Barca's Puyol facing six weeks out with knee injury

 Barcelona captain Carles Puyol faces four to six weeks on the sidelines after falling awkwardly and twisting ligaments in his left knee in their 4-1 La Liga win at Getafe on Saturday, the club said in a statement on Saturday.

The 34-year-old tried to play on after having some treatment on the touchline following the incident, but lasted only a few more minutes before giving way to Javier Mascherano in the 57th.

"Puyol is very important for us and we hope he recovers soon," Barca coach Tito Vilanova told a post-match news conference. "We always seem to have problems with injuries to the central defenders."

Puyol had just returned to action after fracturing a cheekbone against Osasuna last month and had surgery on his right knee back in May which forced him to miss Spain's triumphant Euro 2012 campaign.

If tests on Sunday confirm the initial assessment, Puyol will miss Barcelona's opening Champions League game at home to Spartak Moscow on Wednesday and the visit of Spanish champions Real Madrid in the league on Oct. 7.

Injured Del Potro pulls out of Davis Cup decider

Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro has pulled out of Sunday's first singles in the Davis Cup semi-final against Czech Republic because of an injury to his right wrist.

Captain Martin Jaite said Del Potro, who almost withdrew earlier in the week, was feeling more pain in his wrist after his three-set win over Radek Stepanek in Friday's opening singles.

"Juan Martin will not be in tomorrow's first singles and he will be replaced by Carlos Berlocq," Jaite told a news conference.

The loss of world number eight Del Potro gives Czech Republic, who are 2-1 up after winning Saturday's doubles, an excellent chance of reaching the final.

World number six Berdych and Stepanek beat Eduardo Schwank and debutant Berlocq 6-3 6-4 6-3 in two hours 37 minutes.

Palermo start Italy's coaching merry-go-round

Palermo set Italy's coaching merry-go-round into motion for the season on Sunday when they fired Giuseppe Sannino after only three league games in charge.

The Sicilian club said in a statement that Sannino, the first Serie A coach to fall this term, would be replaced by Gian Piero Gasperini who has been out of coaching since he was fired after five games by Inter Milan at the start of last season.

Palermo took their first point of the season in a 1-1 draw at home to Cagliari on Saturday but the writing was on the wall for Sannino when the famously volatile Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini said he was worried.

"I prefer to get drunk than answer that," he told reporters when asked if Sannino was at risk. "I will watch the game again, but I am worried...I am worried we're going to get relegated."

Palermo employed three coaches last season included Devis Mangia who was hired on an interim basis, given a long-term contract after some good early results and fired six weeks later.

"I thank Zamparini for the chance he has given me," Sannino told local media. "I hoped to have more time to work, but that's football."

There were 19 coaching changes in Serie A last season.

Van der Vaart return not enough for sleepy Hamburg

Rafael van der Vaart's return to Hamburg SV was not enough to save them from a third straight Bundesliga defeat on Sunday as they lost 3-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Dutchman, starting a second stint at the club he played at from 2005 to 2008, set up one goal for Son Heung-min but it was too late as goals from Takashi Inui, Olivier Occean and Stefan Aigner gave Eintracht the points.

Hamburg, the only ever-present side in the Bundesliga since it was founded in 1963, played the entire second half with 10 men after Czech midfielder Petr Jiracek was sent off.

Promoted Eintracht joined Bayern Munich as the only team with maximum points from their opening three games.

Hamburg, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, are one of two teams who have yet to get off the mark alongside Hoffenheim, who earlier on Sunday lost 5-3 at previously winless Freiburg.

"We overslept for the first 20 minutes and that is not something which should happen," said Van der Vaart, who became a cult figure on his previous spell at the club.

"After that, we saw a different Hamburg," added the Dutchman, who joined the club from Tottenham Hotspur. "There is still a long way to go."

Inui pounced on a mistake by Jeffrey Bruma to open the scoring in the 13th minute and Occean added another five minutes later.

Heiko Westermann pulled one back scored following a corner but Hamburg were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of halftime when Jiracek was sent off for a late tackle on Anderson, a decision which angered Hamburg's under-fire coach Thorsten Fink.

Aigner restored Eintracht's two-goal lead early in the second half but Hamburg refused to lie down and Van der Vaart set up their second, dispossessing Carlos Zambrano to release Son who rounded goalkeeper Kevin Trapp to score into an empty goal.

Both teams had chances to score again in a thrilling final quarter.

Eight players shared the goals in the earlier game which saw Hoffenheim take an early lead, then twice come from behind to make it 3-3 before goals in the last 10 minutes from Cedrick Makiadi and Sebastian Freis won the game for Freiburg.

