EURO 2012

…23, 2011.

During a league match, defender of Chelsea London, using obscene and racist vocabulary, should have offended Rio Ferdinand’s brother – Anton, a footballer playing for Queens Park Rangers. That incident was disclosed, because it had been recorded by cameras.

There are two debutants in the squad – Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy and club mate of Wojciech Szczęsny from Arsenal London – midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Prior to Euro 2012 England’s team is going on May 21…

Ernie Els, 50/1 with bet365 to win the tournament, is determined to try and improve on a poor record at The Players Championship at Sawgrass.

Els has finished in the top ten on only four occasions in his 18 appearances at the self-styled ‘fifth Major’, but believes that his game is starting to come good again, with the South African having recently lost out to Jason Dufner in a play-off at the Zurich Classic.
The three-time Major winner told the PGA Tour website: “It will be my 19th …

… that the enigmatic striker will be in the Italian squad.

Balotelli’s place at the tournament was thought to be in major doubt after he was excluded from the squad to face USA in a friendly back in February due to his decidedly dodgy disciplinary record in the Premier League.

It is a facet of his game which Super Mario has hardly improved upon in the intervening months – his moments of madness in the recent defeat to Arsenal being a case in point – but Prandelli indicated that he is …

Iker Casillas, Spain national team goalkeeper, equaled the world record of Dutchman Edwin van der Sar in the number of matches without a goal. The … after Wednesday’s triumph the 30-year-old Casillas needs only one victory to reach the record of Lilian Thuram, who in the matches with France gain victory 94 times in 142 … 2004 and World Cups in South Korea and Japan in 2002 and Germany in 2006.

The record of played matches belonging to the legendary Andoni Zubizaretta (126) was improved in mid-…

…of players that are very talented and if on form, should be a good bet to register a second success at the European Championships. Germany are always going to be a huge threat and look guaranteed to make it to the last four given their impressive record in major tournaments.

Spain
3.50
3.25
3.50
3.40
3.5
3.5

Germany
4.00
4.00
4.00
3.75
4.33
3.90

Netherlands
8.50
8.00
8.00
8.00
8.00
8.00

England
10.00
9…

… on maintaining his side’s title challenge, despite the possibility he could help relegate his former club Wolves this weekend.

City need to beat the league’s bottom side in order to keep the pressure on Manchester United and are 13/2 with bet365 to record a 3-0 victory over Terry Connor’s men.
Lescott came through the Wolves ranks and is fondly remembered by the Molineux faithful, but will not allow sentiment to distract him from the task at hand.
The England defender said: “After the …

…: “We know what Barcelona are about and that we have to be on our game. We’re confident and feel we’re good enough to progress.
“With teams like Barca, we think we know how to stop them.”
Chelsea will be hoping to improve on a record which has seen them win only one of their previous five semi-final ties, that success coming in 2007/08 against Liverpool.
The Blues were denied a first-ever Champions League success in the final that season as they lost a Moscow penalty shootout to Manchester …

… 1972, having made three victories in this event.

In the last three major events, Germany took the places at the podium but never once stood on the top step. The German team, third in the FIFA ranking, in qualifying for Euro 2012 has recorded 10 victories in 10 matches scoring 34 goals and losing only seven.

The top scorer and also the largest terror for goalkeepers at the tournament in Poland and Ukraine was the duo of strikers, Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez, the authors of nine and …

The representation of Portugal, the seventh in the FIFA ranking, will compete for the title of the European Champion in football for the sixth time. In 2004, as the hosts of the tournament they recorded their best score in this event. They reached the final where they couldn’t cope with the Greece.

Paulo Bento team barely qualified for the main event until the playoffs where they won by beating Bosnia and Herzegovina in the two-legged tie up to 6:2. The Portuguese play alternately in the …

Lee Westwood is determined to improve his putting before the US Open in June after recording another Major near-miss at The Masters.

The world number three, who is 10/1 with bet365 to win the British Open, tied for third place at Augusta with a final-round 68.
Westwood finished the tournament only two shots behind winner Bubba Watson but was left to rue a series of missed short putts.
“The story of the week is you have got to putt well to win The Masters and I haven’t,” he admitted.
“I didn…