Germany enters Semifinals beating Greece 4-2 in Euro 2012 quarter-final

Germany enters semifinal of Euro 2012

 Germany enters Semifinals after beating Greece 4-2 in their Euro 2012 quarter-final at a sodden Arena Gdansk in Poland.

Phillip Lahm (39), Sami Khedira (61), Miroslav Klose (68) and Marco Reus (74) scored goals for Germany. Giorgos Samaras' and Dimitris Salpingidis' scored goals in second-half for the Greece.

The Germans will now play England or Italy, who meet in Sunday's Kiev quarterfinal, in the semifinal at Warsaw's National Stadium on Thursday as they inflicted Greece's heaviest defeat at European championships, eclipsing the Greeks' 3-1 defeat at the hands of Czechoslovakia in 1980.

His Euro Cup quarterfinal was completely dominated by Germany as Germany basked in 76 percent of possession and totted up 26 shots at goal compared to only ten from Greece.

Germany headed for half-time holding a one-goal lead when captain Philipp Lahm bounded beyond Sotiris Ninis to sink a volley beyond Greece goalkeeper Michail Sifakis from 20 yards out on 39 minutes.

Greece somehow drew level from a lovely ball across goal by Salpingidis on 55 minutes. But Germany reclaimed the lead thanks to a volley from Real Madrid's Khedira whose late run connected with Boateng's cross to leave Sifakis with no chance.

Klose added to his impressive tally with a header from a Ozil free-kick on 68 minutes, while Reus scored the fourth when Klose latched onto Ozil's pass, forcing Sifakis into a save.

But the ball fell to the Dortmund man, who hit the net on 74 minutes.

With time almost up Salpingidis scored from the penalty spot after Boateng's foul, but it was too little, too late.

Ronaldo leads Portugal into last four beat Czech Republic 1-0 in Euro cup quarterfinal 2012

Ronaldo leads Portugalto Semifinal os Euro Cup 2012

The Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo's goal saw Portugal defeat the Czech Republic 1-0 at the National Stadium on Thursday in their quarterfinal to qualify for the Euro Cup 2012semifinals.

Cristiano  Ronaldo headed home a cross from Joao Moutinho 11 minutes from the end and will face world and European champions Spain or France for a place in the final. Portugal have a real chance to claim the trophy with Ronaldo hungry, elusive and suddenly replicating the level of form that he brings to Spanish La Liga winners Real.

A cagey contest at the National Stadium, Warsaw, produced few real chances, with Portugal dominating possession but struggling to break down a stubborn Czech side.

Ronaldo was the chief threat throughout, sending an early bicycle kick wide of goal, before striking the post in each half.

Czech side who somehow won Group A, but failed to manage a shot on goal all night and seemed paralysed without injured Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky in their ranks.

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

Portugal came up with 20 efforts at goal with Ronaldo twice hitting the post before he scored. He turned and buried a shot against Cech's left-hand upright late in the first period while another free-kick from 30 yards was sent spitting beyond Cech only to brush the outside of a post.

Portugal could easily have won by three or four goals, but only a combination of sloppy finishing and agile goalkeeping by Cech kept the Czechs in the match until late in the contest.

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.

Ronaldo has now scored six goals at Euro finals, the joint-most of any Portuguese player, along with Nuno Gomes.

England in Euro quarterfinals after beating Ukraine 1-0 in Group D England V Ukraine match

England entered into the quarterfinals of Euro cup 2012 on Tuesday after a beating co-hosts Ukraine 1-0.

After missing the first two group games through suspension Rooney returned to the England starting line-up for their final game in Group D.

Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin was dealt a huge blow before kick-off as Captain Andriy Shevchenko was not passed fit to start the game with a knee injury. Devic replaced the influential striker.

The co-hosts dominated much of the opening half and England were happy to go into the break level despite having the best chance through Rooney, 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.

However Roy Hodgson's side came out with a much more positive attitude in the second half 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.

there was huge controversy when John Terry cleared a Marko Devic shot that had crossed the line. John Terry launched himself into an acrobatic clearance to hook the ball away but despite furious Ukrainian appeals no goal was given.

None of the officials, including the additional assistant referee standing just metres from the ball, appeared to see the incident, and an incensed Ukraine side exited the tournament.

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.

