Roy Hodgson gets off to a winning start as England boss with a 1-0 win over Norway. Germany leave out their Bayern contingent and are hit for five by Switzerland. Poland chalk up their second clean sheet in a row, Portugal fail to find the net against Bosnia, while Spain cruise past Serbia despite the absence of many of their first-choice contingent:
Denmark 1 Brazil 3
Morten Olsen’s side were comprehensively outplayed by the Brazilians, with Hulk proving to be the star man for the visitors. The Porto star scored twice and forced Niki Zimling to turn the ball into his own net, though the latter somewhat atoned for his error by setting up Nicklas Bendtner for the Danes’ consolation. Daniel Wass started ahead of Lars Jacobsen at right-back, with the rest of the backline as expected, while Dennis Rommedahl was afforded a sub appearance just after the hour mark; an indication, perhaps, he is not as nailed-on for a start as first thought. Both Thomas Sorensen and Lasse Schone were subbed off midway through the first half for the hosts after the duo picked up knocks.
Denmark Starting XI: Sorensen (Andersen 24); Wass, Agger, Kjaer, S Poulsen; C Poulsen (J Poulsen 46), Zimling, Eriksen (Rommedahl 61); Schone (Kahlenberg 24), Bendtner, Krohn-Deli (Pedersen 72).
Poland 1 Slovakia 0
The co-hosts fielded what looked very much like their first-choice XI for the game against Slovakia. Damien Perquis went into the game with doubts surrounding his fitness but the centre-half bagged the Poles’ match-winner, backing up our theory that he could be a decent punt for the upcoming tournament. It’s so far so good for Franciszek Smuda’s side – with the Poles now recording back-to-back 1-0 wins over Latvia and Slovakia, Fantasy managers will have a little more confidence when it comes to investing in their backline prior to the tournament kick off.
Poland Starting XI: Szczesny; Piszczek, Perquis (Kaminski 69), Wasilewski, Boenisch; Polanski (Matuszczyk 46), Murawski (Dudka 46); Blaszczykowski (Mierzejewski 63), Obraniak (Wolski 80), Rybus; Lewandowski (Brozek 46)
Republic of Ireland 1 Bosnia 0
Giovanni Trapattoni handed Kieran Westwood a chance in goal, with Shay Given rested after picking up a minor injury in training in midweek. Squad options such as James McClean and Darron Gibson also made their way into the starting XI, while Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle were afforded just over an hour each up front. Aiden McGeady climbed off the bench to replace Damien Duff at half time and proved the creative spark for Trapattoni’s side, setting up Long to grab the winning goal. Ireland continued the defensive resilience that saw them chalk up a total of six clean sheets in their 12 qualifying matches to keep the Bosnian’s at bay.
Republic of Ireland Starting XI: Westwood; O’Dea, Dunne (St Ledger 70), McShane (Kelly 78), Ward; Duff (McGeady 46), Whelan (Andrews 46), Gibson, McClean; Keane (Long 62), Doyle (Walters 63)
Spain 2-0 Serbia
With Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao players afforded a rest after their exertions in the Copa del Rey Final on Friday evening, in addition to Chelsea pair Fernando Torres and Juan Mata, Vicente Del Bosque took the opportunity to hand some of his squad players a chance to shine. The Spain manager rolled out a 4-4-2 with Alvaro Negredo and Roberto Soldado up front. It was Atletico Madrid’s Adrian who impressed the most, however, after coming on as a second half sub and playing a part in both his team’s goals. Adrian headed home the opener from a Jesus Navas cross before being felled in the box by Branislav Ivanovic, allowing Santi Cazorla the chance to slot home from the spot.
Spain Starting XI: Casillas; Juanfran, Ramos (Alvaro Dominguez 48), Albiol, Alba (Monreal 65); Navas, Soriano (Javi Garcia 69), Alonso (Etxebarria 47), Cazorla; Negredo (Silva 48), Soldado (Adrian 49)
Portugal 0 Macedonia 0
Paulo Bento was another who chose to field a handful of squad players. Beto began in goal, Rolando was handed a chance in defence, while Ricardo Queresma was given a rare start out wide. Up front, Helder Postiga led the line, though unsurprisingly, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who supplied the Portuguese’s main threat before being subbed off midway through the second half, while Raul Meireles, Hugo Almeida and Nani all climbed off the bench in the in the second 45. Although the clean sheet will be a boost, a lack of cutting edge should be a real concern for Bento ahead of group games with Germany and Holland.
