Scout Notes – Euro 2012 Friendlies

France sweep aside Estonia in scintillating style, as Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery help fire Les Bleus to a 4-0 win. Ola Toivonen plays a part in both Sweden’s goals in a narrow triumph over Serbia, while Oleg Blokhin was without as many as 10 players due to food poisoning as Ukraine taste defeat in Turkey:

Sweden 2 Serbia 1
Erik Hamren’s side racked up their fourth straight win last night as they saw off Serbia 2-1. Andreas Granqvist was preferred to Jonas Olsson in the heart of defence, raising questions over which of the pair is likely to partner Olof Mellberg at centre-half – Olsson had started the previous two. Martin Olsson started at left-back; priced at 4.0, he is the most popular player in the McDonald’s game but with a single clean sheet in their last eight (against Bahrain) there can’t be too much confidence in Hamren’s backline. With Markus Rosenberg ruled out due to a knee problem, Ola Toivonen led the line and played a part in both Sweden’s goals – he netted the opener after Serbia keeper Branimir Aleksic spilled a Rasmus Elm corner and was then felled for a penalty, which Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted. Keeper Andreas Isaksson was withdrawn at half time with pain in his thigh, though the move is thought to be no more than a precautionary measure.

Sweden Starting XI: Isaksson (Wiland 71); Lustig (J Olsson 77), Granqvist, Mellberg, M Olsson; Kallstrom, Svensson (Holmen 87); Larsson (Wilhelmsson 87), Ibrahimovic (Wernbloom 81), Elm; Toivonen (Hysen 55)

France 4 Estonia 0

Les Bleus warmed up for their opener with England by hammering Estonia 4-0 last night. The win takes their unbeaten run to 21 games, with Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema the main protagonists. Ribery provided a goal and assist, while Benzema netted twice in addition to producing an assist as Laurent Blanc’s side ran riot in front of their home fans. Alou Diarra deputised for the injured Yann M’Vila in central midfield before making way for Laurent Koscielny, while a host of late second half changes failed to halt the hosts’ momentum, as subs Jeremy Menez and Olivier Giroud combined for the former to find the net and seal an emphatic victory. With six clean sheets in their last nine now, the options at the back also look enticing for Fantasy managers.

France Starting XI: Lloris; Debuchy, Rami, Mexes, Evra; Diarra (Koscielny 65), Cabaye (Valbuena 51), Malouda (Giroud 73); Nasri (Ben Arfa 73), Benzema (Menez 74), Ribery (Martin 65).

Turkey 2 Ukraine 0
The co-hosts wrapped up their pre-tournament preparations in disappointing style by losing for the second match in succession. While their previous 3-2 defeat at the hands of Austria at least gave Fantasy managers hope of attacking returns, their failure to score for the first time in nine matches is a worry. Oleg Blokhin revealed post-match, however, the omission of several key players was due to a food poisoning bug sweeping through the camp. The likes of Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Andriy Yarmolenko, Marko Devic and Andriy Voronin (the latter two had both started the previous two up front) were all ruled out, with the manager going on to say:

Tymoshchyk is still in bad condition, we have got him on a drip. And this is not funny. We have to wait for the doctors’ verdict but the situation is far from funny. I do not know the reason for the illness because we all ate different food. We have one week to recover… it’s good that it did not happen on June 11.

Ukraine Starting XI: Pyatov; Butko (Gusev 64), Kucher (Khacheridi 46), Rakitskiy, Shevchuk; Rotan, Garmash; Devic, Aliyev (Shevchenko 46), Konoplyanka; Milevskyi (Seleznyov 70).