The result sets up a last-eight encounter against Group C runners-up Italy, while France will face defending champions Spain after losing 2-0 to Sweden in Euro quarterfinals.

Italy beat 10-man Ireland Republic 2-0 to enter Euro quarterfinals

Italy beat 10-man Ireland 2-0 to enter Euro quarterfinals

Italy beat 10-man Ireland Republic 2-0 at the Municipal Stadium on Monday to reach the Euro Cup 2012 quarterfinals.

Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli scored the goals for Italy, they placed second behind Spain in Group C to enter Euro quqrterfinals C and will play the Group D winners in the last eight while Ireland finish bottom with three defeats.

Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland produced their best performance of the tournament, but were still well beaten and exit the tournament with three defeats from as many games. Keith Andrews was sent off late on, picking up a second yellow card for dissent.

But Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will also have been concerned by his side's dip in physical condition in the final 20 minutes, just as it did in their previous two games.

Having had their gameplan thrown into disarray by conceding early goals in their previous two matches, Ireland at least seemed fired up from the off.

Several times Ireland broke at pace and had the Italian defence back-pedalling but they spurned their own chances through either a wayward pass, poor decision-making or running down a blind alley.

Italy soon took command although Daniele De Rossi's left-foot volley from outside the box was a touch over-ambitious.

Italy won a cheap corner in 35^th min after Shay Given spilled a Cassano shot, and the Azzurri duly took the lead. Cassano glanced Pirlo's delivery goalwards, Given made half a save and Duff hooked it away from his position on the far post.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, as Cassano and Di Natale were denied by some heroic Irish blocks. Di Natale went off on 75 minutes having racked up seven shots, six on target.

Ireland threatened to break Italian hearts as the second half went on and the Azzurri became nervous. Countless set piece chances came and went, while Andrews tested Gianluigi Buffon with a long shot.

It took the substitute Balotelli to put the result beyond doubt. He met a corner from the Italian right with a sweetly-struck volley on the turn, and Given had no chance.

Spain enters quarterfinals beat Croatia 1-0 in Group C Croatia v Spain Euro Cup match

Spain beat Croatia 1-0 to enter Euro Cup 2012 quarterfinals

Spain enters the Euro 2012 quarter-finals after a 1-0 win against Croatia at the PGE Arena Gdansk on Monday.

Neither side seemed in any hurry to snatch the initiative throughout, with La Roja's famed tiki-taka football failing to break down a determined defensive barrier set up by Slaven Bilic's men.

The match seemed destined to end in a stalemate, but with two minutes remaining, substitute Jesus Navas walked the ball into the net to confirm Croatia's exit from the tournament.

With Croatia attempting to find the goal they needed to stay in the tournament, Cesc Fabregas - on for David Silva - picked out Andres Iniesta, who played the ball across the face of goal for Navas to seal the three points.

Defending Champions Spain progress as Group C winners on seven points while Italy join them as runners-up on five points after their 2-0 win over Republic of Ireland, who lost their three games at the finals. Croatia concluded on four points in third place. Now Spain and Italy will face one of France, England or Ukraine.

Vicente del Bosque named an unchanged line-up from the 4-0 win over Ireland, with two-goal hero Fernando Torres continuing as the lone presence in attack.

Bilic, meanwhile, made two alterations to his XI from the 1-1 draw with Italy, with Domagoj Vida and Danijel Pranjic coming in as replacements for Nikica Jelavic and Ivan Perisic.

The first half resembled a training session with Spain seeming to lack urgency and incision as Croatia’s decision to flood the midfield and operate with only Mario Mandzukic up front kept them in the game until the dying moments

Spain’s players and certainly their fans looked highly uncomfortable the longer the night staggered on as Casillas produced an excellent save to claw out an Ivan Rakitic header from Luka Modric’s cross on 59 minutes.

Pletikosa made saves from Iniesta and Navas in the closing eight minutes, but Croatia were suddenly proving to be a real threat as outgoing coach Slaven Bilic threw on Nikica Jelavic and Eduardo in the closing minutes to try to save the day.

However in the 88th minute, a swift attack saw Iniesta break free, where he squared to Navas for the simplest of goals.

Croatia rushed to respond, but with news of Italy's late second against Ireland rippling throughout the stadium, Bilic's men simply ran out of time.