Ronaldo sets Portugal on way to Confederations Cup semis

ST PETERSBURG - European champions Portugal comfortably dispatched New Zealand 4-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semi-finals on Saturday after Cristiano Ronaldo set them on their way with a penalty.

Portugal's all-time leading scorer swept the ball home in the 33rd minute, his 75th goal for his country, and Bernardo Silva added the second four minutes later.

A solo effort from Andre Silva, his eighth goal in 11 appearances, in the 80th minute and a stoppage-time goal from substitute Nani completed the scoring.

It was a typically efficient performance from Portugal who never looked in real danger despite a sluggish start.

However, it was not all good news as Bernardo Silva went off injured at halftime, while a needless and reckless challenge from Pepe, with his side 2-0 up, earned the controversial central defender his second yellow card of the tournament, ruling him out of Wednesday's semi-final.

"It was an odd game - we were in control, but they started creating problems, and if it had got back to 2-1, it could have got complicated," said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, who helped Unterhaching win promotion from the German fourth division last season, kept the score down with a superb second-half display.

The Oceania champions were far from disgraced but have now competed in the tournament four times without winning a game and have an overall record of 11 defeats and a draw in 12 matches.

Even so, coach Anthony Hudson was proud of his side, who refused to shut up shop in the second half.

"We know we've played some really good football at times. We never stopped. We created chances, we put them under pressure, so we could have got a little more out of this tournament," he told reporters.

"This team are on the right path, they have got great character, great belief and it's a young team moving in the right direction."

Portugal topped Group A with seven points from three games, ahead of Mexico on goal difference after the CONCACAF champions beat hosts Russia 2-1. New Zealand finished bottom of the group after losing all three games.

Ronaldo had already headed against the crossbar before firing Portugal ahead after Danilo went tumbling under a challenge from two defenders and the referee pointed to the spot without asking for a video replay.

Bernardo Silva turned Eliseu's low cross into the net four minutes later, although he suffered a knock on the ankle in the process.

Marinovic made impressive saves to deny Ronaldo, Andre Silva and Nani but was powerless stop Andre Silva when he collected the ball on the halfway line, ran at two defenders who backed off, and fired his shot into the far corner.

Nani completed the scoring with his 25th international goal.

(Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond, Neville Dalton)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

FOOTBALL: US thrash Guatemala, Netherlands down England

US bounce back with Guatemala thrashing

Agence France-Presse

The United States got their flagging 2018 World Cup qualification campaign back on track on Tuesday with a 4-0 thrashing of Guatemala.

A shock 2-0 defeat to the Guatemalans last Friday had left Jurgen Klinsmann's side facing a must-win return fixture in Columbus, where a defeat would have all but eliminated them from North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) zone qualifiers.

But the USA, who have appeared at every World Cup finals since the 1990 tournament in Italy, never looked like being denied all three points as they dominated from the opening minutes.

The result vaulted the Americans over Guatemala into second place in the standings in the four-team Group C, behind Trinidad and Tobago, who defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines 6-0 on Tuesday.

The top two teams in the group qualify for the final round of competition to determine CONCACAF's World Cup contingent.

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Disputed Dutch winner keeps England in check

John Geddie, Reuters

England came crashing down to earth with a frustrating 2-1 loss to an inexperienced Netherlands side at Wembley on Tuesday, failing to build on their defeat of world champions Germany last weekend.

Second-half goals from Dutch forward Vincent Janssen and substitute Luciano Narsingh cancelled out a Jamie Vardy strike in the first half, sapping the optimism around Roy Hodgson's side ahead of this June's European Championship finals.

On paper it should have been a routine victory for England -- a team undefeated at Wembley for 2-1/2 years, brimming with Premier League talent and up against an injury-hit, experimental Dutch outfit that failed to qualify for the Euros.

But history was never on their side. Barring one win in 1996, they have not tasted success against the Netherlands in more than 30 years.


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Germany punish Italy to atone for England shock

Reuters

World champions Germany crushed Italy 4-1 in their friendly international on Tuesday to equal their biggest win against their opponents and recover from a surprise loss to England as they put down a marker for the European Championship.

Goals from Toni Kroos, Mario Goetze and Jonas Hector in the first hour gave Italy no chance, with Mesut Ozil then converting a 75th-minute penalty after Sebastian Rudy was brought down.

A more secure defence, with centre-back Mats Hummels playing the full game, meant Italy were made to work hard for a trickle of chances and had to wait until the 84th minute for Stephan El Shaarawy to pull a goal back and deny Germany their biggest victory over their European rivals.

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Messi scores 50th Argentina goal in 2-0 win over Bolivia

Luis Ampuero, Reuters

Lionel Messi scored his 50th international goal to help Argentina beat Bolivia 2-0 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

The win put Argentina third in the South American group with 11 points from six matches, two points behind joint leaders Ecuador and Uruguay.

Argentina defender Gabriel Mercado, who scored the winner in Thursday's 2-1 away victory over Chile, opened the scoring in the 21st minute against Bolivia.

Argentina were awarded a penalty in the 29th minute after Ronald Eguino fouled midfielder Ever Banega, and Messi made no mistake from the spot to net his 50th goal for Argentina, putting him within six of Gabriel Batistuta's record.

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Goals galore for France as Russia are swept aside

Julien Pretot, Reuters

France bristled with goalscoring threat just 10 weeks before they host Euro 2016 as they beat Russia 4-2 in a friendly international on Tuesday.

In the first soccer match at the Stade de France since last November's deadly Paris attacks, Les Bleus played some attractive football and scored through N'Golo Kante, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Dimitri Payet and Kingsley Coman.

Seven players have now scored in two games after Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi were on target in the 3-2 win against the Netherlands four days earlier.

Alexander Kokorin and Yuri Zhirkov reduced the arrears for Russia, making the most of France's lapses in concentration on a rainy night in the capital.

Security was tight in and around the Stade de France following the attacks in Paris by militant Islamists on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people.

The crowd observed a minute's silence before kick-off in memory of the victims of last week's bombings in Brussels.

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Ibrahimovic returns as Sweden draw 1-1 with Czech Republic

Reuters

Sweden, buoyed by the return of captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic, drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic as both sides continued their preparations for Euro 2016 with a warm-up friendly on Tuesday.

The home side, looking to rebound after losing 2-1 to Turkey on Thursday, took the lead in the 14th minute when Marcus Berg converted a cross with a first-time effort past Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.

The Czechs, who lost to Scotland 1-0 at home last week, levelled in the 26th minute through Matej Vydra's diving header.

The Swedes controlled much of the game and created a number of chances throughout, forcing Vaclik into several sharp saves.

They also welcomed the return of Ibrahimovic, who missed Sweden's friendly against Turkey.

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Thousands pay tribute to Cruyff in 14th minute at Wembley

Reuters

Thousands of fans stood and applauded in a moving 14th-minute tribute to Johan Cruyff during the friendly between England and the Netherlands at Wembley on Tuesday.

The great Dutch player and coach, who wore the number 14 shirt for most of his glittering career, died last Thursday from lung cancer aged 68.

"Johan Cruyff 1947-2016" was displayed on the electronic boards surrounding the pitch, while Cruyff's face was shown on the giant scoreboards. The Wembley arch that spans the stadium and can be seen across London was lit up in orange, the national Dutch colors.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com