International friendly preview: France v Estonia

France will complete their Euro 2012 preparations with a friendly game against Estonia in Le Mans on Tuesday.

Should France avoid defeat at the MMArena, as is widely expected, they will head into the European Championships unbeaten in 21 matches.

Laurent Blanc’s side have won 14 of their last 20 games, overcoming the likes of England, Brazil and Germany in the process.

Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery and Chelsea’s Florent Malouda scored inside the opening 16 minutes as France outclassed Serbia 2-0 in their most recent outing last week.

Blanc, who is leading France into a major tournament for the first time, is likely to persist with Ribery, Samir Nasri and Karim Benzema up front against Estonia.

“We’re looking for perfection, but that doesn’t exist,” Blanc told TF1.

“We were in better physical shape (against Serbia), but we’re not yet ready.

“We knew the three attackers – Ribery, Nasri and Benzema – had the technical and the individual quality, but they had to prove they could play together.

“They showed they can. They showed the right attitude and I hope it continues.

“Physically, we’ll be in even better condition against Estonia in our third and final preparation match.”

France face England, Sweden and hosts Ukraine in Group D at Euro 2012, with their opening match against Roy Hodgson’s men in Donetsk on June 11.

Estonia, 54th in the FIFA rankings, head to Le Mans on the back of outings against Finland and Lithuania in the biannual Baltic Cup last weekend.

Tarmo Ruutli’s men were defeated 2-1 by Finland on Friday before overcoming Lithuania 1-0 on Sunday.

Striker Vladimir Voskoboinikov, who netted in the win over Lithuania, is likely to be a threat, but France should be too strong as they look to continue their excellent run of form.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/international-friendly-preview-france-v-estonia/95884/

Final warm-ups for Euro 2012 trio World Soccer Shop

Ukraine meet Turkey in a Euro 2012 warm-up match in Ingolstadt on Tuesday, France host Estonia in Le Mans and Sweden face Serbia in Stockholm.

Shevchenko: Gearing up for Euro 2012

Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko believes the national team can go all the way to the final of Euro 2012 as they prepare for their last game before the tournament kicks off.

The 35-year-old has 107 international caps and is arguably the most well-known Ukrainian footballer of all time.

The final of the European Championships will be held at Kiev's Olympic Stadium on July 1, and Shevchenko reckons Oleh Blokhin's side can get there.

"If we show our quality and have a bit of luck, we can reach the final," he said. "I understand that will be extremely difficult, but you only get one chance to make history."

The former AC Milan and Chelsea forward revealed the thought of participating in a major European competition on home soil has kept him playing for longer than he expected - even if he now knows his own limitations.

He said: "For the last five years, I've hardly thought about anything but the European Championships that will be held in my country. It's fair to say this has extended my career. It's my dream.

"I need more time for rehabilitation. That's natural. If I'm not completely fit, I don't want to play and let down the fans. I want to do what's best for the side."

Turkey v Ukraine kicks off at 7pm BST at the Audi Sportpark in Ingolstadt.

France face Estonia in their final match before they open their tournament against England next Monday, but former Les Bleus star Christophe Dugarry believes manager and former team-mate Laurent Blanc has his work cut out to achieve success in Poland and Ukraine.

"Today picking the France team is still very complicated," the Euro 2000 winner told L'Equipe. "When you see who is absent, the players who had an average season and those few who have had a good season and are 100% mentally and physically - if there are 10, that is the maximum.

"Laurent Blanc, is a coach, not a magician - he does what he can."

Kick-off at the MMArena in Le Mans is at 8pm BST.

Meanwhile, France's Group D opponents Sweden host Serbia in their final warm-up game and head coach Erik Hamren has claimed a number of his squad are struggling with fatigue.

"Swedish football should stop and think if what they are doing is the right thing," he said.

"And if this is the way you want to run things, then you are giving your players very little chance to win. This, for me as national-team coach, is unacceptable."

Sweden's national league runs between March and November and therefore will take a break for the duration of the Championships.

