Japan fight back to salvage point

Miyagi: Hosts Japan recovered from a shock start of the match to salvage a come-from-behind 2-2 draw against New Zealand to stay at the top of Group A of the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2012 Japan.

In the match played at Miyagi Stadium on Wednesday, Japan conceded two early goals but came back brilliantly to earn a point which saw them topping the group on goal difference to New Zealand. Group rivals Mexico defeated Switzerland 2-0 to stay in contention for the quarter-final while Switzerland are out of reckon for the knockout stages.

Yoko Tanaka’s 37th minute strike and equalizer from Ayaka Michigami in the 71st minutes rescued Japan who were clearly the better side on the day with their total shots reaching 28 against New Zealand’s eight in the match.

New Zealand opened the match in a promising note and Ayu Nakada’s clearance of a corner ended up inside her own net in the 11th minute for the New Zealanders’ lead. They doubled their lead in the 15th minute through Rosie White’s second in the tournament as the forward connected a brilliant left-footer after controlling the ball on her chest.

A deflected effort from Tanaka reduced Japan’s deficit to 2-1 in the 37th minute and the moment of the match came in the 71st minute when Michigami connected a sublime header against lanky Kiwis’ defenders. Japan looked for the winner in final quarter of the match without avail.

“We have not showed our gifted techniques fully yet," said Japan coach Hiroshi Yoshida. "Today we showed our technical football to some extent, but that was not enough to win the match."

Japan will take on Switzerland in the final match of Group A on Sunday.

Article source: http://www.the-afc.com/en/component/content/article/944-fifa-womens-u-20-world-cup-2012/39837-japan-fight-back-to-salvage-point

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Kwak completes Ulsan comeback

Ulsan: Kwak Tae-hwi struck in the last minute of Ulsan Hyundai's K-League Round 22 clash with Gwangju to give the ACL 2012 quarter-finalists' a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.

Kim Dong-sub's 36th minute effort had given the visitors a 1-0 half-time lead before Maranhao (Luis Carlos dos Santos Martins) drew Ulsan level ten minutes after the restart.

With Ulsan looking to be heading towards the sixth draw of their 2012 K-League campaign substitute Kwak scored in the 90th minute to move Ulsan back into third place with 41 points, eight less the leaders and defending champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Ulsan, who are aiming to become the fourth successive ACL finalists from Korea after last year's runners-up Jeonbuk, Pohang Steelers and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma - ACL champions in 2006, 2009 and 2010 respectively - take on Al Hilal in the last eight of this year's edition of Asia's premier club competition.

The first-leg of their AFC Champions League quarter-final will take place on September 19 with Ulsan hosting the two-time Asian Club Championship winners before the Saudis entertain the Koreans on October 3.

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Italy and Croatia Fight to Remain at Group Stage

Watch Italy vs. Crotia live at 12BET

Date: June 15, 2012

Time: 12:00 AM (GMT +8:00)

ITALY	Tournament Statistics (as of June 14, 2012)		CROATIA
1	Goals Scored		3
6	Attempts On Target		9
4	Attempts Off Target		6
3	Corners		7
19	Fouls Committed		18
4	Yellow Cards		2
0	Red Cards		0
PREDICTED STARTING LINEUPS
Italy (3-5-2)		Buffon; Bonucci, De Rossi, Chiellini; Maggio, Motta, Giaccherini, Pirlo, Marchisio, Di Natale, Cassano.
Croatia (4-2-3-1)		Pletikosa; Srna, Corluka, Schildenfeld, Strinic; Vukojevic, Rakitic; Modric, Perisic, Mandzukic; Jelavic.

POZNAŃ: Italy and Croatia will battle one another in a bid to remain at the group stage. The Azzurri’s draw with Spain drives them further to win this match. However, they can be kicked out of the group stage if they end up losing.

Croatia has done very well against the Republic of Ireland in the first group match when they won at 3-1. Currently the top team in Group C, they must win this upcoming match to progress further. Otherwise, they might not even win the group stage, especially with Spain to face in their last group match.

Previous Matches

Italy and Croatia only met for 5 times, with the Croats winning in all of those meetings. This is a challenge Italy has to face, despite being a team whose players are of strong international exposure.

The two teams last met in a 2006 friendly match. Croatia won at 2-0 when Eduardo da Silva and Luka Modric scored 1 goal each against goalless Italy.

Pre-Match Developments

Striker Antonio Di Natale is likely to replace Mario Balotelli on Italy’s starting lineup. Di Natale scored the opening goal during the Azzurri’s match versus Spain.

Croatian defender Vedran Corluka is in a proper condition to play for his team. The injury he got before EURO 2012 was not worsened during Croatia’s match against Republic of Ireland.

Italy-Croatia Predictions

Sports Statistics Information Centre

(as of June 14, 2012)

v  Disclaimer: All information above is provided free for members as a 12BET service. The prediction statistics are purely a view point and there is no guarantee on the returns. Hence all members or visitors are requested to apply their prudence before acting on any of the recommendations. Neither 12BET nor any of its promoters, members, or employees holds any responsibility of any losses incurred (if any) by acting on the recommendations.

