FOOTBALL

Former Liverpool legend Alan Hansen believes Ashley Young must show against Sweden that he deserves a place in the England starting side.

Sweden manager Erik Hamren praises Roy Hodgson's contributions to Swedish football but cautions England ahead of their Euro 2012 Group C game in Kyiv

Despite protestations of looking to play attractive attacking football, it begins to look as if the Azzurri, assuming they qualify for the quarterfinals, will do so the traditional Italian way - unbeaten and with just enough points in the bag

Fernando Torres made a timely return to form with two goals as Spain ended Republic of Ireland's European Championship adventure with an emphatic win in Gdansk.

Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl believes the club can't compete with Arsenal for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud.

England are currently a team full of youngsters, who will have a lot to do before they come close to the likes of World Cup holders Spain, tournament favourites Germany or the established stars of Holland, France and Italy.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez believes Spain's goal scoring capability is manager Vicente Del Bosque's biggest concern at Euro 2012.

Spain came under fire in their last Euro group stage match against Italy, with the side not choosing an out-and-out striker for the match up which eventually ended 1-1.

Alberto Aquilani future at Liverpool will be decided this week, according to the player's agent Franco Zavaglia.

It's been a very different England line-up to the one of previous tournaments, but Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson are both standing strong amongst the pressure as they work to beat the low expectation set upon them by fans and pundits alike.

Jordan Henderson is ready to deputise for Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard at Euro 2012 after he admitted the criticism of his debut season at Anfield had made him "more of a man".

France winger Jeremy Menez says he rejected a move to Manchester United when he was 15 years old.

The 2012 European Championships has already seen its fair share of upsets, great goals and wonderful performances. We now arrive at the 13th fixture of the competition, to be played between 2006 World Cup champions Italy and Euro 98 runners-up Croatia, at the Poznan Municipal Stadium

Former Republic of Ireland international Niall Quinn believes Giovanni Trapattoni's side can pull one of the biggest shocks of Euro 2012 and beat Spain in Gdansk on Thursday evening.

For many, the image of a footballer is not the same than that of any person they know or know of, with sportsmen often taking a much more emotionless, hero-like picture in fans' minds as they play week in and out and enjoy pleasures in life that the majority of the population won't ever experience.

The fall-out from Harry Redknapp's sacking as manager of Tottenham Hotspur could impact as early as this summer, with both Luka Modric and Gareth Bale considering their future at White Hart Lane.

The rain has been pouring all week in Krakow, and it couldn't be a better time to head for the beach coast of Gdansk as the Republic of Ireland prepare to prove the critics wrong and show up tournament favourites Spain (I still have hope!).

Check out a full tactical preview and analysis ahead of Thursday evening's game between defending champions Spain and the Republic of Ireland, as well as information on where to watch live and what time it kicks off

Former England captain Alan Shearer has implored Roy Hodgson to start Andy Carroll against Sweden on Friday, after their Group D opponents struggled to contain Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko in their opening game.

Roberto Di Matteo has finally been rewarded for his excellent work with Chelsea as he has been offered a permanent two year deal at Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp, after denying rumours that he had left the club on Tuesday, has been officially sacked by the Spurs, according to the clubs official web site.

Holland's hopes of advancing to the Euro 2012 knockout stages have suffered a potentially fatal blow, after a 2-1 loss to Germany.

Portugal edged closer to the Euro 2012 quarter-finals after a hard-fought win against Denmark in Lviv.

Premier League sells domestic broadcast rights for 2013-16 for £3.02bn to BSkyB and BT - an increase of £1.25bn on current deal.

Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo as their permanent manager and first-team coach on a two-year contract.

Roy Hodgson has taken just six weeks to realise the limitations of this England team

Russia have been handed a suspended six-point deduction from their next European Championship qualifying campaign in the wake of disturbances by their fans before last Friday's opening Group A match against the Czech Republic.

Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes Patrice Evra's criticism of England's dour performance on Monday night was unjustified and insists manager Roy Hodgson would have been delighted with the draw in Donetsk.

Glen Johnson was an injury doubt ahead of Euro 2012 with a toe injury and has to endure injections to be on the field for England.