Soccer-Morgan inspires U.S. women to win over Australia

Striker Alex Morgan inspired the Olympic gold medal-winning United States women's team to a 2-1 win over Australia in an exhibition game on Sunday.

The U.S. team have taken to the road to celebrate their victory in the London Games with a series of fixtures they have billed as a 'Fan Tribute Tour'.

But the celebratory mood at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California, was somewhat dampened by the Australians taking the lead in the 34th minute through a brilliant individual goal from striker Lisa De Vanna.

The Denmark-based 27-year-old ran a full 55 yards with the ball, bursting past Christie Rampone and beating Hope Solo with a left-foot shot to put the Australians ahead.

The Americans drew level, though, 10 minutes after the interval through the familiar source of a quality finish from Morgan.

The striker lost her marker, collected a pass from Heather O'Reilly, cut inside and unleashed a fierce left foot shot to make it 1-1.

Shannon Boxx came on to reinforce the U.S. midfield and she grabbed the winner from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute after good work from Morgan.

Tobin Heath threaded a ball into the box to Morgan who looked to skip around Australia keeper Brianna Davey but was clipped on the ankle and went down with the referee quick to award the spot kick.

Boxx drove the penalty inside the post to give the Americans a lead that they never looked back from with Boxx herself making a major contribution to snuffing out Australia's attacking attempts.

After crushing Costa Rica 8-0 in a Sept. 1 game to open the series of games, the U.S. will host Australia again on Wednesday in Commerce City, Colorado before another double-header against Germany in October.

No pressure on Team GB to select Beckham, says Coe

David Beckham

David Beckham will have to earn his place in Britain's Olympic soccer squad on skill and merit like any other player and can expect no special favours, London 2012 organisers said on Thursday.

Speaking before the 37-year-old former England captain teamed up with a London delegation for the formal handing over of the Olympic flame, LOCOG chairman Seb Coe said there would be no attempt to twist the arm of Team GB manager Stuart Pearce.

"We have put absolutely no pressure on Stuart Pearce at all," he told reporters, a day after England manager Roy Hodgson named his provisional squad for the European championships in Poland and Ukraine next month.

"Stuart has to pick the team that he thinks will lift that (Olympic) trophy. I wouldn't expect any coach to be operating on any other basis, whether its wrestling or Olympic football," added Coe.

"You can never put pressure on coaches to choose people for any particular reason other than skill and merit."

No longer a part of England's international set-up and living in Los Angeles, Beckham has said repeatedly that he wants to play for the first United British soccer team to compete at the Olympics since 1960.

The London-born LA Galaxy player's presence in Athens and increasing involvement in the build-up to the Games has added to speculation he will be selected.

Pearce, also a former England international whose playing career overlapped with Beckham, can choose three 'over-age' players in what is otherwise an under-23 squad and now has a clear picture of who is available.

 

VALUE ADDED

"Of course having David around the Olympic programme is a fantastic thing but that is not for anyone other than Stuart to decide whether actually that brings 'value added' to the team," said Coe.

Hugh Robertson, the sports and Olympics minister who is also in Athens for the flame handover along with Britain's Princess Anne and London Mayor Boris Johnson, endorsed Coe's words.

"You can't have, in that highly competitive environment, a sentimental moment and pick somebody because it would be nice for the front page of the newspapers," he said.

"It is just not the way this process works any more. It would be lovely, yes, to see Beckham at the Olympics but he has to be there on the merits of his own performance and nothing else."

The announcement that Beckham, a global brand ambassador for Torch relay sponsor Samsung, would join the delegation in Athens and fly back with the flame on Friday was a main talking point on Wednesday.

There were some who questioned whether it was right to give such prominence to an athlete who has no Olympic pedigree and whose star quality and glamour as a sporting pin-up could overshadow others, but Coe dismissed that.

"David has been with us from the beginning," he said.

"He was there when the evaluation team came through London, he has hosted people on the Olympic Park for us, even before (the winning bid was announced in) Singapore he was travelling independently for us and helping us get some of the core messages across.

"It is absolutely right that he should be with us. As he so elegantly put it in Singapore, it (London) is his 'hood'.

"It would be ridiculous not to use someone who has been intimately involved with the whole process and actually rings up on a regular basis to ask if there's anything else he needs to know or can do to help us," said Coe. 

Late Senegal equaliser denies Britain victory

 Hosts Britain were denied victory on their return to the Olympic Games after a 52-year absence when they were held to a 1-1 draw by debutants Senegal in their opening Group A match at Old Trafford on Thursday.

Britain looked to be heading for victory after Welsh veteran Craig Bellamy, at 33 one of their over-age players, lashed home after 20 minutes.
 
