Ozami – Music, Celebrity, Sports Entertainment Blog

KIEV OLYMPIC STADIUM,
UKRAINE

Spain reign supreme in Euro 2012 as the far superior Iberian champions demolish Italy 4-0 in the final of Euro 2012. The hard facts are that Italy were never in this game, not a case that the Italians did not turn up. They were there OK but they were simply eclipsed as the rampant Spanish six man midfield combo locked the game down in the middle of the park, then sprayed the ball all across the park as goals from  Silva – Alba -  Torres – Mata simply overwhelmed the disconsolate Italians as they buckled under the Iberian onslaught.

The talented Italian national side looked impressive in the group games right through to the semi finals when they dispatched Germany 2-1. But once again come the final of Euro 2012  Italy inspired in previous games by impressive midfield playmaking by maestro Andrea Pirlo never got in the game as Spain claimed the triple crown – Euro 2008 Cup Winners – World Cup Winners 2010 -  and now became the first team ever to win back to back European Championships

Spain v Italy Match Round Up
Spain beat Italy 4-0.

Match Goals
Spain  – David Silva 14’ – Jordi Alba  41’ – Fernando Torres 84’ – Juan Mata 88’

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Final  Euro 2012
July 01, 2012
KIEV OLYMPIC STADIUM,
UKRAINE

Match Stats Ball Possession
Spain – 52%
Italy – 48%

Summary
Spain were magnificent on the day and proved that the ‘Beautiful Game’ is still intact as they turned on a football master class seen on TV by over one billion viewers from around the world.

Spain 4-0 Italy Euro 2012 Football Demolition in the Ukraine…

DONBASS ARENA,

UKRAINE

The first semi final of Euro 2012 and once more after 120 minutes of play the score was 0-0 between Portugal and Spain. So just as in the England v Italy game it was all down to the Penalty Shootout. This is tough on all sides and often the tension and the atmosphere that exists, means that for the victors often a degree of luck is involved as many players tend to miss scoring from the penalty spot for any number of unexpected reasons.

Euro 2012 in the last two games the result has been resolved through penalty shootouts. One has to wonder how FIFA react if the final last four game goes to a Penalty Shootout. Maybe the live spectators and the millions of TV viewers around the world should be offered an alternative to the penalty hit or miss solution. Certainly this high profile tournament has accentuated the doubts that exist as to whether the fairest way to decide match victors is from the penalty spot!

Portugal v Spain Match Round Up

Spain win beat Portugal 4-2 in Penalty Shootout!

Match Goals

Portugal  – Pepe – Nani –  2 Goals All Penalties

Spain – Andres Iniesta – Gerard Pique -  Sergio Ramos – Cesc Fabregas -  4 Goals All Penalties

Euro 2012 Match Ground

Quarter Finals Euro 2012

June 27, 2012

DONBASS ARENA,

UKRAINE

Match Stats Ball Possession

Portugal – 43%

Spain – 57%

Cristiano Ronaldo aka Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro never got to take a penalty as he was set to take penalty number five for Portugal which never came as Cesc Fabregas wrapped up the game when he slotted home for Spain to beat Portugal 4-2 in the penalty shootout. One has to assume  that this result  has Cristiano Ronaldo thinking how Portugal could have won this Euro 2012 Semi Final!

Spain win beat Portugal 4-2 on penalties

Spain Win 4-2 in Penalty Shootout as Portugal Exit Euro 2012…

KIEV OLYMPIC STADIUM,
KIEV,
UKRAINE.

England could not score in a penalty shootout against Italy in Euro 2012 as Italy advance to the semi finals 4-2 on penalties. Luck no way! On the night after 120 minutes of play Italy had performed far better than England and although no goals had been scored Italy deserved to progress through to the final four of Euro 2012.

England in reality never looked like winning this quarter final as Italy were playing much better football as they hit the bar two times with 20 shots on goal. So when after it was all square after extra time all things being equal, justice was served when Italy won the game 4-2 on penalties, they were far the better team on the night.

England can look at the ball possession stats one more time, they tell the story if you do not have the ball to play with, it is very difficult to win a match especially when up against a top side like Italy.

England v Italy Match Round Up
Italy win beat England 4-2 in Penalty Shootout!

