Euro in Warsaw

People walk in a subway station decorated with football themes in the center of Warsaw, two days before the Euro 2012 football championships opening match on June 8 in Warsaw.

Benzema at the double for France

France thanked a brace from Real Madrid's Karim Benzema as they thumped Estonia 4-0 in an impressive Euro 2012 tune-up to give Group D rivals England food for thought.

Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery set the ball rolling in the northern town of Le Mans with the opener on 24 minutes before Benzema made it 2-0 eight minutes before the break as the French found their form.

Benzema added another just two minutes after the restart before Paris Saint Germain forward Jeremy Menez made it four in stoppage time.

On the negative side for Laurent Blanc's men a central defensive partnership of Philippe Mexes of AC Milan and Valencia's Adil Rami had a few nervous moments but that failed to take the gloss off a morale-boosting win and, as a former stopper himself, Blanc should be capable of passing on some tips to his backline.

The coach said he was satisfied overall.

"It's three wins in three and so we can be satisfied. In some areas less so but overall it was a good evening," said Blanc, ho noted even so that "sometimes we put ourselves in difficulty" at the back.

He forecast that against England "it will be more difficult, a more rigorous test and we will have to play it in simpler fashion."

Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye was a driving force in midfield while Ribery bagged his third goal in as many outings after Benzema neatly set him up before bagging his own 14th and 15th goals for his country - the first a fine curling individual effort and the second laid on by Ribery.

Menez bundled in his late goal after coming on as substitute for Benzema along with Olivier Giroud, who replaced Florent Malouda.
France have now gone 21 games unbeaten and the memories of a disastrous 2010 World Cup are finally beginning to fade away.

They meet England next Monday as they open up their programme before further pool meetings with co-hosts Ukraine and Sweden and Blanc says they are showing signs of forming a dangerous unit.

On Benzema and Ribery's linking up well together on Tuesday's evidence he told reporters: "Ribery and Benzema have enormous potential and they have shown that with their clubs - though they still have to fulfil it with France.

"Collectively, we are moving forward (but) the moment of truth comes on June 11," he concluded.

Pele criticises Brazilians, Neymar, ahead of Olympics

Former star Pele on Monday criticised the Brazilian Olympics squad saying he felt they "are not ready" for the event on the evidence of a 2-0 weekend loss to Mexico and also lambasted starlet Neymar for overly hugging the left wing.

"I think it's good this (defeat) happened as it does away with the feeling that this is a marvellous team, that it's doing fine," opined Pele of the loss to the Mexicans in Texas which came on the heels of a much more impressive 4-1 win over the United States.

Coach Mano Menezes hopes to lead the Brazilians to their first Olympic title in London in August but Pele says they have some way to go yet.

"It is a good team, with good players but not yet ready to overcome difficulties" when they arise," said Pele, who indicated he felt Neymar "has difficulty playing against a European or Latin American" defender - more so than against Brazilian league rivals.

"He stays stuck out there on the left but that doesn't just happen in the national side but also with Santos," Pele charged, urging Neymar to move inside and become more involved in dictating the play.

Ronaldinho joins Atletico Mineiro after Fla spat

Former Brazil star Ronaldinho, having quit Flamengo last week amid claims he is owed some 20 million dollars in salary, on Monday signed for modest top flight side Atletico Mineiro.

"We are happy to announce we have managed to bring Ronaldinho to Atletico," said his new club president Alexandre Kalil on the team website after netting the 32-year-old former Barcelona and Milan star and ex-world player of the year.

Ronaldinho, World Cup winner in 2002, will receive around 150,000 dollars in basic salary a season compared with nearer 600,000 at Flamengo, according to Lancenet web portal.

Pele meanwhile defended Ronaldinho amid criticism of his recent showings for "Fla".

"I think it's a little unjust - he is no longer the Ronaldinho of ten years ago but he is talented... Flamengo are not doing well and as a result neither is Ronaldinho."

Eden Hazard chooses Chelsea after Euro triumph

Eden Hazard admits he decided to join Chelsea after watching his new club's dramatic Champions League final triumph against Bayern Munich.

Hazard completed his £32 million transfer from French club Lille on Monday after the 21-year-old had initially suggested he was likely to join either Manchester City or Manchester United ahead of Chelsea.

The Belgium playmaker was uncertain which offer to accept and revealed he only made up his mind to move to Stamford Bridge after being impressed by the spirited nature of the Blues' penalty shoot-out win over Bayern.

"I watched the Champions League Final like everybody else," Hazard told Chelsea's website.

"It puts a bit more pressure on the players who are already here but they're used to it, and I think I'm pretty good at coping under pressure.

"It's true that initially there were a number of clubs in for me, but when Chelsea won the Champions League I thought: 'Why not?'