But Senegal, who rallied strongly after the break, equalised in the 82nd minute when Moussa Konate timed his run perfectly to stay onside and clip the ball past goalkeeper Jack Butland.

Britain almost stole all three points in the 88th minute when Aaron Ramsey set up substitute Marvin Sordell but he shot against the bar.

The men's soccer competition is contested by Under-23 teams who are allowed to field three players over that age, but Britain has been absent since the Rome Games of 1960 because of political differences involving Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland regarding their own independence within FIFA.

But all that was forgotten as a near capacity crowd of 72,476 enjoyed a memorable night which began with Uruguay beating the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the group opener.

They were also close to witnessing a British win, but were denied the chance despite an excellent performance from Britain's other Welsh veteran, skipper Ryan Giggs.

OLDEST PLAYER

At 38 years and eight months old, and playing on his home Manchester United ground, Giggs became the oldest outfield soccer player ever to appear in the Olympic finals.

Giggs also had a hand in Bellamy's goal as the Senegal defence failed to clear his free-kick. The ball fell to Bellamy who scored with a fierce volley into the ground that flew up past goalkeeper Ousmane Mane.

Britain, playing only their second match together since the Olympics squad was announced, seemed far more settled from the start than they were at any time during last week's warm-up against Brazil in Middlesbrough which they lost 2-0.

However, they lacked bite in the second half and that was always inviting danger against Senegal, who qualified for their first Olympics after beating Oman 2-0 in a playoff at Coventry in April and had certainly not come to make up the numbers.

Senegal's tall, physically strong and hard-running side -- typified by captain Mohamed Diame who has just moved from Wigan Athletic to West Ham United in the Premier League -- deserved a point from a well-contested game.

But they also wasted a golden chance to equalise soon after Bellamy's goal when Sadio Mane dinked the ball wide after Butland made a rare mistake and hit a weak clearance straight to him.

Britain next face the United Arab Emirates while Uruguay play Senegal in another double-header at Wembley on Sunday.

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Buffon was "indignant" although to qualify for Euro final

Buffon was "indignant" although to qualify for Euro final
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Looked Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon indignant as he left the land of the National Stadium in Kiev, even though his country qualify to the final of Euro 2012 football victory over Germany (2-1).

Repel Juventus goalkeeper, aged 34 years, a number of crucial balls, helped the team "Blue" to keep a clean sheet at the end of the first half (2-0) goals from Mario Balotelli.

However, Buffon was indignant than waiting for the Italian team until the last minute to secure the result, after he missed opportunities to resolve the match of the four counter-attacks, at least.

After the successful German Mesut Ozil in the registration of a penalty kept the Italians "on their nerves" in the moments deadly, it seemed Buffon annoyed at the launch of the final whistle, he talked about it, saying: "Because I do not celebrate second place, and I was angry because he was in we could avoid five minutes a difficult At the end of the game. "

The Azzurri captain: "When only be able recording seven goals against Germany you have to register seven, because if they Adeloa score 2-2, 2-10 Sézmonak in extra time."

Buffon continued: "We have to be more mature and know that even if the football game, when you reach the European Cup final, it is no longer a game."

Buffon expressed displeasure specifically the behavior of a number of young players in the Italian team, said: "I put my assessment of things based on some behavior, and there are things that must be improved. On some young players to learn it, otherwise the angry veterans."

He continued: "We have a great game, and it was possible for us to win a bigger margin of goals."

The team's coach Cesare Prandelli support for the position of Buffon: "Gigi won the World Cup, and when made available to you three or four chances to finish the game you have to take advantage of them. All required re-doubt Pfozak is a penalty kick or free kick, so it is clear that upset. This is the hero mentality. "

For the playmaker Andrea Pirlo, chosen by former goalkeeper for Manchester United amputation Schmeichel the best player in the game, there is no reason to celebrate so far: "provided always the best of myself and now deserve to reach the final and we must take advantage of this moment."

Pirlo said: "But I do not laugh a lot because we have not done anything yet. No benefit from going to Rome without seeing the Pope. We want to return the cup to our capital."

He stressed that the team will play the final: "the same spirit to fight and run as in the England match (in the quarterfinals)."

As for Giorgio Chiellini, who was not involved in the formation of Italy winning the 2006 World Cup, unlike Buffon, Pirlo, Winning worth celebrating.

He said: "We live the dream of millions of Italians who encourage us. Will enjoy this win a little more and we will begin to think about Sunday's game because we want to continue to dream."

18 million euros for Kaka from China!

18 million euros for Kaka from China!
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Real Madrid waiting for an official offer attractive Club Guangzhou by the Chinese to sign Brazilian Kaka.

AS newspaper says that the offer will reach 18 million euros is expected to approve it because of the lack of offers made in the summer of the Brazilian player.

