Stuttering Spain held Ukraine hope to surprise Sweden to draw by slick Italy in group opener
SPAIN’S bid to become the first team to win three successive major international titles began in unconvincing fashion after Italy repelled Iberian flair with Latin artistry to earn a 1-1 draw at Euro 2012 yesterday.
With both sides probably happy to emerge with a point apiece from their Group C opener, Croatia then boosted their hopes of challenging for a quarter-final place by beating Ireland 3-1 in the Polish city of Poznan.
Spain, the clear tournament favourites after mesmerising opponents to become European champions in 2008 and then world champions two years ago, saw their run of 14 straight wins in competitive matches end in their heavyweight clash in Gdansk.
Midfielder Cesc Fabregas soon quietened Italian celebrations after substitute Antonio Di Natale’s goal on the hour, hammering in a 64th minute equaliser, but it failed to spark Spain into life.
They struggled to get into gear as a vibrant and well-organised Italy, showing they can never be discounted when major tournaments come around after successive defeats in three warm-up friendlies, mixed resolute defence with moments of flair.
Despite dominating possession and having almost double the number of goal attempts, Spain lacked a knockout punch.
Vicente del Bosque faced questions as to why he started without a striker and left Fernando Torres kicking his heels on the bench for three-quarters of the game, but the coach took umbrage with the pitch, rather than his team.
“A pitch that is so dry does not do football or the spectators many favours,” he said. “If the pitch had been a bit quicker it would have been better for both teams and a better match.”
Del Bosque will hardly panic at failing to make a winning start. Spain were stunned 1-0 by Switzerland in their 2010 World Cup opener before going on to win the trophy for the first time.
Italy, fielding a three-man defence well marshalled by Daniele De Rossi, who was switched from his usual midfield role, were good value for their opening point.
It comes as a huge boost to coach Cesare Prandelli, who will take satisfaction from what proved to be an astute substitution, Di Natale finishing clinically from Andrea Pirlo’s pass just minutes after replacing the ineffective Mario Balotelli.
Croatia made a flying start to their campaign after an offbalance Mario Mandzukic headed Slaven Bilic’s side ahead after three minutes.
Sean St Ledger headed Ireland level in the 19th but Croatia regained the lead three minutes before the break when Nikica Jelavic prodded past goalkeeper Shay Given.
Ireland were rocked again at the start of the second half when Mandzukic’s header hit the post and ricocheted against the hapless Given’s head and into the net.
Croatia could be in trouble after their fans celebrated their second goal by letting off firecrackers and flares.
Earlier, Croatian fans threw chairs, bottles and flares at Polish riot police before the game with three people arrested after the incident in Poznan’s old town square.
Fourteen fans were also detained in Poznan on Saturday night after police broke up a fight.
There was also minor trouble in Wroclaw with two Russia fans issued with a ban on taking part in mass events after they were detained before Russia’s match with the Czech Republic on Friday.
Russia’s football federation urged their fans in Poland to behave after some threw fireworks and displayed illicit banners during the Group A game.
Uefa opened disciplinary proceedings yesterday against the German (DFB) and Portuguese (FPF) Football Associations following the Group B match a day earlier in Lviv, which Germany won 1-0.
Uefa charged the DFB after German fans threw what appeared to be rolled up pieces of paper at Portuguese players in the first half. Uefa said Portugal faced proceedings for a “delayed kick-off to the second half”. – Reuters KIEV: Despite a shaky-looking defence in recent friendlies, Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin believes he has found the right strategy to play Sweden tonight in the co-host’s opening match at Euro 2012.
Blokhin said yesterday he had already chosen his starting line-up, one day before Ukraine’s first appearance at the competition.
He declined to give names, but indicated only four players present during Ukraine’s 1-0 loss to Sweden last August would start against the same opponents again.
“So you can’t compare these matches even if Sweden won’t have changed their style of play,” Blokhin said.
Since his appointment 14 months ago, the former Soviet Union standout striker has been searching for a well-tuned team – a task which looked far from impossible with nine players in the 23-man Euro 2012 squad having played together all year at Dynamo Kiev.
He said veterans such as Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Andriy Shevchenko must guide the young talents.
“They should show the example,” Blokhin said. “Our young players sometimes want to do more than they can… And they are very hungry now. They don’t want to wait any more to start the tournament. I have to calm down my players.”
Blokhin underlined his ongoing quest for a well-balanced team by using all 23 players in the last three warm-up games against Estonia, Austria and Turkey, with just Yevhen Konoplyanka and Marko Devic starting in all three.
Ukraine swept away Estonia 4-0 but were far less impressive against an injury-plagued Austria four days later, conceding three goals in a 3-2 defeat. Things worsened when Turkey outplayed Ukraine for a deserved 2-0 victory last week.
Some substitutions for the Turkey game were unplanned but unavoidable as 10 players fell ill before the match after eating a bad salad at a German hotel, leaving some unable to play, according to Blokhin.
Ukraine’s defensive worries are not new, Blokhin acknowledged in an interview with the online Ukraine 2012 magazine.
“We have problems related to both the central defenders and fullbacks,” Blokhin said, adding that these troubles “have lasted since 2006”.
Blokhin said “our defenders do not even tackle properly… They do not demonstrate the necessary level here.”
Not the ideal prospect when playing an opponent that has star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front.
“Ibrahimovic is a great player, one of the best in the world. He is in good shape,” Tymoshchuk said. “But we are not going to concentrate on just Ibrahimovic. We look at Sweden as a team, not as individual players.”
Blokhin agreed with the opinion of the defensive midfielder, arguably his key player in tonight’s game.
“If someone thinks (Sweden) is only Ibrahimovic, he is wrong,” Blokhin said. “They have (Johan) Elmander, (Kim) Kallstrom, good midfielders, experienced defenders. As a whole, it’s a good team.”
Veteran striker Shevchenko, who is playing his last tournament for the national team, said Ukraine would not focus on defence too much.
“We have to score,” said Shevchenko, Ukraine’s all-time top scorer with 46 goals.
“For our team, it is important to be balanced. There is no favourite in this game.” – SapaAP