Euro 2012 Review: England beat Ukraine to reach quarters

England completed a far from convincing win in their final group D game against co-hosts Ukraine as Wayne Rooney returned from suspension to pop up with the vital goal. Rooney was the only change to the side that had beat Sweden last Friday as he came in for Andy Carroll. The England striker was far from his best , missing a free header from 4 yards out in the first half, but early into the second half he made up for it, as he got onto the end of Gerrard's deflected cross to nod the ball home from a yard out. The final score in Donetsk finished England 1-0 Ukraine. The result meant that England had managed to avoid Spain meaning they are to play Italy in the quarter-finals after finishing top of their group.

Wayne Rooney returned from suspension to head England into the quarter-finals

The other game of the day sprung a suprise as France suffered a defeat at the hands of Sweden. Sweden were playing for nothing but pride after already knowing their fate of being knocked out before the game had started. However it was a great performance from the Swedes as goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovich and Seb Larsson meant the final score finished Sweden 2-0 France in Kiev.

Those final group results mean that the lineup for the quarter-finals has now been decided and are as follows...

Czech Republic v Portugal - 21st June in Warsaw
Germany v Greece - 22nd June in Gdansk
Spain v France - 23rd June in Dontetsk
England v Italy - 24th June in Kiev

Euro 2012 Review: England come from behind to beat Sweden

Day 8 saw England return to action as they played Sweden in the capital city of Ukraine, Kiev. England made just one change to the side that drew with France as Andy Carroll came in for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The change meant that Ashley Young moved out to the left wing as Carroll partnered Welbeck up front.

England were the first team to score first in their match as Steven Gerrard found the head of Andy Carroll who nodded the ball past Isaksson in the Swedish goal. The score was still 1-0 at half time. However everything changed after the break as a double from defender Olof Mellberg left England fearing yet another defeat to Sweden. Roy Hodgson then brought on Theo Walcott who completely changed the game around as he scored a brilliant swerving effort from outside the box to equalise for England. He then set up the winner as he raced past two Swedish players before finding Welbeck who backheeled the ball into the back of the net to send the fans crazy. The final score finished Sweden 2-3 England.

The earlier game in the day was between England's group D rivals as France took on Ukraine. The game took a while to get going as on 4 minutes the referee had to stop play because of severe weather conditions. A massive rain and lightning storm had hit Donetsk which forced play to be suspended. The players did eventually get back on the pitch though but the game didn't go the co-hosts way as Samir Nasri was once again a key player for the French. However, this time he didn't score as Jeremy Menez and Newcastle United's Yohan Cabaye grabbed the goals which sent France top of the group ahead of England in Group D. The final score in Dontesk finished Ukraine 0-2 France.

Walcott was brought on as a substitute and completely changed the game around for England

Euro 2012 Review: Day 4 - England start with a draw

Day four of the Euro's saw the first round of group matches come to an end as England played France, and Ukraine played Sweden in Group D.

England started their Euro 2012 journey with a draw against a much fancied French side containing the likes of ex-Arsenal man Samir Nasri. However, it was England who strung the first suprise as 18 year old Arsenal man Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started as Theo Walcott was on the bench. Laurent Koscielny was amongst the French substitutes. The game was pretty evenly matched but perhaps France had a bit more possession than England. However it was England who struck first. Gerrard's looping free-kick found the head of Lescott who found the back of the net. France were level just 9 minutes later though as Nasri found room on the edge of the box before firing inside Joe Hart's near post. Before that though Hart had managed to prevent a storming header from Diarra to keep England ahead whilst Milner also missed a great opportunity after going round the keeper. The final score in Donetsk finished England 1-1 France.

The other game in the group saw co-hosts Ukraine take on Sweden in a brilliant end to end game. It wasn't until after the break though that any goals were scored. Sweden were the side who were to open the scoring as Ibrahimovich got ahead of his man to poke the ball past Pyatov. The Swedes weren't ahead for long as Shevchenko rose the highest to head the ball home and then managed to give Ukraine the lead just after the hour mark as he got ahead of Ibrahimovich to once again head the ball past Isaksson. The final score in Kiev finished Ukraine 2-1 Sweden which meant that the hosts went to the top of group D.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his competitive England debut against France