Portugal Starting XI: Beto; Pereira (Oliveira 80), Alves, Rolando, Coentrao; Veloso (Viana 72), Moutinho (Meireles 46), Micael (Nani 63); Ronaldo (Varela 72), Postiga (Almeida 63), Quaresma.
Norway 0-1 England
Roy Hodgson gave his Chelsea contingent the night off for his first match in charge. Ashley Young was chosen ahead of Jermain Defoe alongside Andy Carroll up front and vindicated his manager’s decision by grabbing the game’s only goal. Priced at 8.5 and classified as a midfielder, Young could pick up more than his current 5.7% ownership if he continues in the support role, with Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two group matches. Scott Parker recovered from an Achilles problem to partner Steven Gerrard in central midfield, though Hodgson was given an injury scare when Gareth Barry limped off after just 27 minutes to be replaced by Jordan Henderson.
England Starting X1: Green; Jones (Kelly 88), Jagielka, Lescott, Baines; Milner, Parker, Gerrard (Barry 46, Henderson 73), Downing (Johnson 85); Carroll, Young (Oxlade-Chamberlain 72).
Switzerland 5 Germany 3
Joachim Low handed all eight of his Bayern Munich contingent the day off after their Champions League exertions and watched on as the Swiss hammered five past his charges. An experimental German side was still full of plenty experience, with Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker partnered by Dortmund’s Mats Hummels in the heart of the back-four. Real Madrid pair Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil were given 45 minute run outs in a game that saw Swiss forward Eren Derdiyok grab a hat-trick. Hummels and Andreas Schurrle both netted for Low’s side, while Marco Reus highlighted his capabilities by climbing off the bench to notch his side’s third.
Germany Starting XI: ter Stegen; Howedes (S Bender 78), Mertesacker, Hummels, Schmelzer; Khedira (Gundogan 46), Gotze (L Bender 78); Schurrle, Ozil (Reus 46) Podolski (Draxler 61); Klose (Cacau 78).
Holland 1 Bulgaria 2
Fantasy managers still seem no nearer to solving the conundrum that is the Dutch attack. Jan Klaas-Huntelaar started up front, with Robin Van Persie out wide – Arjen Robben came on as a late sub, with Bert Van Marwijk continuing to ease the Bayern man back into the frame after his Champions League appearance last weekend. Van Persie was amongst the goals again – the Arsenal man opened the scoring from a Wesley Sneijder assist, while Rafael Van Vaart (starting ahead of Dirk Kuyt in the attacking midfield three) gave away a penalty as the Dutch lost at home for the first time in 19 matches. Holland were dealt a blow at the back, though, after Joris Mathijsen was forced off after just 19 minutes after sustaining a hamstring problem.
Holland Starting XI: Krul, Van der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen (Bouma 17), Willems (Schaars 64); Van Bommel, De Jong (Strootman 85); Van Persie, Sneijder, Van der Vaart (Kuyt 64); Huntelaar (Robben 77).
Czech Republic 2 Israel 1
Michal Bilek took the opportunity to field a handful of squad players for the 2-1 win over Israel. The likes of Michal Kadlec, Jan Rezek, Jaroslav Plasil and Tomas Rosicky were handed the day off, with the latter still recovering from a calf problem. Milan Baros stepped up to slot home from the spot in Kadlec’s absence, while David Lafata – top scorer in the Czech domestic league this season – climbed off the bench to net the winner.
Czech Starting XI: Drobny; Rajtoral (Gebre Selassie 46) Sivok (Suchy 46), Hubnik, Pudil (Limbersky 78); Hubschman, Jiracek (Lafata 65); Petrzela (Darida 65), Kolar, Pilar; Baros (Necid 46).
Greece 1 Slovenia 1
Vasilis Torisidis grabbed the opener for Greece in the 1-1 draw with Slovenia. The right-back netted in eight minutes for Fernando Santos’ side before picking up a knock and limping off on 23 minutes. Fantasy managers will be intrigued to see Kostas Chalkias start in goal for Greece – only 0.1% have currently selected the stopper, with Alexandros Tzorvas the most popular keeper with an ownership of 7.5%. Sotiris Ninis started on the flank, though Giorgios Karagounis was the most dangerous player for the Greeks, hitting the woodwork and firing just wide, before a late leveller from Jasmin Kurtic spoiled the hosts’ clean sheet.
Greece Starting XI: Chalkias; Torosidis (Tzorvas 23), A Papadopoulos, Papaststhopoulos, Holebas; Maniatis, Karagounis, (Mitroglou 64), Katsouranis (Malezas 46); Ninis (Kone 72), Gekas (Liberopoulos 65), Samaras (Fortounis 46)