The riyal has requested 25 million euros for the player, but the lack of offers led the club to lower the price of the player in the hope of saving a lot of money when the departure of the great Kaka's salary.

Strangest euros

After they were found between the parameters of the final dream of the Spanish and Italians, many of the numbers to impose itself on the surface of events to give clear indications before the curtain comes down on the Euro 2012 is currently taking place in Poland and Ukraine.

Here are some facts and figures for the European Cup final which will be held Sunday at Olympic Stadium in Kiev:

(0) .. Is the number of teams that have managed to retain the Cup, Henry Delaun. Soviet Union (won in 1960 and lost in 1964) and West Germany (won in 1972 and lost in 1976). Both reached the final in the next version after the coronation and lost.

(0) .. He did not pay any player a winner of two finals so far - Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and Fernando Torres were two main in the final which was won by Spain in 2008, while income Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres as substitutes. But West Germany's Rainer Bunhuv is the only player who won gold medals for his country's team win the title in 1972 and 1980, but did not enter into the pitch in any of the tournaments.

(13) .. Is the number of players who participated in the final twice: Valentin Ivanov and Viktor Bonidlnic and Lev Yashin (with the Soviet Union from 1960 to 1964), Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeness and Sepp Maier, the Hunts Jörg Chwertsenpk and Herbert Wimmer (West Germany in 1972 and 1976), Bernader Dis (West Germany Ami 1876 ​​and 1980), Thomas Hassler, Thomas Helmer and Jurgen Klinsmann and Matthias Sammer (Germany in 1992 while losing the title and culminated in 1996, when it).

(3) .. Is the number of teams which carried the title of the European Cup and the World Cup at the same time. West Germany won the European Cup in 1972 and added the World Cup in 1974, and France, culminating in the World Cup in 1998 and then lifted the European Cup two years later, and finally Spain, which culminated in the continental title in 2008 and then she said to him the world title in 2010 .. Have not won any team with three titles in a row, West Germany was only able to make this happen, but lost 1976 final against Czechoslovakia.

(15) .. Is the sum of the players, West Germany and France who participated in the European Cup final and the World Cup. For West Germany (1972 European Cup and 1974 World Cup) were: Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer and Jorg Chwertsenpk Hunts and Paul Breitner and Uli Hoeness and Gerd Muller. As for France (1998 World Cup and 2000 European Cup) are: Fabien Barthez, Marcel Desailly and Bixente Lizarazu, Lilian Thuram, Didier Deschamps and Yuri Dgeorkayev and Patrick Vieira, Zinedine Zidane and Christophe Dugarry.

(9) .. The number of players who fought the Spanish Cup final, the 2008 European and 2010 World Cup, and they are: Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Zesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres.

(27) .. Number of players who crowned World Cup titles and the European Cup, and in the case of Italy won the title number will rise to 30 because the three-Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi fought the 2006 World Cup final won by the "Azzurri" to France .. The current number of players including West Germany (1972 and 1974) and Spain (2008 and 2010) and France (1998 and 2000) in addition to the Italian Dino Zoff (1968 and 1982), the German duo Thomas Hassler and Jurgen Klinsmann (1990, 1996).

(5) .. The final number of games which has invoked the extension: 1960: Soviet Union - Yugoslavia 2-1 .. 1968: Italy - Yugoslavia 1-1 (2-0 in a repeat match) .. 1976: Czechoslovakia - West Germany 2-2 (5-3 on penalties) .. 1996: Czech Republic - Germany 1-2 (golden goal) .. 2000: France - Italy 2-1 (golden goal)

(1) .. Is the number of finalists, which has invoked a penalty shootout and that was in 1976 between Czechoslovakia and West Germany (2-2 in regulation and overtime) and went out the first winner of 5.3 and was Antonin Paninka His kick shootout recent that are still stuck in the mind because of the way adopted by the in its implementation.

(3) .. The number of teams that have managed to convert its failure to win in the final, most recently France in the final of 2000 before Italy (2-1 golden goal). Germany also made it in front of the Czech Republic in the 1996 final (2-1 golden goal as well), and the Soviet Union in the final of the first version in 1960 against Yugoslavia (1-2 aet). After eight years, Italy has turned to its failure to draw against Yugoslavia 1-1 and her jar into a repeat match won by the "Azzurri" 2-1.

(4) .. This the fourth time that the Mentban square off in the first round and then the final: The first version was in 1988 when the Netherlands lost 0-1 in front of the Soviet Union, and then confronted him in the final and beat him 2-0, and the second in 1996, when Germany beat Czech Republic 2-0 in the round I then renewed in the final by winning 2-1 golden goal, and the third in 2004 when Greece beat Portugal 2-1 in the first round and then 1-0 in the final.

