EURO 2012

… well respected. His biggest strength will be his honesty. Whatever he says on TV he would be prepared to say to a player’s face in the changing room.”
England have been drawn in Group D for the finals, where they will face France, Sweden and co-hosts Ukraine, while their path to the latter stages appears to be tough.
In the last eight, if they qualify, they will take on either the winners or the runners-up from Group C, which features holders Spain, Italy, Croatia and the Republic of Ireland.

… Chelsea on Saturday evening.

The German outfit, 4/9 with bet365 to lift the trophy in their own Allianz Arena, go into the game as slight favourites, but Ribery is wary that at 29 years of age, this might be his last chance of success in …I can win the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal again in future, but it is harder to win the Champions League.”
Bayern go into the game shorn of the services of banned trio David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo, while Chelsea will miss John Terry, Branislav …

… (ankle) and Ravi Rampaul (neck) both struggled during the recent defeat to the England Lions in Northampton, while Fidel Edwards is currently being troubled by a back problem.
This means inexperienced duo Shannon Gabriel and Assad Fudadin could be handed Test debuts in a game the tourists are 9/1 with bet365 to win, while the draw is available at 14/5.
Windies coach Ottis Gibson said: “Kemar Roach has twisted his left foot while Ravi Rampaul woke up with a stiff neck.
“We have to be a little…

…the matches are probably thinking of nothing else.

For those that haven’t managed to get any tickets to the live games, however, help is at hand from those nice folk at talkSPORT Radio and talkSPORT.co.uk.

Both online and on-air, talkSPORT will be providing live match commentary of every game at Euro 2012, with expert analysis from some of the game’s leading names including Andy Gray, Stan Collymore, Ray Parlour and Matt Holland.

You won’t miss a minute…

…Powell is unsure what conditions to expect at Lord’s when the first Test between West Indies and England starts on Thursday.

Ball has dominated bat at the ground in County Championship matches so far this season but Powell is in good form having scored 108 in the warm-up game against the England Lions.
England are 8/15 with bet365 to win the first Test, while the tourists can be backed at 15/2 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
“We could turn up at Lord’s and the wicket be dry and bouncy, you…

Chris Smalling will not feature for England at Euro 2012 after picking up a groin injury during Manchester United’s recent victory against Swansea City.

The 22-year-old former Fulham defender will play no part in Sunday’s final Premier League game of the campaign at Sunderland, a match United are 10/1 with bet365 to win.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed: “Chris has suffered a bad injury. It is a groin muscle injury and he will miss the European Championships.
“We are assessing what to…

… for life in the Championship.

The 44-year-old Norwegian will take up his post from 1st July, with interim manager Terry Connor, who is expected to stay on at Molineux in a coaching capacity, set to lead the team for the final time in their game against Wigan Athletic on Sunday.
Wolves are 6/1 with bet365 to keep a clean sheet at the DW Stadium and are 7/2 to make an immediate return to the Premier League next term.
Solbakken led FC Copenhagen to five Danish titles between 2006 and 2011 …

Poland’s debut at the European Championship four years ago ended in disappointment: three games, zero wins.

The Poles have shaken things up since then – they’ve hired a new coach, revamped much of the squad and uncovered a trio of players who have found success in one of Europe’s toughest leagues. As co-host of Euro 2012, Poland is hoping the changes make a difference when they take on Russia, Greece and the Czech Republic in Group A.

”It is our goal to advance from the group and I am…

…’s European Championships.

Hodgson will unveil his preliminary squad for the championships next Wednesday and has something of an attacking headache ahead of the opening game against France, which England are 13/8 to win with bet365.
Wayne Rooney is banned for the first two games and Carroll is one of a number of players hoping to stake a claim for a place up front. The Liverpool striker has been impressive…

… said: “It’s tough isn’t it? I think the last three times they’ve played us, they’ve beaten us here. They’re a good side and they play in a certain way but they’ve always played very well against us.
“If we play as well as we can, I’m confident we can beat anybody, but Saracens will be a huge test for us. They’re a very physical and combative side with very good players, so it will be close. It will hinge on the simple things in the game and they may play differently to us, but we will see.”