Soccer

Hazard finally decides, set to join Chelsea

Paris: Eden Hazard is set to join European champions Chelsea, who appear to have beaten Premier League winners Manchester City and Manchester United in the race to sign one of football's brightest young talents. The 21-year-old Belgium winger had a brilliant season for Lille, scoring 20 league goals " one behind French leaders and Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud " and topping the list with 15 assists. He scored a first-half...  

Willems, Narsingh make Netherlands' Euro cut

Amsterdam: Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk on Saturday included 18-year-old defender Jetro Willems and winger Luciano Narsingh in his final 23-man European Championship squad that has a wealth of attacking options but could be frail in defence. The squad includes the topscorer from the English Premier League, Arsenal captain Robin van Persie, and the German Bundesliga in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of Schalke. Van Persie will be hoping to carry his league...  

Borussia Dortmund trio lead Poland Euro squad

Warsaw: The Borussia Dortmund trio of Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukasz Piszczek lead the European Championship squad for co-hosts Poland. Coach Franciszek Smuda on Sunday also named Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to his final 23-man roster for the competition, which starts from June 8 in Warsaw with Poland taking on Greece. Lewandowski, who scored 22 goals for German champions Dortmund, will spearhead Poland's attack. Smuda had few obvious choices...  

Juventus boss Conte investigated for match-fixing

Rome: Italian police investigating a soccer match-fixing scandal placed Juventus trainer Antonio Conte under investigation and arrested the captain of Lazio Stefano Mauri and former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto, authorities said on Monday. The Italian football federation said Mauri was one of 14 people arrested. Italian authorities swept through the Italy national team training site near Florence on Monday and made more than a dozen arrests elsewhere as part of...  

Evra urges Hazard to pick Man United over City

Manchester: Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has urged in-demand Eden Hazard to reject an offer from rivals Manchester City in favour of a move to Old Trafford. Lilles Belgian attacker is one of the hottest properties in European football, and is said to be weighing up offers from both Manchester clubs, as well as newly-crowned European champions Chelsea. And United leftback Evra is in no doubt over which destination Hazard...  

I will be 100 percent fit for Euros: Fabregas

Barcelona: Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas insists that he will be 100 percent fit for the start of Euro 2012. The Barcelona man suffered a thigh injury shortly after coming on as a substitute in Friday night's Copa del Rey final win over Athletic Bilbao and has been ruled out of action for 10 days. The news has cast some doubt on Fabregas' participation in his country's tournament opener against Italy...  

Chelsea defender Ivanovic claims Madrid interest

London: Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has claimed that he is on Real Madrid's wish-list for the new season. Spanish sources have reported that Ivanovic is high on Jose Mourinho's list of targets as the Portuguese coach looks to fine-tune his squad to give Madrid their 10th Champions League trophy in 2012-13. The 28-year-old defender, who started Serbia's 2-0 defeat against Spain on Saturday, stated that he is aware of Madrid's...  

Late winner takes France past Iceland in warm-up

Valenciennes, France: Franck Ribery scored his first international goal for more than three years and Adil Rami grabbed a late winner as France rallied to beat Iceland 3-2 at home on Sunday in a European Championship warm-up match. Coach Laurent Blanc picked an experimental and attacking line-up, featuring several fringe players. The move soon backfired as Iceland went 2-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from Birkir Bjarnason and Ajax...  

Negredo in Spain's Euro squad, Soldado ignored

Schruns (Austria): Striker Roberto Soldado was left out of Spain's squad for Euro 2012 on Sunday, despite his scoring exploits this year, as coach Vicente del Bosque lamented the absence of "irreplaceable" David Villa. There were no major surprises as Del Bosque discarded the younger players who have been part of the world and European champions' provisional squad at a training camp in the Austrian Alps. Instead, he included 19...  

Barca success will continue under Vilanova: Pep

Barcelona: Tito Vilanova's step up from assistant to Barcelona coach for next season is a sign of continuity rather than the end of an era, the outgoing Pep Guardiola said after Friday's 3-0 King's Cup final triumph. Guardiola signed off the same way that he started at Barcelona, with a Cup final win over Athletic Bilbao, securing his 14th trophy from the 19 competitions he has competed in since taking...  

