Russia Beats Czech Republic By 4-1 On Match-Day 1

The Match was too easy for Russian's As they easily Beat Czech Republic by 4-1 and has got a flying start in Group A.Russia's tournament got off to a flier in Wroclaw, western Poland, as Alan Dzagoev put them in front on 15 minutes, blasting in from the edge of the box after Aleksandr Kerzhakov saw a close-range header rebound off the post.A neat finish from Roman Shirokov nine minutes later doubled the lead, despite the Czechs looking the livelier in the opening exchanges.The Czechs pulled one back seven minutes after the restart when Vaclav Pilar beat the offside trap, sidestepped the goalkeeper and slid the ball home following a through ball from Jaroslav Plasil.But Dzagoev made it 3-1 in netting a fine right-footed strike after being played in by substitute and former Tottenham star Roman Pavlyuchenko, who promptly smacked in a magnificent fourth for the 2008 semifinalists with eight minutes remaining.Russia's emphatic win put them top of Group A, with Dick Advocaat's men taking on the hosts in Warsaw and the Czechs playing Greece in Wroclaw, both on Tuesday.The final countdown to the start of Euro 2012, though, was overshadowed by claims that fans racially abused the Netherlands team with monkey chants during a training session on Wednesday.Dutch skipper Mark van Bommel said in an interview published in De Telegraaf newspaper that the Oranje were forced to train away from the 25 000 fans who had turned up to watch in Krakow, southern Poland."We all heard the monkey chants," he was quoted as saying. "We can't accept that. We reacted well and the situation was sorted."During the tournament, if any one of us is confronted with such a thing, we'll immediately go to the referee to ask him to intervene," added van Bommel, who faces Denmark with his teammates in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday.Van Bommel's comments come despite a senior Uefa official previously denying there had been any racist chants and an angry response to a BBC programme last month which claimed far-right gangs were rife in Polish and Ukrainian football.Poland, Ukraine and Uefa president Michel Platini have all tried to play down fears of racist incidents, which prompted the families of two black England players to say they would not be travelling to watch the tournament.His organisation said on Friday that it was now aware of racist incidents, although it had not received any formal complaint from the Dutch football federation.

The 1st Match Of Euro 2012 Ends up With 1-1 Draw

Lewandowski First Scored The opening goal Of Euro 2012 In 17th minute for Poland By Header Crossed By Blaszczykowski.Greece's task then got even harder shortly before the interval when Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent-off for two harsh yellow cards, the second after Rafal Murawski fell to the ground.But the 2004 champions equalised on 51 minutes when substitute Dimitris Salpingidis scored from close range after Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny misjudged Vassilis Torosidis' right-wing cross.Szczesny's night then got even worse when he caught Salpingidis as he was through on goal and was rightly sent-off in the 69th minute.But replacement keeper Przemyslaw Tyton saved low to his left to deny Greek skipper Giorgos Karagounis from the subsequent spot-kick as the Group A opener in the National Stadiumended all-square.Poland will be kicking themselves, however, after throwing it away having gone in at half-time with a one-goal lead and with Greece down to ten men.The Poles, who began the game with swaggering intent in front of their home fans, had dominated the first half.It was no surprise when Lewandowski gave them the perfect start after 17 minutes, although the goal had as much to do with the poor positioning of Greek goalkeeper Chalkias as the sharpness of Lewandowski.Chalkias found himself flapping his arms in no man's land to leave the Borussia Dortmundstriker, who scored a hat-trick in the German Cup final last month, to head home a swinging cross from Blaszczykowski.They were hungrier, quicker to the ball and seemingly desperate to prove that while they are the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, they have a realistic chance of reaching the quarter-finals at least.In that 45 minutes the Greeks looked a shadow of the organised side who had gained a reputation for being tough to beat, having lost just one of 21 games under manager Fernando Santos.In fact, the Poles would have been kicking themselves that they were not further ahead at half-time after Rafal Murawski, Maciej Rybus and Lewandowski all missed clear-cut chances.Damien Perquis should also have scored when the ball fell to him in the penalty area but the Polish defender, in unfamiliar territory, drilled his shot wildly wide of the post.It looked as if the Greeks' fortune had deserted them completely, however, when Papastathopoulos saw red just before half-time.The Greek defender had become the first player to be booked in the tournament when he received the yellow card from Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo for what appeared a harmless challenge.His second yellow was equally as harsh when he was adjudged to have brought down Murawski. The referee, however, produced red and Greece were down to ten men and seemingly heading to an opening defeat.Perhaps fired up by the injustice, the Greeks came out in the second half with more determination and resolve and it paid off, even if they did have Szczesny to thank for their equaliser.Szczesny raced out of his goal attempting to collect Torosidis' right-wing cross but misjudged it totally, allowing substitute Salpingidis to score from close range.The drama, however, was far from finished and the teams were down to 10 players each after 69 minutes when Szczesny endured a moment of madness, sticking out a leg to trip Salpingidis in the penalty area.The resulting penalty was delayed while PSV Eindhoven goalkeeper Tyton came off the bench and Rybus went off, but Tyton's first action was the most crucial of the match, saving the tame spot-kick of Karagounis.A point was probably a fair result. But what a dramatic way for Euro 2012 to begin.