"It was a complicated decision with lots of different factors involved, but the fact that they have great players and are European champions, also coming to London - I know people here already and there are a few French speakers - I think I have made the right decision."

Winning the Champions League clearly helped Chelsea's chances of landing Hazard as it guaranteed they will play in the competition next season after they missed out on qualifying through the Premier League.

Hazard, who won Ligue 1 with Lille in 2011, believes Chelsea can use their first European Cup as a springboard to achieve even greater success in the coming years, and he is keen to lead a strong challenge in the Premier League after this season's disappointing sixth place finish.

"Chelsea had a great season even if we didn't do very well in the league," he said. "By anybody's standards winning two cups is a great achievement, so it will be a big challenge to do better.

"We're equipped to do that and all I can hope is that while I'm here we can win a lot of trophies, that's what I'm aiming for."

Hazard also revealed that he spoke to former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, who spent last season on loan at Lille, about life at the Bridge before sealing his move.

"I spoke to Joe Cole and what he said above all was that Chelsea was the right club for me," he said.

"As somebody who loves the club himself, he said he could really see me in the shirt, so when I see him next I'll tell him he was right.

"It's a dream come true for me. I can't wait to get started and for the season to start so I can meet my new team-mates, the supporters and all the people who are involved."

Injured Olic uncertain for Euro 2012

Croatian Ivica Olic's participation at Euro 2012 could be in doubt after the striker suffered an injury to his right thigh in a friendly against Norway, a team doctor said on Sunday.

"I cannot guarantee that Olic will play at the Euros," Croatia squad doctor Zoran Bahtijarevic told the Sportske Novosti daily online edition.

The 32-year-old Bayern Munich striker, who will join Wolfsburg after the tournament, picked up the injury during Saturday's friendly against Norway in Oslo, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

"We did the first medical exam at the stadium in Oslo to check the flexibility of the muscle. It seemed fine, but he will undergo a complete scan on Monday in Munich," the doctor said.

Olic said he did not feel any pain, he added.

"I'm an optimist. So far the medical evidence suggests he could (play at the Euro), but let's wait until the scan."

Croatia are drawn in a tricky Group C with reigning champions Spain, Italy, and the Republic of Ireland.

The former Yugoslav republic play their first match at the European Championship, hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine, against Ireland on June 10.

Nigeria, SAfrica leave it late in World Cup

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Nigeria and South Africa both left it late on Sunday to salvage points at the start of their bids to qualify for the World Cup on a day that emphasised the increasing vagaries of the qualifying competition on the African continent.

Mali, who finished third at the African Nations Cup finals earlier this year, lost 1-0 away to Benin in their opening group game while Libya kept up their recent heroics with a 1-1 draw in Togo.

There was a dramatic late equaliser for Uganda as they salvaged a point in Angola in one of seven African qualifiers played on Sunday.

It completed a weekend of 20 matches at the start of the group phase of qualifiers for Brazil where little went with the form book.

Ike Uche delivered a rocket-like shot 10 minutes from time to spare Nigeria potential blushes against Namibia after he had earlier missed a host of good chances in Calabar.

It was modest 1-0 win for a country, whose population of more than 150 million contrasts starkly with the 2 million Namibians, but will be welcome by new coach Stephen Keshi, seeking to rebuild their team after missing out on qualifying for the 2012 Nations Cup finals.

South Africa admitted under-estimating opponents Ethiopia in their Group A game in Rustenburg and emerged with a fortuitous 1-1 draw after Katlego Mphela equalised in the 77th minute.

""Our guys thought it was going to be easy but we must give our opponents credit. Maybe this is a wake up call," said South Africa's beleaguered coach Pitso Mosimane.

Ethiopia, who had only won once in 16 previous World Cup qualifiers on the road, had taken the lead through Said Saladin on the half-hour mark.

HOPES EVAPORATED
Razak Omotoyossi scored the only goal in Cotonou as Benin overcame Mali in Group H.

Any hopes Mali had of building on their surprise semi-final spot at the Nations Cup have evaporated in recent months after a military coup and the subsequent insecurity prompted FIFA move their home game to neutral venues and coach Alain Giresse depart.

Libya, in contrast, continued their fairytale progress of the last two years despite also being forced into both preparing and playing outside of their country.

Under new coach Abdul-Hafeedh Arbeesh, they battled out a draw in Togo, who were World Cup finalists six years ago.

Togo, playing again without Emmanuel Adebayor, scored first through Kalen Damessi but Libya were level inside the opening quarter-hour through Ahmed Zuway.
Emmanuel Okwi provided an 87th minute equaliser as Uganda pulled off a 1-1 draw away against Angola, another country who played in Germany in 2006.
A free kick from Ibrahima Traore saw Guinea beat Zimbabwe 1-0 away while Gabon drew 0-0 in Niger.