Match Goals
England – Wayne Rooney – Steven Gerrard – 2 Goals All Penalties

Italy – Mario Balotelli – Andrea Pirlo – Antonio Nocerino – Alessandro Diamanti – 4 Goals All Penalties

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Quarter Finals Euro 2012
June 24, 2012
KIEV OLYMPIC STADIUM,
KIEV,
UKRAINE.

Match Stats Ball Possession
England – 36%
Italy – 64%

England: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Milner (Walcott 61), Gerrard, Parker (Henderson 94), Young, Rooney, Welbeck (Carroll 60). Subs Not Used: Green, Kelly, Baines, Jones, Jagielka, Downing, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Defoe, Butland.
Italy: Buffon, Abate (Maggio 90), Barzagli, Bonucci, Balzaretti, Pirlo, Marchisio, De Rossi (Nocerino 80), Montolivo, Balotelli, Cassano (Diamanti 78). Subs Not Used: Sirigu, Chiellini, Ogbonna, Thiago Motta, Di Natale, Giaccherini, Borini, Giovinco, De Sanctis.

Booked: Barzagli, Maggio.

Italy win 4-2 on penalties

Att: 56,500

Ref: Pedro Proenca (Portugal).

England Exit Euro 2012 as they cannot Score from the Penalty Spot…

National Stadium
Warsaw
Poland

It is that man again Cristiano Ronaldo as he places a stunning header past Peter Cech to give Portugal a richly deserved 1-0 victory against Czech Republic. What has been great for all the fans and supporters of Euro 2012 is that the recognized top players like Wayne Rooney – Cristiano Ronaldo and more are all rising to be big occasion and turning in match winning performances this makes for great value and entertainment. This is what the traveling fans are spending hard earned money on, to see the top players take center stage to win and influence how the games are played in Euro 2012

Goal Scorers Euro 2012 – June 20, 2012
Individual – Goals
Rank Player Country Goals
1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Portugal
3
Mario Gomez
Germany
3
Mario Mandzukic
Croatia
3
Alan Dzagoev
Russia
3
5 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Sweden
2
Andriy Shevchenko
Ukraine
2
Fernando Torres
Spain
2
Cesc Fábregas
Spain
2
Nicklas Bendtner
Denmark
2
Michael Krohn-Dehli
Denmark
2
Vaclav Pilar
Czech Republic
2
Petr Jiracek
Czech Republic
2
13 Joleon Lescott
England
1
Rafael Van der Vaart
Netherlands
1
Andrea Pirlo
Italy
1
Antonio Cassano
Italy
1
Hélder Postiga
Portugal
1
Robin Van Persie
Netherlands
1
Wayne Rooney
England
1
Antonio Di Natale
Italy
1
Sean St. Ledger
Ireland
1
Jesús Navas
Spain
1
Roman Pavlyuchenko
Russia
1
Nikica Jelavic
Croatia
1
Lukas Podolski
Germany
1
Sebastian Larsson
Sweden
1
Samir Nasri
France
1
David Silva
Spain
1
Pepe
Portugal
1
Giorgos Karagounis
Greece
1
Theo Walcott
England
1
Theofanis Gekas
Greece
1
Yohan Cabaye
France
1
Jérémy Menez
France
1
Roman Shirokov
Russia
1
Andrew Carroll
England
1
Mario Balotelli
Italy
1
Jakub Blaszczykowski
Poland
1
Varela
Portugal
1
Lars Bender
Germany
1
Danny Welbeck
England
1
Olof Mellberg
Sweden
1
Dimitris Salpingidis
Greece
1
Robert Lewandowski
Poland
1

Czech Republic v Portugal Match Round Up
Portugal win beat Czech Republic 1-0!

Match Goals
Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo – 79 minutes

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Quarter Finals Euro 2012
June 21, 2012
National Stadium
Warsaw
Poland

Match Stats Ball Possession
Czech Republic – 44%
Portugal – 56%

Ronaldo Czechmate Header as Portugal go through to Semis in Euro 2012…

Donbass Arena,
Ukraine

Well done goes to England as they scramble to beat host country Ukraine 1-0 to claim 7 points and go through to the round of eight as Group D winners of Euro 2012 with France securing the other qualification spot. Master tactician Roy Hodgson the wily old new England coach has played his squad in a deep playing formation for all the three group qualifying matches and the result has been 2 wins and the initial draw versus France.