Women Singles Final Of French Open: Maria Sharapova Vs Sara Errani

The Russian Maria Sharapova To Face The Italian World No.21 Sara Errani In a Blistering Final, as Sharapova Looks To Complete Career Grand-Slam.Sharapova will be the overwhelming favorite, with her extensive experience and formidable arsenal of offensive weapons, but Errani has made an improbable run to the finals with upsets over former French Open champions Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Samantha Stosur, a finalist in 2010.Errani is enjoying a brilliant 2012 campaign, starting the year off by reaching the quarterfinals in the Australian Open. Sharapova, the No. 2 seed who will ascend to the No. 1 ranking next week, has surprised the tennis world with her new-found assuredness on clay. She won WTA events in Stuttgart and in Rome on clay, and has looked confident and composed marching through the bottom half of the draw.Under the tutelage of the Swedish coach Thomas Hogstedt, Sharapova has improved her footwork and overall movement on clay. She is playing better defense – long a weakness in her game — and is now able to play longer points with more consistency. Her serve, which often deserted her in the tense moments of a match, has been much more reliable throughout this clay-court season. She still plays aggressive, first-strike tennis, but she has clearly worked hard to address the shortcomings in her game.Errani has also improved significantly this year. She switched rackets to a longer frame, which she says has added power to her ground strokes. Her forehand is her favorite weapon, and she has transformed herself from a clay-court counterpuncher to more of an offensive threat, going for her shots whenever she senses an opening. This will be key against Sharapova, whose game is founded on controlling the point from start to finish. Look for Errani to attack Sharapova’s forehand side, then move her wide to the backhand. Errani must try to wrest control of the point from Sharapova, and to try to push her off the baseline and out of the center of the court. Errani may also employ the drop shot in an attempt to disrupt Sharapova’s rhythm.But a key to the match will be Errani’s serve. She spun in 86 percent of her first serves against Stosur, but in this match the Errani serve could be a real liability. Sharapova may be the game’s best returner, an intimidating presence as she moves forward to take the ball early. She focuses with an intensity that resembles a hunter stalking prey. Sharapova goes after each return with unbridled aggression, seeking to win the point outright or get a weak return. Her approach to tennis tactics is simple but ruthless as she looks to control and win the point in the first two shots. This will put enormous pressure on Errani, who must withstand the offensive onslaught in order to expose Sharapova’s weaknesses.The Sharapova serve, which was prone to frequent double faults at key moments, has been a consistent weapon throughout the tournament. Against Petra Kvitova in the semifinals, Sharapova made 79 percent of her first serves, winning 75 percent of those points. She served only three double faults, but won just 33 percent of her points on second serves. If Sharapova struggles with her first serve, this could provide an opening for Errani. But if Sharapova serves well, look for her to hit a lot of first-strike winners.

Nadal faces Djokovic in the Final of French open

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal set-up a history-making French Open final courtesy of devastating straight-set, semifinal wins.