Their talismanic captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic has claimed winning the tournament would eclipse anything he achieves with club side AC Milan.

He said: "For me, perhaps, winning the European Championship would be of more value than all the titles I have won to date."

"Winning with one's own country is special. It is an honour to play for one's national team. It would be fantastic to win with this shirt and then return home to celebrate with the fans."

Kick-off at the Rasunda Stadium is at 6pm BST.

Elsewhere, Austria host Romania and Kazakhstan travel to Armenia.

Source : http://soccer365.com//news/european_news/general/17758/final_warm_ups_for_euro_2012_trio

Ukraine ease past Estonia World Soccer Shop

Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine continued their preparations for the tournament with a 4-0 friendly victory over Estonia in Austria on Monday.

Yarmolenko: Got Ukraine underway

First-half goals from Andriy Yarmolenko, Oleg Gusev (penalty) and Andriy Voronin had the game wrapped up before the interval, with substitute Artem Milevskiy adding gloss to the scoreline within five minutes of the restart.

The triumph was a fifth in six games for Oleg Blokhin's side, who have had only friendlies to fine-tune plans for their Euro 2012 opener against Sweden on June 11 due to not having had to qualify.

The Ukrainians asserted their authority from the outset at Kufstein Arena and almost went ahead in the first minute, when Yevgen Konoplianka's left-footed blast was parried by Estonia goalkeeper Mihkel Aksalu.

They did not have to wait long to go ahead, though, as Yarmolenko latched onto Serhiy Nazarenko's pass eight minutes later and lashed an unstoppable shot into the top-right corner.

Estonia, who only missed out on a place in Poland and Ukraine in a play-off against Republic of Ireland, offered little as an attacking force and Aksalu continued to be much the busier of the two keepers as the match wore on.

He did well to keep out a Nazarenko drive in the 30th minute but was powerless to keep out Gusev's spot-kick four minutes later after Yarmolenko had been fouled by Ragnar Klavan.

Marko Devic was also denied soon after, Aksalu tipping his effort around the post, before Voronin headed home Devic's cross four minutes before half-time.

Both sides made four substitutions at the break and two of Ukraine's replacements wasted little time making their impact in the second half, Milevskiy slotting his close-range shot into the bottom-left corner from Andriy Shevchenko's pass in the 50th minute.

Ukraine goalkeeper Andrei Pyatov was finally called into action three minutes later to tip a powerful attempt from Tarmo Kink over the bar, but that was as good as it got for Estonia.

Source : http://soccer365.com//news/european_news/general/17329/ukraine_ease_past_estonia

International friendly: Ukraine 4 Estonia 0

Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine put in an impressive display to thrash Estonia 4-0 in an international friendly on Monday.

Oleh Blokhin’s men poured forward at every opportunity and opened up Estonia’s defence with ease, netting three times in the first half in Kufstein, Austria.

Ukraine, whose quality has been questioned ahead of the European championships, netted through Andriy Yarmolenko, Oleh Husyev and Andriy Voronin, before Artem Milevskiy completed the scoring early in the second half.

The hosts took the lead in the ninth minute when Yarmolenko burst into the penalty area and hammered Serhiy Nazarenko’s cutback into the top corner.

Yarmolenko also played a part in Ukraine’s second goal, fouled in the box by Estonia captain Ragnar Klavan in the 34th minute.

Husyev sent goalkeeper Mihkel Aksalu the wrong way to score from the spot.

Ukraine took a 3-0 lead into half-time thanks to a goal from former Liverpool forward Voronin four minutes before the break.

The home side again attacked down the right with Marko Devic providing the overlapping run, and Aksalu could only parry the attacker’s cross, leaving Voronin to head home.

Estonia’s chances of getting back into the game were ended just five minutes into the second half.

Andriy Shevchenko, who came on at the start of the second half, collected the ball on the right side of the area and twisted past two defenders, before setting up fellow substitute Milevskiy for a simple tap in.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/international-friendly-ukraine-4-estonia-0/95417/