The match between Italy and Croatia is not going to be an easy one. To emerge as a contender in the quarterfinals, Italy has to go past through Croatia’s record 3 goals through scoring 2 goals ahead in the coming match. For that to happen, Italy needs to realize another feat similar to striker Antonio Di Natale’s success during their promising performance versus Spain. The Azzurris can rely on its team’s international calibre to trounce Croatia’s technical proficiency.

Croatia bears the pressure of upholding its 5-game winning streak versus Italy while being awaited by defending champion Spain in the knockout round. Mandžukić and fellow striker Nikica Jelavić have to cooperate well in order to break Italy’s competitive stance. A repeat of Mandžukić’s quick opening goal against Republic of Ireland timed at 2 minutes and 38 seconds will be a nice spectacle for Croatia.

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Germany (N) vs. Netherlands Match | UEFA 2012

Germany (N) vs. NetherlandsMatch live @ 12bet  2:45 AM GMT+8

Having lost to Denmark, the Dutch will be a dangerous proposition, with attacking quality in abundance and in desperate need of a result they will be looking for goals. Germany can take confidence from the sides’ last match, a 3 – 0 friendly victory for Germany in November 2011 and their victory against a decent Portugal side in spite of a below par performance.

Holland may look to dominate possession and nullify the German threat before pressing forward, the big question is whether their talented forwards can show more of their domestic form. With the onus on Holland, Germany can look to revert to the counter-attacking style so devastating under Löw in recent years. Thomas Müller on the right may be a key-player with the promising but largely inexperienced Willems at left-back.

Netherlands training concludes with Robin van Persie taking time out to talk to former Arsenal FC team-mate Robert Pirès, who is here working for French TV. My match preview is on its way shortly.

Team Lineups

Netherlands:Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Willems, N De Jong, Van Bommel, Robben, Sneijder, Afellay, Huntelaar

Germany:Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm , Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Ozil, Schurrle, Gomez

Team News

Netherlands
-Defender Joris Mathijsen is appearing in the game after becoming fit of veteran.
-Ron Vlaar is not included in starting lineups.
-Huntelaar might be replacing Robin Van Persie.

Germany
-Andre Schurrle, Marco Reus and Mario Gotze are included in starting lineups.
-Podolski still not starting lineups for Germany.

Player to Watch

Netherlands: Robben is the player to watch from Dutch side.
Germany:Muller with good form will be interesting person to watch from German side.

Previous meeting

Result was in side of Germans who won Netherlands with 3 goal difference which was friendly match played on 15 Nov last year.

International Friendlies         15 Nov 2011         Germany 3 – Netherlands 0

Last 5 matches

Netherlands:(L, W, W, L, L)Netherlands seems in struggling form with 3 defeat in last 5 matches with only 2 wins against week teams. Netherlands lost against Danish side in their last Euro Group stage matches.

Germany: Germany who slide 1 step down from Fifa new updated ranking seems to ba at average form winning 3 out of 5 matches with 2 defeat. Germany won its last Euro Cup match against Portugal.

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Euro 2012 Group Stage – Poland Vs Greece Match Preview

Euro 2012 EUFA bet on sport 12bet

Poland Vs Greece Match Preview

In the build-up to the first activity of this season's European Championships, the betting for the Greece vs. Poland has thrown on a variety of events. When the draw was declared and the accessories were set for each team, Greece were the possibilities on favorites to choose up a win in this fascinating first experience of the tournament.

Check back for the you win match preview guide for the Euro group A stage game of Poland Vs Greece.

A couple of days before the game kicks off, we’ll be giving you our exclusive betting guide to Poland Vs Greece, with an in depth look at all the components that are likely to affect the outcome of the match – including the team line up, latest happenings off the pitch, potential goal scorers and the likely Poland Vs Greece final score and how this could affect group A.

This will allow you to make an informed decision and take advantage of some of the very best odds on Poland Vs Greece with 12bet.com.

In the mean time you can check out more about each of the individual Poland football team and Greece football team by looking at our teams guide.

Euro 2012 EUFA bet on sport 12bet

Poland Vs Greece Match Preview

 

 

In the build-up to the first activity of this season's European Championships, the betting for the Greece vs. Poland has thrown on a variety of events. When the draw was declared and the accessories were set for each team, Greece were the possibilities on favorites to choose up a win in this fascinating first experience of the tournament.

Check back for the you win match preview guide for the Euro group A stage game of Poland Vs Greece.

A couple of days before the game kicks off, we’ll be giving you our exclusive betting guide to Poland Vs Greece, with an in depth look at all the components that are likely to affect the outcome of the match – including the team line up, latest happenings off the pitch, potential goal scorers and the likely Poland Vs Greece final score and how this could affect group A.

This will allow you to make an informed decision and take advantage of some of the very best odds on Poland Vs Greece with youwin.com.

In the mean time you can check out more about each of the individual Poland football team and Greece football team by looking at our teams guide.

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