Novak Djokovic  and Rafael Nadal set-up a history-making French Open final on Friday courtesy of devastating straight-sets, semifinal wins which confirmed their mastery of the men's game.World number one Djokovic crushed third seed Roger Federer 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 to reach a first Roland Garros final while six-time champion Nadal, the world number two, breezed past Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.On Sunday, history will be made as a win for Djokovic will make him only the third man to hold all four Grand Slam trophies at the same time.A win for Nadal, whose record in Paris now stands at 51 wins against just one defeat, will mean he'd be the first man to win the French Open seven times, breaking a tie with Swedish legend Bjorn Borg.“I am happy to be in the final here, it's always difficult to play against Roger,” said Djokovic, who had his 43-match winning streak ended by Federer at the same stage of Roland Garros 12 months ago.“It's a dream to be in the final, but Rafa, who always plays so well here, will be the favourite.”Both Djokovic and Federer had looked far from convincing in reaching this stage.Djokovic came back from two sets to love down to beat Andreas Seppi in the fourth round before saving four match points against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a five-set quarter-final.Federer had also been two sets to love down to Juan Martin del Potro in his five-set, last eight match before battling back.The Swiss world number three ended Friday's match with an uncharacteristic 46 unforced errors, caused to some extent by the swirling wind inside the Philippe Chatrier court.He was also left to regret twice squandering early breaks in the first two sets.Defeat also ended Federer's hopes of making a 24th Grand Slam final while extending his long wait to add to his record 16 majors, the last of which came at the 2010 Australian Open.“He played well under difficult conditions,” said Federer, who had been 3-0 and 5-4 ahead in the second set.“But I had chances. There are no excuses. I tried and if I had won that second set, it would have been a different match. But it didn't work out.”Nadal said his demolition of Ferrer was one of the most complete matches he has played for some time.The Spaniard was only briefly troubled at the start of the match, saving two break points in the fourth game before accelerating away for victory.It was, he said, “one of my best matches on this court.”“In my opinion I did almost everything right, because my serve worked very well, changing directions.“My backhand was at its best so far today. I hit the forehand well during all the tournament. Today wasn't an exception.”The win sees Nadal into his seventh final in eight years and once again he has done so without dropping a set. In fact he has only once had his serve broken, in the second set of his first round tie against Simone Bolelli.

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in 1st odi

Umar Gul picked up the first three wickets.

Pakistan 135 for 4 (Hafeez 37, Akmal 36*) beat Sri Lanka 135 for 8 (Thirimanne 42*, Gul 3-24, Sami 3-19) by six wickets (D/L method).It turned out to be a good toss to lose for Pakistan, as their seamers, led by Umar Gul, set up a comfortable six-wicket win by keeping Sri Lanka to a paltry 135. The ball nipped around, skidded, turned and bounced alarmingly and tested the technique and patience of the batsmen, with the cloudy conditions giving the bowlers an overwhelming advantage. Three rain interruptions in the first innings did little to help Sri Lanka's cause. They struggled to build momentum and sizeable partnerships, and following a lengthy rain interruption, the overs were culled to 42, leaving very few overs in the end to accelerate.Pakistan too were tested by a probing opening spell by Sri Lanka's seamers, but they could afford to take their time and grind it out. Subcontinent pitches aren't known to produce too many low-scoring games, and based on the evidence so far in the three games on tour, watching the bowlers have a say has been compelling.Runs off the bat were at a premium as Sri Lanka's top four failed to reach double-digits and their combined contribution was outscored by extras. It was a struggle, not just to pick the gaps but to put bat on ball. Sohail Tanvir's angle away from the right-hander kept Mahela Jayawardene playing and missing; Gul's bounce off a good length and incutters troubled Tillakaratne Dilshan, who looked like he hadn't yet shrugged off the Twenty20 hangover.It was a battle of attrition at both ends. Sri Lanka had two of their most experienced accumulators at the crease - Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara - but the seamers found ways to avert a partnership. An indipper from Gul trapped Jayawardene lbw, before Dinesh Chandimal chopped one onto his stumps without using his feet.The batsmen may have had their wallets nicked when they walked out to bat - they couldn't even buy a run. In the first ten overs, Pakistan didn't concede a run off the bat for 26 consecutive legal deliveries. In that period, the only source of runs was 13 wides. The first boundary off the bat - there were only six in all - came in the 12th over. Any semblance of a recovery was halted when Mohammad Sami nipped out two wickets in successive overs, leaving Sri Lanka five down at the 15th over.Rain forced interruptions in the 18th over and again after the 24th. What followed after the second interruption were two of the most productive partnerships. Lahiru Thirimanne added 25 with Thisara Perera, and doubled that with Nuwan Kulasekara. It was still a battle for survival, and the frequent interruptions didn't help Sri Lanka's bid to find momentum to accelerate. Following the third rain interval, which stretched to an hour and a quarter, Sri Lanka had only five overs to bat out. Thirimanne slogged and swished at several deliveries and managed to fetch three boundaries, including one off the final ball. Subtracting the wides, Sri Lanka would have been defending a much lesser score.Sri Lanka managed only six fours in their innings, hitting the first only in the 12th over. Pakistan hit their first four as early as the third ball, when Mohammad Hafeez punched Lasith Malinga past the covers. Malinga soon had Azhar Ali caught off a loose drive, and he continued to create half chances by shaping the ball away from the right-handers. Kulasekara posed questions by getting the ball to cut back in - his stock delivery - and one of those breached Younis Khan's defences, leaving Pakistan at 27 for 2.The pressure created by that dismissal led to three consecutive maidens. Misbah-ul-Haq halted a run-drought that lasted 25 deliveries with a slash past point for four. While Hafeez gave Pakistan the edge with positive shots, including a lofted off-drive for six, what prevented Pakistan from imploding was Misbah's calm presence.Pakistan were a batsman short, so it was imperative one senior player pitched a tent through the duration of the innings, which Misbah had all but achieved. It was a pressure-free scenario for Umar Akmal to play his strokes, as Pakistan coasted home to extend their recent domination over Sri Lanka, with their ninth win in 11 games.