(2) .. It's the first time in the history of European Cup where the elected leader present in the final goalkeepers - Buffon and Casillas - and the second time in the history of major tournaments after 1934 when he was a guard Janpiero Combi Italy and Czechoslovakia Frantsyk Planiska their country's leaders.

(1) .. In the event culminated in Spain the title, would become her coach Vicente del Bosque coach only the second in history who was crowned the World Cup and European Cup after Germany's Helmut Sean, who led West Germany to the title of Continental in 1972 and the world title in 1974, although he led the Germans into second place in the World Cup 1966 and the European Cup 1976.

signing striker to Arsenal

Chief Olivier Gero new signing striker to Arsenal coming from Montpellier French that he was closer to go to the champions of Europe.


But the French star said in a press statement that the intervention Arsene Wenger is the heart of the data through the letters sent to him, and said: Wenger convinced me to change my mind, when he assured me that he wants me severely with his team .. I have not spoken with Di Matteo does not think he knows me already!

With the contract runs until the 2014 World Cup, coach Joachim Loew confirms that the bright future awaiting the German team, despite his release from the semi-finals of Euro 2012 after losing to Italy (1-2).

German fans may need more persuasion after he broke the "Azzurri" Thursday in Warsaw Alo'rourbah ambitions of Germany, registered with striker Mario Balotelli struck twice in the first half.

When the Germans moved to Brazil in 2014, if they qualify to the World Cup, the 18 years have passed since their access to the title, ie, winning the European Cup since 1996.

Italy and ended a string of 15 consecutive wins for Germany in official matches, in a meeting which was dominated by the performance of Andrea Pirlo and Ricardo Montolivo the star midfielder Mesut Ozil Germans and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Loew said: "I think we have two adorable. Development team in good shape and we won 15 games in a row. Lost to an Italian team is very strong, no reason to doubt."

Having ousted Germany, England and Argentina on the way to third place in the 2010 World Cup, it seemed the scenario that the coach Loew will be able to foot the extra step (towards the end) and prove the health and status before the start of the tournament, as a candidate to win in the final place in Kiev.

With 57 wins, 13 draws and 13 losses in 83 matches since taking the helm, has an enviable asset Loew, but the pressure is still practiced on the coach, 52 years to transform the ability of Germany is doubtful whether the final success at the international level.

Although access to the semi-finals of a major for the fourth time in a row is not an ordinary achievement, the task was always to return Germany Cup Henry Delauna to Berlin, but coach Loew appeared remiss in the most important moment.

After years at the helm of responsibility, it seems that the next tournament in the World Cup Brazil 2014 will be the last chance to win the Loew's great.

After convincing victories, the Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark and Greece, the Germans win extra points for at Euro 2012. Vmarcos Rios moving to Borussia Dortmund, has proven himself as one of the rising stars in Germany, while Jerome Boateng book right back in his favor.

With the reconstruction rate of slightly more than 25 years, was the younger German team in the tournament, knowing that Rios and Boateng will not be informed of the 25 before the next World Cup.

But the negative side, will not like only a few of the performance of Arsenal fans to their club signing the player Lukas Podolski, who has emerged from time to time, having participated in more than 100 international matches.

In a similar approach, it seemed that the two central defender Holger Badstuber and Mats Hummels succeeded in developing a good partnership, until the Italians showed the couple are still young they need to learn a lot.

As if that it is required to prove this idea, he succeeded Antonio Cassano in the snapshot do not forget, skip Hummels and raise the cross to striker Mario Balotelli, who carried out the Control of Badashtober and scored Italy's first header in the range of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

But Loew will face from the face of the right of some criticism of frequent changes in his squad, in what appeared to lack of team "Plan B" after the painful things got in the first half with Italy.

Although the bold move by the dominant Loew removing Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller and Podolski in the match with Greece in the quarter-final victory resulted in the Germans 4-2, but the return of Gomez and Podolski and the involvement of Tony Cross, a key against Italy gave the opposite result.

Option was the most bizarre crossover involving the right wing instead of ROS, which showed an impressive level. While the defense did not bother Cross Italian, but rarely, Podolski found himself on the bench after the first half is an actor.

Gomez and others like it, talent is questionable, but his lack of consistency in the level - rather than his ability to score goals - was a distinguishing mark in the past few years.

The head of the German football Wolfgang Narhbach has said Loew function in safety until after the 2014 World Cup.

Loew and will run for the next challenge in a friendly match against Argentina in Frankfurt on August 15, before the first match in the qualifiers to the World Cup against the Faroe Islands on September 7 in Hanover.

