International friendly: Hungary 0 Republic of Ireland 0

A resolute performance from the Republic of Ireland earned them a 0-0 draw against Hungary in their final warm-up match before Euro 2012.

An open game saw both sides create chances but the finishing – most notably from Hungary’s Adam Szalai and Ireland’s Jon Walters – left much to be desired.

With rain pouring down in Budapest the kick-off was delayed but 15 minutes, but when play did get underway it was Ireland who started the better, with John O’Shea heading narrowly over.

Bolton and Hungary goalkeeper Adam Bogdan produced several good saves in the opening half-hour, and Szalai should have given his side the lead on 35 minutes.

A cross from the left caught out Richard Dunne following a slip but, after controlling well, Szalai could only strike tamely at Shay Given.

Keiren Westwood, introduced at half-time, kept Ireland in the game with a tremendous save in the 54th minute, diving low to stop an effort deflected towards goal by Szalai.

Simon Cox and Stephen Hunt came on and both almost played their parts in giving Ireland the lead with two opportunities for the away side on the counter-attack.

Both teams squandered further chances as the game at Ferenc Puskas Stadium ended in a draw.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland face Croatia on June 10 in their first game of Euro 2012, before clashes against Spain and Italy in Group C.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/international-friendly-hungary-0-republic-of-ireland-0/95871/

Bierhoff pleased with Germany progress

German team manager Oliver Bierhoff was happy with his side’s final preparations for Euro 2012 after a 2-0 win over Israel on Thursday.

Mindful of sides that may set up with a similar defensive approach at the tournament, a full-strength Germany showed patience to break through with goals from Mario Gomez and Andre Schurrle.

“I thought that the second half was good, we held the pace high, had good plays and found better ways to attack,” Bierhoff said.

“For example the second goal by Andre Schrrle, I thought Thomas Muller did wonderfully there. We showed at the end how to get through a solid defence like that.

“The Isrealis didn’t make it easy for us, they positioned themselves deep in their own half and we know that at the Euros you may have to play against a team which plays like that.”

Bierhoff could not resist taking a shot at Chelsea after their Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich.

“It was good preparation, maybe the school of Chelsea becomes more popular because of their success,” the ex-German international said, referring to the west London side’s defence-minded approach.

“So we have to expect that many teams will play defensively-minded against us.”

Attacking midfielder Toni Kroos, almost a certainty to line up against Germany’s first Group B opponents, Portugal, was pleased with the amount of chances his side created.

“In the second half we should have scored a few more goals, which also means that we created a lot of good chances,” Kroos said.

“We have to work on that. We have to use the chances and when we do that, I think we are in with a really good chance of winning.”

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/bierhoff-pleased-with-germany-progress/95618/