Andy Murray 'Out', Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer 'In' the semi finals of French open

Confirmation arrived at Roland Garros that Andy Murray does not yet belong in the same grand slam company as the world's top three tennis players.

There is a reason why  Rafa Nadal is called "the Boss" by Nicolas Almagro and on Wednesday the ruthless claycourt king fired his fellow-Spaniard in his pursuit of a record seventh Roland Garros title.Nadal defeated Almagro 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 to put another Spaniard David Ferrer in the firing line in Friday's French Open semifinals.Ferrer made it through to his first Paris semi at the ripe old age of 30 after bouncing out British world number four Andy Murray 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 on a soggy day in the French capital.So how did the sixth seed rate his chances of reaching Sunday's final?"Winning a match against Rafa is almost impossible," he summed up bluntly.At least Ferrer struck a blow for the 30-somethings. By joining Roger Federer, who turns 31 in August, in the last four, it is the first time since 1969 that two 30-year-olds have made it to the same stage at Roland Garros.At 25, age was on Murray's side but unfortunately he failed to make that count.The Briton, a semifinalist last year, had never beaten a Spaniard on red dirt before Wednesday and the prospect of breaking that losing run against Ferrer looked bleak from the outset.Ferrer had sliced through the draw with a perfect 12-0 sets record and, although he dropped his first set on day 11 of the championships, Murray never looked like he had the weapons to bulldoze past an opponent nicknamed "The Wall."Along with Ferrer, Nadal and Almagro had also won 12 consecutive sets coming into the quarterfinals but by the end of the day only one man still held an intact record.

Maria Sharapova And Petra Kvitova Reach The Semis

Maria Sharapova rediscovered the devastatingly accurate form that has made her the most impressive player of the clay court season when she routed Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-3 in their quarter-final.With that victory, no.2 seed Sharapova has entered her third Roland Garros semi-final and for the first time in her career, she is looking like the player who is favoured to win it. The three-time Grand Slam title winner will face the Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who survived qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. It will be the third time in the last four Grand Slams that the two have met.In her fourth round victory over Klara Zakopalova, Sharapova had trouble serving and keeping her groundstrokes accurate, but that was not the case against Kanepi, as she served accurately and with pace and direction. She owned the Estonian with her down-the-line game from the baseline, and constantly had the powerful Kanepi on her heels. As she has done all spring, she returned ferociously, breaking Kanepi seven times and winning 74 percent of Kanepi's second serve points."She played very well," Kanepi said afterwards. "She was attacking all the time, and I didn't have much time to do my shots.  She puts the pressure on when she returns.  It's not very comfortable to serve."While neither woman was very accurate while sliding out wide, Sharapova did manage 21 winners and did a good job of keeping the points short, requiring just 74 minutes for the victory.“There were a few things I wanted to improve from the other matches," Sharapova said. "I just thought I played very defensively against an opponent that likes that type of game.  Today I did want to be aggressive and I did want to try and step in and move forward and get the first good hit on the ball."The 25-year-old Russian has won 17 of her 18 matches on clay this year, by far the most impressive mark of her career. She has become substantially stronger over the years. During the off-season and in between the hard-court and clay season, she worked with trainer Yutaka Nakamura to improve her footwork. Since she isn’t always slipping around when defending, she is able to get her feet set into more offensive positions."I think it's just about improving movement in general on any surface that you're playing," she said. "Obviously there are a few different movements on clay with the sliding and the recovering and getting back into the point which you work on, but I think it's just a general sense of movement."Meantime Kvitova – who has had a rough stretch battling illness and injuries since she reached the 2012 Australian Open semis – played an up and down contest against the ambitious Shvedova, but hung tough after she went down a break in the third set. Not the most patient of players, the big lefthander constantly went for her shots and it paid off, as in the last two sets she found the range with her hooking serve and massive forehand. Shvedova fought gamely, but said she was super-tired and Kvitova was simply too strong for her, nailing 38 winners to 14 from the Kazak."I expected it will be tough match and it was actually," Kvitova said. "She start well and I was very nervous from the beginning. The first set I did easy mistakes.  Then I knew that I had to change my game and I have to be the aggressive one and going for the points. The games were very close.  I'm happy that I won the big points. I couldn't give up."Not only has the Czech reached her first Roland Garros semi-final, she has won five matches in a row for the first time since January. She feels that her form is coming back."It's good to know that I can play and I hope that it will be not only five. But I know Maria is a tough opponent. I lost in the [last two] matches [against her].  She's playing very well.  She has a great season right now, and she's very tough opponent.”

