As the commencement of the year's EURO CUP draws nearer, teams have been quite busy getting ready for the competition as they knock their players into shape ahead the continental spectacle taking place in France.
PORTUGAL 3-0 NORWAY
Portugal showed they are far from a one-man team with a convincing victory over Norway on Sunday, as the Lusitanians won 3-0 in a one-sided friendly. With Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe both absent following Real Madrid's Champions League victory, Ricardo Quaresma made his own case with a stunning strike to open the scoring.
Raphael Guerreiro doubled Portugal's advantage in the second half,
curling a brilliant free-kick out of Jarstein's reach to press his
claims to be first choice at left-back for Portugal at the tournament in
France.
Portugal's comfortable victory was wrapped up when Eder finished off Joao Mario's low cross, with Norway unable to seriously test goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
Fernando Santos' men, who face Hungary, Austria and Iceland in a potentially tough group, extended their fine run of form to six wins from their last eight games.
Norway narrowly missed out on earning a place at Euro 2016 and Per-Mathias Hogmo's side have now won only one of their last six internationals.
ITALY 1-0 SCOTLAND
Graziano Pelle's fine second-half strike gave Italy a narrow 1-0 win
over Scotland in a Euro 2016 warm-up friendly on Sunday evening. Antonio Conte's men had not won since their qualifying campaign drew
to a close, with defeats to Belgium and Germany, either side of draws
with Romania and Spain, depriving them of the chance to build any
momentum.
The Euro 2012 runners-up never looked like losing in Malta, but their inability to convert promising opportunities during the first half was a concern. However, Southampton striker Pelle produced an accomplished finish 12 minutes into the second half to clinch a welcome victory for Italy, who face Finland in their last pre-tournament friendly and will name their final 23-man Euro 2016 squad this week.
Scotland failed to register a single shot on target during the 90 minutes - Matt Ritchie's late strike wide their only effort of any description - and will hope for an improved performance when they provide the opposition for the last warm-up fixture of tournament hosts France.
GERMANY 1-3 SLOVAKIA Germany's worrying form ahead of Euro 2016 continued as they fell to a shock 3-1 defeat at the hands of Slovakia in Augsburg on Sunday. Mario Gomez's penalty put the home team in front after 13 minutes, but a stunning strike from Marek Hamsik and a Michal Duris header turned the game on its head before the break.
After stormy weather had delayed the start of the second half,
substitute Marc-Andre ter Stegen's dreadful mistake in wet conditions
allowed Juraj Kucka to make it three and Germany could not find a way
back into the match.
Joachim Low gave first caps to Bernd Leno and Joshua Kimmich, as well as substitutes Julian Weigl and Julian Brandt, but the head coach has major problems to solve with no more matches to play before he cuts his squad down from 27 to a final 23.
Germany, winners of the World Cup two years ago, have now lost four of their last six games and failed to keep a clean sheet for eight successive matches with the Euros under two weeks away.
They only have one more warm-up match against Hungary to play before the tournament, while in-form Slovakia are unbeaten in seven as they prepare to face Northern Ireland in their last pre-tournament clash.
SPAIN 3-1 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Nolito netted his first goals for Spain as they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 in Sunday's international friendly at AFG Arena in St. Gallen. The 29-year-old opened his Spain account in the 11th minute with a calm finish in the top corner, before making it two shortly after with a cheeky chip from inside the box.
Emir Spahic halved the deficit after a corner, only to get himself sent off in the dying seconds of the first half for violent conduct.
Bosnia had a number of chances to restore parity after the break despite being a man down, but Milan Djuric failed to beat shot-stopper Sergio Asenjo as Spain saw out the win, Pedro coming off the bench to add a third late on.
Vicente del Bosque named an experimental XI in the absence of the Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and majority of Barcelona players, handing a number of newcomers their debut as Cesc Fabregas and David Silva were the only two regulars featuring from the start, but that did not stop them from opening the game strongly.
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PORTUGAL 3-0 NORWAY
Portugal showed they are far from a one-man team with a convincing victory over Norway on Sunday, as the Lusitanians won 3-0 in a one-sided friendly. With Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe both absent following Real Madrid's Champions League victory, Ricardo Quaresma made his own case with a stunning strike to open the scoring.
Raphael Guerreiro doubled Portugal's advantage in the second half,
curling a brilliant free-kick out of Jarstein's reach to press his
claims to be first choice at left-back for Portugal at the tournament in
France.Portugal's comfortable victory was wrapped up when Eder finished off Joao Mario's low cross, with Norway unable to seriously test goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
Fernando Santos' men, who face Hungary, Austria and Iceland in a potentially tough group, extended their fine run of form to six wins from their last eight games.
Norway narrowly missed out on earning a place at Euro 2016 and Per-Mathias Hogmo's side have now won only one of their last six internationals.
ITALY 1-0 SCOTLAND
The Euro 2012 runners-up never looked like losing in Malta, but their inability to convert promising opportunities during the first half was a concern. However, Southampton striker Pelle produced an accomplished finish 12 minutes into the second half to clinch a welcome victory for Italy, who face Finland in their last pre-tournament friendly and will name their final 23-man Euro 2016 squad this week.
Scotland failed to register a single shot on target during the 90 minutes - Matt Ritchie's late strike wide their only effort of any description - and will hope for an improved performance when they provide the opposition for the last warm-up fixture of tournament hosts France.
GERMANY 1-3 SLOVAKIA Germany's worrying form ahead of Euro 2016 continued as they fell to a shock 3-1 defeat at the hands of Slovakia in Augsburg on Sunday. Mario Gomez's penalty put the home team in front after 13 minutes, but a stunning strike from Marek Hamsik and a Michal Duris header turned the game on its head before the break.
Joachim Low gave first caps to Bernd Leno and Joshua Kimmich, as well as substitutes Julian Weigl and Julian Brandt, but the head coach has major problems to solve with no more matches to play before he cuts his squad down from 27 to a final 23.
Germany, winners of the World Cup two years ago, have now lost four of their last six games and failed to keep a clean sheet for eight successive matches with the Euros under two weeks away.
They only have one more warm-up match against Hungary to play before the tournament, while in-form Slovakia are unbeaten in seven as they prepare to face Northern Ireland in their last pre-tournament clash.
SPAIN 3-1 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Nolito netted his first goals for Spain as they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 in Sunday's international friendly at AFG Arena in St. Gallen. The 29-year-old opened his Spain account in the 11th minute with a calm finish in the top corner, before making it two shortly after with a cheeky chip from inside the box.
Emir Spahic halved the deficit after a corner, only to get himself sent off in the dying seconds of the first half for violent conduct.
Bosnia had a number of chances to restore parity after the break despite being a man down, but Milan Djuric failed to beat shot-stopper Sergio Asenjo as Spain saw out the win, Pedro coming off the bench to add a third late on.
Vicente del Bosque named an experimental XI in the absence of the Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and majority of Barcelona players, handing a number of newcomers their debut as Cesc Fabregas and David Silva were the only two regulars featuring from the start, but that did not stop them from opening the game strongly.
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Email: bizarrecommunications@gmail.com
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