He acknowledged Loew need the team to "digest this tournament (European Championship). Still (World Cup), Brazil's relatively remote, so you will not think about it in the next few days. We have a young team, so I do not think from that perspective that there will be many changes," .

Award for best player in the euro between Andrea Iniesta

Award for best player in the euro between Andrea Iniesta

Compete for the Italian midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Spain's Andres Iniesta as the best player in the UEFA European Championship (Euro 2012).

Pirlo and received the award for best player three times in the championship matches: against Croatia, England and Germany, while Iniesta won the award twice against Italy and Croatia.

And plays the final Sunday between Spain and Italy and is forecast that in the light of the outcome of this meeting will be determined by the award for best player in the tournament.

Spain was qualified for the final after beating Portugal 4-2 in a penalty shootout, while Italy has stepped up to the same role after a great match against Germany beat them 2-0.

Italy hails Super Mario as his brace blurs bad-boy image

The flexed muscles in Mario Balotelli's ebony torso became the symbol of Italy's 2-1 win over Germany in a Euro 2012 semi-final between the continent's most successful national squads.

“It's us” and “Italy's pride,” La Gazzetta dello Sport titled Friday to celebrate a brace that the Manchester City striker scored in the first half of the big match in Warsaw.

After his second goal, a smashing shot to the left of a frozen Manuel Neuer, Balo celebrated by taking off his short and standing frozen as he awaited his team-mates' embrace.

The 21-year-old, who was born in Italy to Ghanaian parents and raised by a foster family near Bergamo, dedicated the brace to his adoptive mother Silvia and said he will score four goals in the final, when also his father Francesco is to be present.

“Super Mario, new Italy's hero,” Gazzetta said as enthusiastic praise dimmed a bad-guy reputation the striker has built on and off the pitch.

After a difficult start in the tournament, with a polemic celebration following his goal in a 2-0 defeat of Croatia, Balo is now poised to clinch the top-scorer crown.

He is level on three goals with four other strikers from eliminated squads, and looks to stay ahead of Spaniards Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres, all trailing him on two, in Sunday's final.

Italy and holders Spain have already met, drawing 1-1 in the group stage of the tournament on June 10.

Rivalling for praise with Super Mario was coach Cesare Prandelli, whose tactics against Germany were “a masterpiece,” according to commentator Massimo Mauro.

“Is this the same Italy that Prandelli two years ago took over (from Marcello Lippi) after the ruins of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?” wondered Fabrizio Bocca, writing like Mauro in La Repubblica.

Bocca said that the game in Warsaw was the Azzurri's best since they lifted the 2006 World Cup.

Most media focussed on Italy's unbeaten record in official games against Germany, which now stands at four wins and four draws.

Germany boast three European titles and as many world ones, while Italy lifted four World Cups and hope to win a second continental one after a triumph in 1968.

Germany endures another Italy nightmare; Loew's tactics questioned

Germans woke up from another Italian nightmare on Friday to consoling words from national icon Franz Beckenbauer and critical questions directed at coach Joachim Loew.

Beckenbauer said in his column for the Bild paper he believed the team "was ready for a first title in 16 years since the Euro 1996 success in England" but that one should not question everything after Thursday's 2-1 semi-final defeat against Italy.  

   "You should not forget that the semi-finals aren't nothing. Other big football nations such as England, France and Holland would have loved to have been there," Beckenbauer said.

   Beckenbauer, who won Euro 1972 and the 1974 World Cup as a player and the 1990 World Cup as a coach, said Germany played below par especially in the first half after winning the first four games of the tournament in commanding fashion.

   "The (first) 45 minutes were deeply disappointing. This was not the true German team. The team appeared lifeless at times. Instead of applying pressure with a fast-paced game they let the opponent act in midfield," Beckenbauer said.

Italy led 2-0 from Mario Balotelli's double after defensive mistakes as Germany failed to control the game even though Loew had fielded Toni Kroos as an additional midfielder. The move backfired and the return of Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez was also to no avail.

   Loew made amends after the break by bringing the lively Marco Reus and forward Miroslav Klose. Germany improved but only got a late consolation goal from Mesut Oezil as they failed yet again to beat Italy in a competitive game.

   "We showed too much respect. The talk of the Italy curse appeared to paralyse the players," Beckenbauer said.

   "I don't want to blame it on the changes of Jogi Loew, even though he corrected his decision at half-time by bringing on Marco Reus."

   Others were more blunt.

"Coach Joachim Loew, who preached that his team wanted to enforce its usual game in this semi-final as well, prepared himself and the players for this good, skilful and clever opponent in an extreme way.

   "He based his line-up on the personnel and the game of the Azzuri, he changed the line-up of his team and its tactics in a major way - and lost the gamble," Kicker sports magazine said in an editorial on its website.