David Ferrer To Meet Rafael Nadal In Second Semi-Final

A Shocking Result As David Ferrer Outclassed Andy Murray The World No.4 By  6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2 in 3 hours 45 mins and seal a first-ever appearance in a French Open semi-final, where he faces Rafael Nadal. The Spanish sixth seed was a picture of consistency all match long, in contrast to the British No.4 seed who hit 59 unforced errors  in a wasteful performance that saw him fail to reach a sixth consecutive Grand Slam.Watching Murray is to see a perfectionist at work. A man possessed with winning, the fourth member of the 'Big Four' is his own harshest critic, and misfiring all match long, the Scot had a harrowing afternoon. Ferrer meanwhile is a frustrating man to face, even for the most mild-mannered player. The Spaniard's preferred method of winning is suffocation, squeezing the life out of his adversaries, rarely going for winners and not attacking unless the time is just right. The man from Valencia keeps hitting, long and relentlessly, until his opponent cracks, as Murray did too often today.

Murray falls into Ferrer trap

Ferrer is hard to beat because he plays the percentage game – brilliantly – keeping his unforced error count down to a strict minimum, and on clay this carefully thought-out tactic is more than enough to beat all but the very best.He had not dropped a set all tournament, and he lured Murray into the same trap as his earlier victims. Undecided as to whether he should attack or defend, the Scot fell between two stools, and was caught in long rallies that ended more often than not when he committed an error. And when he did try to throw in a drop-shot or change things up, the ploy did not work.The Spaniard had done his homework on Murray, and brought a 3-0 head-to-head record on clay into the match. He knew the Brit loves nothing more than defending before counter punching, so played a waiting game of his own. Crucially, the Scot's service was not giving him a platform and he was broken twice in the first set, at 1-2 and then more significantly 4-5, nullifying the good work he had done to get back into the set with a break of his own. The second set was the same story in reverse: Murray broke Ferrer twice only to hand back the advantage in the very next game as the Scot's seemingly uncharacteristic errors become ever more commonplace.

Rain break turn the tie

A tie-break in that second set, and with drizzle beginning to fall, Murray found the form that had carried him to five consecutive Grand Slam semis. At last he went on the offensive, properly and wholeheartedly, and snatched the decider 7-3 to level the match. With the wind well and truly in his sails, Murray held to open the third set, but then came perhaps the turning point of the match. Drizzle became rain and the play was suspended. When the pair returned after the break, it was as if Murray had forgotten that he had seized the initiative, and we were back to the script of the first two sets. Break followed break until Ferrer grabbed his third of the set to win it 6-3.The match had turned definitively in the Spaniard's favour and he was ruthless in putting Murray away in the fourth set. To his credit, the Scot went for his shots more, but Ferrer was now full of confidence, chasing everything down and, whisper it quietly, even hitting the odd winner of his own. He broke Murray twice early in the set, raced to a 4-1 lead and saw it out to make it through to the final four of a major for the first time in his 12-year career. And for the first time in six Slams, Murray was out before the semi-final stage, making his hold on "big four" status more tenuous than before.