New Delhi: The Indian men's hockey team got the second leg of its pre-Olympic European tour on a confident note as it held the hosts and World No. 5 Spain to a 3-3 draw in the first friendly Test on Thursday, impressing coach Michael Nobbs in both pace and fitness. Commenting on Thursday's drawn affair, Nobbs said he is growing in confidence about facing the top teams as the London...
01:32 PM, Jul 06, 2012
Sao Paulo: Brazil's 1970 World Cup winners contained more gifted individuals than Spain's current all-conquering national side, the Brazilian side's greatest player Pele said on Wednesday. Asked who would win a showdown between the two teams, Pele flashed a big smile and said: "If I was playing, we'd win, no doubt about it." "As long as they are comparing teams with the 1970s, it is because the 1970s team is...
10:03 AM, Jul 05, 2012
Madrid: Spaniards seized on their European Championship triumph as a source of restored national pride after months of economic anxieties, as celebrations reached fever pitch on Monday with a victory parade in the capital. Across the country many were looking forward to another night of revelry after Spain thrashed Italy 4-0 on Sunday, becoming the first team to win two Euro titles in a row, with a World Cup in...
11:18 AM, Jul 03, 2012
CNN-IBN's football experts discuss if Spain's hat-trick of Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 makes them the greatest. ...
11:42 PM, Jul 02, 2012
Warsaw: Twitter says its users fired off more than 15,000 Tweets per second when Spain made its fourth goal in Sunday's European Championship final, setting a new sports-related record on the social networking site. The surge in tweets came just weeks before the Olympics Games in London are expected to bring another unprecedented surge of activity by sports fans on social networking sites. Twitter says total global traffic on its...
07:02 PM, Jul 02, 2012
Kiev: Spain's talented midfielders answered weeks of criticism over boring play with a masterclass performance of attacking football that led it to a second straight European Championship. Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas and David Silva repaid coach Vicente del Bosque's trust in fielding a starting lineup without a traditional striker by pulling the strings in Sunday's 4-0 victory over Italy. The four players were involved in nearly all four...
09:34 AM, Jul 02, 2012
Kiev: Faced with his best scoring chance, Mario Balotelli never even touched the ball. That's how little of an impact Italy's most talented striker had on Sunday's European Championship final. Spain did such a great job of shutting down Italy's attack in a 4-0 rout that Balotelli rarely even got the ball in a scoring position. At the final whistle, Balotelli stormed off the pitch in frustration " shoving aside...
09:21 AM, Jul 02, 2012
Kiev: Though a team triumph, Iker Casillas managed his own personal milestone when Spain beat Italy 4-0 to win the European Championship on Sunday. The 31-year-old goalkeeper became the first player to ever record 100 wins for his national team. Instead of embracing his fiance journalist as he did after Spain's 2010 World Cup victory in South Africa, Casillas celebrated by giving her a peck on each cheek before running...
09:02 AM, Jul 02, 2012
Madrid: Spaniards blasted off fireworks and jumped for joy after their soccer team won the European Championship on Sunday night, giving temporary relief from the crushing economic woes that have engulfed the nation. Tens of thousands gathered in central Madrid to watch their team beat Italy 4-0 and shout out "Gol!" more times than they thought possible. Even better for Spain, the country's team became the first ever to win...
03:20 AM, Jul 02, 2012
Full Time: Spain 4-0 Italy Spain are Euro 2012 Champions! 90th minute: Three minutes of added time to the second half. 87th min: GOAL! It's four nil. Mata scores! 84th min: GOAL! Fernando Torres makes it 3-0. The Spaniard striker makes it look so simple. Claudio Marchisio loses the ball in midfield, and Xavi's decisive pass leaves Torres to slide it past Buffon. So ten minutes and a bit before...
11:44 PM, Jul 01, 2012
Kiev: Spain aims for a third straight major tournament title on Sunday when it plays Italy in the European Championship final, an unprecedented feat for a World Cup winner. In 13 previous Euro finals, no defending champion has retained the trophy. The match at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, pairing the past two World Cup winners, promises to continue a tradition of tense finals that have delivered late drama, shock...
10:05 AM, Jul 01, 2012
Kiev: Stingy as it may be, Spain's defenders are still a little worried about their rematch with Mario Balotelli and Italy in the European Championship final. Spain's bid to win a third straight major title comes Sunday at Kiev's Olympic Stadium, where the Mediterranean rivals meet for a second time, after starting Euro 2012 with a 1-1 draw. Spain haven't conceded since then and have reached the final with the...
03:08 PM, Jun 30, 2012
Kiev: They meet again at Euro 2012. This time, however, Spain and Italy are playing for the European Championship and a place in the history books. The Mediterranean rivals meet on Sunday in Kiev's Olympic Stadium, three weeks after they drew 1-1 in their opening match of the tournament's group stage. As the defending champion and World Cup holder, Spain are bidding to win a third straight major title and...
10:28 AM, Jun 30, 2012
Warsaw: Italy will head into Sunday's European Championship final with one significant advantage over a Spain side that have dominated world football for the last four years. They can score goals. While Spain have tried to pass their opponents to death at Euro 2012, Italy have stuck to what's almost a quaintly old-fashioned approach of making the net bulge with pinpoint headers and blistering shots. Mario Balotelli's two goals against...
09:44 AM, Jun 30, 2012
Brussels: Under pressure to prevent a catastrophic breakup of their single currency, Eurozone leaders agreed on Friday to let their rescue fund inject aid directly into stricken banks from next year and intervene on bond markets to support troubled member states. They also pledged to create a single banking supervisor for Eurozone banks based around the European Central Bank in a landmark first step towards a European banking union that...
08:54 AM, Jun 30, 2012
Kiev: The threat of Italy striker Mario Balotelli and the prospect of an unprecedented treble occupied Spain's Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Ramos before Sunday's Euro 2012 final but neither thought those obstacles too big to overcome. Spain face the Italians at the Olympic Stadium bidding to become the first national side to win three successive major honours following their triumphs at Euro 2008 and the World Cup in Spain two...
07:56 PM, Jun 29, 2012
It's all about sharing. Spain and Portugal share a border, two coastlines and an entire peninsula. They share a climate, a parallel political past and currently, a crisis. But right now, they also share a dream. The two neighbouring nations come face to face in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 on Wednesday night and only one can progress to the continental competition's Sunday showpiece in Kiev. At 20:45 CET this...
03:47 PM, Jun 27, 2012
After little over a fortnight of play in Poland and Ukraine, the semi-finalists have now been decided. First up sees Portugal handed the gruelling task of ending reigning champions Spains supremacy, while penalty kings Italy face perennial rivals Germany. Three of the four sides have won a European crown before, with the Portuguese the odd men out, though having been 90 minutes away from winning a championship in 2004. But...
11:22 AM, Jun 27, 2012
Their teams might be fighting it out to snatch the top spot at the ongoing Euro 2012 tournament, but while the big final is yet to take place, we get you the five hottest players from Euro 2012. ...
01:11 PM, Jun 26, 2012
Barcelona winger Pedro Rodrguez Ledesma is confident that Spain will have the measure of Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo when they meet in their Euro 2012 semi-final on Wednesday. The Real Madrid man has been in excellent form in his last two games, scoring three goals against Netherlands and Czech Republic and firing his side into the final four of the competition in the process. Despite his scintillating play in the...
10:50 AM, Jun 26, 2012
