fact rather different, a penalty shootout at 1-1 and Zinedine Zidane was sent off in the 2006 World Cup final).

"They showed energy. They showed something, its a pity because the circumstances were against us.

"This team has something in its guts."

For Italy, searching for their first European title in 40 years, this victory was consolation after the world champions failed to get past the first round at Euro 2000.

For France elimination, with just one goal scored, was the unwelcome prize for a campaign dogged by reported internal strife, player fatigue and controversy over injured captain Patrick Vieira.

This game was billed as 'our final' by Domenech, and it could well be his with 1998 French World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit for one saying heads should roll.

Domenech made three changes from the side swept aside by the Netherlands, with defenders Lilian Thuram and Willy Sagnol replaced by Abidal and Francois Clerc, and Karim Benzema joining Thierry Henry in attack with midfielder Florent Malouda dropping to the bench.

Roberto Donadoni unveiled an attacking line-up, dropping Alessandro del Piero in favour of Euro 2008 debutant Antonio Cassano and picking Gennaro Gattuso in favour of Mauro Camoranesi in midfield.

At kick-off a perfect rainbow enveloped the Letzigrund stadium as both teams went in search of their pot of gold.

As early as the third minute Italy had a live chance when Luca Toni latched on to a ball punted up field from deep in the Italian defence but the Bayern Munich striker's finish lacked direction.

Shortly after France lost Ribery, their best player up to now.

Toni's Bayern teammate was stretchered off on a buggy after going over on his left ankle in a tackle on Gianluca Zambrotta.

The midfielder's place was taken by Samir Nasri.

Play resumed with a corner for Italy and only quick thinking by France defender Claude Makelele kept out Christian Panucci's low angled header.

Coupet then did well to deny Pirlo's curling 20 metre free-kick from the right flank.

The game's turning point came in the 24th minute when Toni, at full stretch trying to latch on to a lob, was tackled and felled from behind by Abidal in the box.

Slovakian referee Lubos Michel had no hesitation in pulling out a red card, with Pirlo blasting his shot high into the left hand corner.

Abidal's sending off evoked wretched memories for France of the last time these two countries met in a major competition, in the World Cup final, when Zinedine Zidane was given his marching orders for headbutting Marco Materazzi.

That though came in the closing minutes and with over an hour's play left here Domenech decided to shore up his defence, taking off Nasri for Jean-Alain Boumsong.

Coupet then performed wonders to tip out with his fingers Fabio Grosso's 25m free-kick.

Up at the other end Pirlo was booked for an ugly challenge on Benzema, his second of the competition which rules the AC Milan playmaker out of the quarter-final with Spain.

As news filtered through from Berne early in the second half that The Netherlands had gone a goal up against Romania a huge cheer went up from the Italian fans.

And on the pitch the Azzurri celebrated that news when de Rossi struck a 30m free-kick which flew past Coupet after the ball was diverted on its course by Henry's foot.

Domenech introduced Nicolas Anelka for Govou in a desperate bid to salvage the match.

Then not for the first time in this competition Buffon performed miracles to tip out a Benzema special from the edge of the area which was heading into the top far corner.

The stuffing though had been knocked out of France and Italy were never going to be denied, the resounding win keeping alive their dream of a repeat of their 1968 success.