   The Suedeeutsche Zeitung (SZ) struck a similar note but went one step further, questioning Loew's ability to motivate players in deciding matches - following defeats to Spain in the Euro 2008 final and 2010 World Cup semis, and a semi-final defeat against Italy at the 2006 World Cup when he was Juergen Klinsmann's assistant.

   "Loew is a conscientious football expert, a developer. But is a competition type? One for titles?" the SZ asked.

   "Why doesn't Loew manage to get something thrilling out of his squad in deciding moments."

  A national Euro record of almost 28 million Germans watched the game from warsaw on TV, with an estimate five million Germans alone going home in shock from the various fan-zones as the title dream had to be postponed again - to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

   The team was due to return to Germany later Friday in quiet fashion instead of bringing home the trophy on Monday as Bild simply titled "Finito" and marked out the word "Final."

Hodgson hits back over Rooney

Capellor on Italian radio this week, claiming he does not understand English and only plays well for Manchester United, not his country.

Rooney, who was suspended for the first two games of the tournament, was visibly short of his best in the two matches he did play, including the quarter-final exit to Italy.

Although the frontman did score his first goal at a major tournament since Euro 2004 - a point-blank header against Ukraine in the final group match - he has often struggled to influence matches for England in the way he regularly does at club level.

But Hodgson was unimpressed by Capello's appraisal and has hit back at his predecessor, insisting Rooney's attitude in Poland and Ukraine was faultless.

Magpies in Twente talks

Newcastle have already seen one bid of €10million (£8million) for de Jong rejected by Twente and they have now reported to upped that to €12million (£10milion).

However, sources close to the deal have confirmed to Sky Sportsthat Twente are standing firm over de Jong and want in excess of €15million for the Dutch international striker.

Despite their stance, Newcastle have dispatched a delegation of managing Derek Lambias and secretary Lee Charnley to Holland to open talks with the Eredivisie club with the hope of striking a deal.

De Jong is their main point of interest, but it is also believed they will continue talks over Brazilian-born defender Douglas, who has been on their radar for a number of months.

Newcastle are pushing hard for De Jong with German side Borussia Monchengladbach also very keen, although reports suggesting they have already sealed a deal have been dismissed by Twente.

Mario hails 'greatest night'

The Manchester City frontman enjoyed an impressive evening in Warsaw, firing two first-half goals past the Germans to inspire a 2-1 Azzurri win.

Cesare Prandelli's men will now go up against defending champions Spain in Sunday's final in Kiev and Balotelli is keen to make that night even more memorable.

The delighted striker said after Thursday's triumph: "This is the greatest night of my life but I hope Sunday is going to be even better."

Luck

While Balotelli scored against Republic of Ireland in the group stage, the striker was criticized for wasting numerous chances against Spain, Croatia and England.

The young Italian admits luck was not on his side in earlier games, adding: "In the opening matches I had a lot of chances, and I wasn't able to finish them. But In football you also need luck."

Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio believes his side have proved they have nothing to fear ahead of Sunday's decider.

"We showed we're on Spain's level and that's where we started this run," he said.

"It's no longer a question of fear. Now we've got to pull out everything we still have inside ourselves."

Spurs set to land Sigurdsson

The Hoffenheim midfielder is reported to have already agreed terms with the White Hart Lane club and passed a medical prior to putting pen to paper.

Sigurdsson is set to become the first new signing for Andre Villas-Boas, with the former Chelsea boss the red-hot favourite to be appointed as Harry Redknapp's replacement in the coming days.

The 22-year-old former Reading man joined Swansea on loan in January and made an instant impact with a number of impressive goal-scoring displays in the Premier League.

He was expected to complete a permanent switch to the Liberty Stadium only for the deal to be thrown into doubt when manager Brendan Rodgers departed for Liverpool.

The Reds were also keen to lure Sigurdsson to Anfield, only for Spurs to steal a march on their Premier League rivals.

Despite no manager being in place in north London following the shock departure of Redknapp, Spurs look set to win the race for Sigurdsson, who cost Hoffenheim £6million when he moved to the Bundesliga two years ago.

Euro 2012 Fantasy Football

When international tournaments arrive, the job of a fantasy football manager gets that much harder. In the main, this is because there's no real way to compare the expected performances of a team in advance. Of course, we can take the sum of its parts, namely the players, but will they perform the same way they do in their respective leagues? How do you compare leagues? Can we safely say that good performers in the Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga are equal? Looking at the time it takes transferred players to the Premier League to adjust, I would say not.

In many ways, the place to start with all fantasy games is the scoring criteria and the rules. These constraints should govern about 90% of your approach to player selection.