Spain preparations hit, Fabregas to miss 10 days

Madrid: Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas is set to miss a big chunk of Spain's preparations for Euro 2012 after being ruled out for seven to 10 days with a hamstring strain, the Spanish club said on Saturday. Fabregas picked up the injury to his right thigh when he came on for the last 10 minutes of Barca's 3-0 King's Cup final win over Athletic Bilbao on Friday. The former Arsenal...  

Second string Czechs beat Israel 2-1 in warm-up

Graz, Austria: A last-minute goal by David Lafata helped the Czech Republic beat Israel 2-1 on Saturday in preparation for next month's European Championship. It was the third international goal in 17 appearances for Lafata, who came on as a substitute after 65 minutes for Milan Petrzela. Striker Milan Baros scored from the penalty spot after 17 minutes to give the Czechs an early lead, then Itay Shechter levelled in...  

Greece, Slovenia draw 1-1 in friendly

Kufstein, Austria: Midfielder Jasmin Kurtic scored on his international debut to earn Slovenia a 1-1 draw with European Championship-bound Greece on Saturday. Kurtic levelled in the 87th minute. Earlier, he missed Slovenia's best chance by sending a free kick just over the bar. Greece defender Vasilis Torosidis put the 2004 champions in front after eight minutes with a low shot coming in from the right wing. Greece ended the match...  

Poland beat Slovakia 1-0, Fabianksi out injured

Klagenfurt, Austria: Damien Perquis scored his first international goal on Saturday to give Poland a 1-0 win over Slovakia in the co-host's second warm-up match before the European Championship. The Sochaux defender's header from a cross by Lukasz Piszczek found the net after half an hour, earning Poland a second straight 1-0 victory after their win over Latvia on Tuesday. "We played well but we aren't yet where we want...  

Ireland edge Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in warm-up

Dublin: Shane Long gave Ireland a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina ahead of the European Championship on Saturday but midfielder Keith Fahey was ruled out of the tournament through injury. Fahey has been struggling with a groin problem since he joined the squad and he pulled up in the friendly on Saturday. After scans, coach Giovanni Trapattoni decided to replace Fahey with Paul Green, who is without a club since...  

Hulk brace gives Brazil 3-1 win over Denmark

Hamburg, Germany: Hulk scored two goals in the first half to help Brazil beat Denmark 3-1 on Saturday at the start of a four-match tour ahead of the London Olympics. Hulk scored in the eighth and 40th minutes, either side of an own goal by Niki Zimling, as a young but polished Brazil side brushed off a team headed to next month's European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. Nicklas Bendtner...  

Insipid Portugal held to 0-0 draw by Macedonia

Leiria, Portugal: Portugal lacked fire and flair and were held to 0-0 at home by Macedonia on Saturday in a warm-up match for the European Championship. Portugal's rare goal threats came mostly from Cristiano Ronaldo's long-range efforts, but the captain had little support and couldn't break down Macedonia's packed defence on his own. Nani's late entrance upped the pace, but Portugal still lacked a spark. Portugal also drew their previous...  

Netherlands lost 2-1 to Bulgaria in friendly

Amsterdam: Bulgaria surprised the Netherlands 2-1 on Saturday in a friendly that showed the World Cup runners-up are struggling to find their trademark fluency ahead of the European Championship. Substitute Ilian Micanski scored the winning header in injury time. Robin van Persie gave the Netherlands the lead on the stroke of half-time, running onto a pass over the Bulgaria defence by Wesley Sneijder and volleying home with his left foot...  

Spain beat Serbia 2-0 in Euro 2012 warm-up

St. Gallen, Switzerland: Adrian Lopez scored and set up a goal on his debut as Spain beat Serbia 2-0 to get their European Championship preparations off to a winning start on Saturday. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, without his Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao regulars and with Chelsea pair Fernando Torres and Juan Mata watching from the stands, gave five players their first caps for the European and world champions at...  

Germany stunned by Switzerland in Euro warm-up

Basel, Switzerland: Germany suffered for resting their Bayern Munich players as Switzerland forward Eren Derdiyok scored a hat-trick in a wild 5-3 victory over the European Championship contenders in a friendly on Saturday. Derdiyok exploited unusual disarray in the German defence to convert assists from the outstanding Tranquillo Barnetta in the 21st, 23rd and 49th minutes. Defender Stephan Lichtsteiner and midfielder Admir Mehmedi added goals in the 67th and 74th...