However this style of playing deep means that England get less of the ball possession here are the stats

Match Stats Ball Possession
England v France
England – 40%
France – 60%

England v Sweden
England – 52%
Sweden – 48%

England v Ukraine

England – 42%
Ukraine – 58%

The question that needs asking is will Roy Hodgson set up his team to play in a more attacking line up in the games to come in Euro 2012 as he knows that playing deep or ‘Parking the Bus’ in front of goal will not win this prestigious tournament and be crowned ‘Kings of Europe’ In the next game versus Italy the same game format may be OK as Italy will by tradition set up Italian style playing deep with an eye on counter attacking. The game will be tight and likely to see the victors win the game scoring the only goal of the match.

Then if England do win, they will be through to the semi finals where they will not be able to keep the big guns at bay by resolute defending it will not work – they will not get away with doing a Chelsea style CL 2012 defend at all costs strategy!

Keep watching it is going to be interesting!

England v Ukraine Match Round Up
England win beat Ukraine 3-2!

Match Goals
England – Wayne Rooney – 48 minutes

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Group D
18:45 +00:00, June 19, 2012
Donbass Arena, Ukraine

England Play Deep To Top Group D Euro 2012 Beat Ukraine 1-0…

Metalist Stadium,
Ukraine

Forget any doubts anyone had about Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo, form is variable but class is permanent as the Real Madrid talisman hits two wonder goals to send the Netherlands out of the Euro 2012 exit door.

Never underestimate the capabilities of a truly great footballer to perform on the big occasions, especially one with such sublime skills as Cristiano Ronaldo who for over a decade has been tutored and coached by the best football coaches of the modern era – SAF – Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United and the dynamic Jose Mourinho of Real Madrid.

Portugal win beat the Netherlands 2-1!

Match Goals
Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo – 28 minutes and 74 minutes.
Netherlands – Rafael van der Vaart – 11 minutes

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Group B
18:45 +00:00, June 17, 2012
Metalist Stadium, Ukraine

Match Stats Ball Possession
Portugal – 62%
Netherlands – 38%

Portugal had an impressive 24 shots on goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro sets Euro 2012 alight as he turns on super two goal game winning performance to send the Holland team packing, heading back home to Amsterdam after underperforming in three matches!

The very solid and talented Portuguese national team are coming into form at the business end of Euro 2012 – see no reason why they cannot go all the way to Euro 2012 Winners!

On paper the only thing that could possibly dislodge the now super confident Portugal is if they were to let the most inept and overated coach in history near the team, yes we are talking about the hopeless AVB – Andre Villas-Boas. Aside note for Tottenham Hotspur beware do not get hoodwinked by this imposter! Hate making predictions but it all points to Germany or Portugal as Euro 2012 Winners! As for rejuvenated England they do not look good enough and final eight looks as far as they will go.

Two Hot Ronaldo Knocks Holland Out Of Euro 2012…

National Stadium,
Warsaw,
Poland

The embattled Greek economy received an unexpected boost in Poland as Greece beat Russia 1-0 at Euro 2012. Now today is election day in Greece and voters are changing the names on the ballot papers and voting for super goal scorer Giorgos Karagounis to become the new Prime Minister after all he beat Russia single handedly so maybe he can now rescue the beleaguered Greek economy too!

Can anyone believe it, Greece are through to the quarter finals of Euro 2012!

The mighty Russian football team have been downsized and knocked out of Euro 2012 by the unheralded Greeks what a victory – what a celebration, well done Greece and thank you to winning goal scorer Giorgos Karagounis. What a performance, well done to all the team squad and the coaching team, this is what makes great sporting events exciting and entertaining!

The victory news has created havoc in Syntagma Square in downtown Athens as the crowd mingled expecting some politician to announce the end of all the austerity measures and the welcome news that Greece is going to exit the Euro economy! All they got was cheers and chants – Giorgos Karagounis – Giorgos Karagounis – you just could not match this story from the annals of Greek mythology.

Greece win beat Russia 1-0!