For the UEFA / McDonalds Euro 2012 game, there are three key rules for choosing your first team. The first is that you can only have 2 players from each team, the second is that you get to change your team in its entirety at the end of Matchday 3 and your third is that you are restricted to one free transfer for each of the first 3 "Matchdays".

This means in essence that your best strategy is to look at the teams that have the best chance of success over the three days without concerning yourself too much on who will progress past the initial stages.

Using an un-named bookmaking site, I have created a list of the total odds on each teams success through the first three matchdays. The results are:

Spain 4.65
Germany 5.37
England 6.07
Russia 6.47
Netherlands 6.73
France 6.77
Poland 7
Italy 7.37
Czech 8.14
Ukraine 8.5
Portugal 9.13
Greece 9.9
Sweden 10.25
Croatia 13.6
ROI 13.75
Denmark 15

If I work through the figures a little further, it comes to light that there are 8 teams that figure in the top 8 for each "Matchday" either twice or three times, they are (in order): Spain, Germany, England, Russia, Netherlands, France, Italy & Czech Republic. As some teams have a greater chance of success in any given week, I would suggest the following approach to team selection - Matchday 1:

2 each from Spain, Germany, England, Russia, Netherlands, France and Italy; 1 from Poland.

Matchday 2:
Sell Polish player, buy Portuguese player

Matchday 3
Sell Portuguese player, purchase Czech player.

This approach should bring you the optimum initial team but beware, the bookmakers dont always get it right so be ready to adjust your strategy if a team plays markedly better or worse than anticipated.

I'll return shortly with the second of my guides, detailing how to use the scoring restrictions to pick the perfect players for your Euro 2012 Fantasy Football Team.

De Jong will cost 'stupid money'

Newcastle are understood to have failed in an initial £8million bid for De Jong earlier in June and Twente boss McClaren remains unwilling to sell.

The former Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest manager is quoted as telling Dutch media: "Luuk de Jong would stay if it were up to me - unless stupid money is offered.

"The club know what I think about it."

It has in the past been reported Twente value De Jong at closer to at least £12.5m so it remains to be seen whether Newcastle are prepared to meet that asking price.

Magpies boss Alan Pardew had in January shown interest in the 21-year-old, who was an unused member of Holland's disappointing Euro 2012 squad, but he instead decided to bring in Papiss Cisse from Freiburg.

De Jong has also been linked with Tottenham, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund after scoring 39 goals in 76 games for Twente.

Pogrebnyak agrees Reading terms

Royals boss Brian McDermott revealed earlier this week a deal for Pogrebnyak had been struck.

And after the player passed his medical, Reading say they anticipate the deal to be completed in the coming days.

"Reading football club has agreed terms with Pavel Pogrebnyak to join the club," read a statement on their official website.

"The player has already completed a medical and the deal is now only subject to the player obtaining a UK work permit.

Four-year deal

"Reading football club anticipate completing the signing within the next seven days."

Pogrebnyak is out of contract this summer and it has been reported Premier League new boys Reading had offered him a four-year deal worth around £65,000 a week.

The 28-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Fulham from German side Stuttgart, netting six goals in 12 appearances, but he rejected the offer of a permanent deal with the Cottagers.

Confirmation of the deal comes a day after Reading secured the signing of midfielder Danny Guthrie on a three-year contract.

The 25-year-old former Newcastle player completed his medical on Friday and will formally complete the move on Sunday.

Platini proposes Euro revamp

Turkey had been favourites to host the event but their bid has hit difficulties due to a desire to host the Olympic Games in Istanbul in the same year.

And Platini has confirmed a radical alternative is now being considered, which could lead to the tournament being staged in more than one or two countries.

"The Euros in 2020 could be held all over Europe," said Platini.

"It could be either one country and 12 stadiums or one stadium in 12 or 13 cities.

"The Euros in 2020 could be held all over Europe. It could be either one country and 12 stadiums or one stadium in 12 or 13 cities. "
Michel PlatiniQuotes of the week

"It's an idea I feel really passionate about. It will be a lot easier from a financial perspective."

Platini confirmed a final decision would be taken in January or February next year, saying: "This matter will be discussed very seriously."

As well as Turkey, there had also been talk about a three-pronged Celtic bid from Scotland, Wales and Republic of Ireland.

Great debate

Platini continued: "We are not going to wait until we know whether Turkey are going to get the Olympics.

"It creates a problem for us. We do have other candidates.

"Everyone has the possibility to host it.

"It is easier to go from London to Paris or Berlin than Cardiff to Gdansk.

"It would be four games per venue. It is a great debate.

"We are just thinking about it. I have said 12 or 13 host cities, it could be 24 or 32.

"We wouldn't have to build stadiums or airports. That could be important in an economic crisis."