Match Goals
Greece – Giorgos Karagounis – 45 minutes

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Group A
18:45 +00:00, June 16, 2012
National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland

Match Stats Ball Possession
Greece – 38%
Russia – 62%

The ball possession stats do not lie it was all Russia but ironically the result was not destined to light up the bars and streets of Moscow. No Sir! The night was to showcase the underdogs as Greece showed unexpected grit and dogma that kept the Russians from scoring! The rest as they say is history. How far in Euro 2012 can Greece progress watch this site for updates.

Greek Euro Comeback as Russia Toppled…

Kiev Olympic Stadium,
Kiev,
Ukraine

England turn on a gritty determined grafting performance to down resolute Sweden in 3-2 thriller. England are not yet through to the EURO 2012 quarter finals but this win over Sweden was a massive step in the right direction.

But before we discuss the performance on the pitch, we believe a big ‘Thank You’ should go to the experienced old trooper Roy Hodgson the wiry astute England coach! This guy has been there done that so many times that he now has the special ability to explain to his players what to expect on the pitch and if play goes against them and how to deal with it.

Exactly as it all unfolded versus Sweden – England slotted home an early goal to take the lead with a 23rd minute header from Andy Carroll, then Olof Melberg got two back to back goals (one credited as Johnson OG) to gain a 2-1 advantage to Sweden. Now in the past often with England this deficit would have deflated the squad and the likely result would have been to lose the game. But that is not what Roy Hodgson will accept from his players and England dug deep and got on with the job of scoring goals and winning the match.

What a fine comeback it was too! Theo Walcott popped up with a 25 yard equalizer in the 64th minute to make it 2-2 on the night then England sensed they could grab a winner and in the 78th minute Danny Welbeck got on the end of a fine cross from Steven Gerrard and the ball was in the back of the net!

England win beat Sweden 3-2!

Match Goals
England – Andy Carroll – 23 minutes
England – Theo Walcott – 64 minutes
England – Danny Wellbeck – 78 minutes

Sweden – Glen Johnson OG – 49 minutes – Olof Melberg was the Swedish player attacking the goal
Sweden – Olof Melberg – 59 minutes

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Group D
19:00 +00:00, June 15, 2012
Kiev Olympic Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine

Match Stats Ball Possession
England – 52%
Sweden – 48%

Job done! A fine resolute winning performance from the Three Lions well done bring on Ukraine -England will have Wayne Rooney back from suspension and a draw or better still a convincing win against Ukraine and England will be through to the quarter finals of Euro 2012.

England 2-3 Sweden Welbeck Hits Winner…

Donbass Arena
Ukraine

New England manager Roy Hodgson proves once again his ability to get the best out of a mediocre squad of players as England hold France 1-1 in Euro 2012 opener. Actually one point is a great result for the Three Lions considering France are the group favorites, and on paper all the England games look tough so a point in the bag will do for starters! But taking a look at the headlines in the UK tabloids readers would be forgiven if they were misled into thinking this was 1966 World Cup all over again!

UK tabloid captions :-
JOB DONETSK – The Sun
ENGLAND’S JOB DONE! – The Star
Shut it!: Nasri tells England coach Neville to ‘shut your gob’ after France equaliser – The Daily Mirror
Roy Hodgson Has Lift Off – The Daily Express

This is more realistic :-
England 1 France 1: Hodgson’s men off the mark as Three Lions share draw with Group D heavyweights in opening match – The Daily Mail

Back to the match in any other game the chance squandered in the 26th minute by the averagely gifted James Milner should have been ‘A Goal’ and a potential game changer. But it was not to be, and the reality is that England had to dig deep to hang on for the 1-1 draw!

Match Goals
England – Joleon Lescott – 30 minutes
France – Samir Nasri – 39 minutes

Euro 2012 Match Ground
Group D
16:00 +00:00, June 11, 2012
Donbass Arena, Ukraine

Match Stats Ball Possession
England – 40%
France – 60%

England on this performance will likely need the return from suspension of super striker Wayne Rooney as it seems certain they will need to win the last group game against Ukraine if they are going to progress to the next round of Euro 2012. If Rooney can score and help England to a win against Ukraine, then who knows they will have done better than expected plus with shrewd tactician Roy Hodgson at the helm he may be able to get the team to raise their game and push them through to the semi finals of Euro 2012.

England Hold Out For a Draw Against France 1-1…