Manager Roy Hodgson admits that England have done better than expected by qualifying top of Group D at Euro 2012. Tuesday's 1-0 win over Ukraine, coupled with France's 2-0 defeat by Sweden, means England win their group and now face Italy in the quarter-finals. 'Getting out of the group partly exceeded my expectations,' Hodgson told BBC Radio 5Live. 'For us to get seven points with two victories and a draw probably exceeds everyone's expectations.' The sixty four-year-old continued: 'We're very pleased to have won the group. It wasn't an easy group to win. Ukraine have very good players, France were undefeated in twenty three games, and then there's Sweden who ended that run. But we deserve it.' A second-half header from the returning Wayne Rooney sealed England's passage to the last eight as group winners following a hard-fought win over the co-hosts in a Donbass Arena in Donetsk dominated by home support. 'It was always going to be a tough game,' said Hodgson. 'We kept getting updates from the Sweden game and we knew France were losing, plus the fans were all behind Ukraine. It took a great effort from us to keep our shape and discipline. We thank the supporters, both the brave four thousand here plus the people back home. All the vibes have been extremely positive, having a good feel-good factor. That rubs off on the team.' Hodgson praised goalscorer Rooney, who was playing his first game in the tournament after serving a two-match ban for his sending off in the final qualifying game against Montenegro. 'You know what Rooney can do, you know his qualities,' said the England boss. 'He gave an extremely disciplined performance, I think he and Welbeck worked extremely well together. 
I've played this down, but it was his first game in a while and the fact he's had eighty minutes in this match will fill him with confidence.' Hodgson also paid testimony to captain Steven Gerrard, who set up Rooney's goal and was voted man of the match. 'You've got to single Steven out. I think to some extent he's been our man of the match in every match, it was a captain's performance,' insisted Hodgson. The coach admitted England enjoyed a slice of luck on Tuesday. Ukraine not only dominated for long periods but were denied a perfectly good equaliser when Marko Devic's shot was several inches over the line before being hooked away by John Terry, but the goal was not given by the officials. It evoked memories of the World Cup in 2010 when a similar decision went against England during the last-sixteen defeat by Germany. 'We don't have goal-line technology, and even with slow-motion we can't be one hundred per cent certain. I'm led to believe the ball crossed the line, and that was a slice of luck,' admitted Hodgson. 'But England have suffered in the past, and if there was a slice of luck, we got it.' By winning Group D, England avoided world and European champions Spain in the quarter-finals and will play Group C runners-up Italy instead in Kiev on Sunday. 'I'd have been quite happy to play the Spanish, but I'd rather miss them because they are the favourites alongside Germany,' added Hodgson. 'I think this team of ours would have given Spain a pretty good run for their money. The good thing is that we're there and we're not travelling home. There was not one person in our group who wanted to be on that plane tomorrow.'
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has renewed his call for the introduction of goal-line technology after a controversial incident in England's 1-0 win over Ukraine helped eliminate the co-hosts. Goal-line technology could be approved by the International Football Association Board on 5 July.
'After last night's match GLT is no longer an alternative but a necessity,' Blatter tweeted. UEFA president Michel Platini prefers the system of five match officials. But he stated on Monday that he expects the IFAB meeting in Zurich to give one of two goal-line systems currently being tested the go-ahead. If that is the case, individual associations can decide whether to use the technology in their competitions. That means UEFA could still decide not to implement the system. The Premier League has previously stated its willingness to make the change. UEFA's chief refereeing officer Big Scary Pierluigi Collina has defended the officiating at the tournament, claiming two similar decisions in previous games were correct. Collina said: 'We made a mistake. I wish we hadn't made the mistake but we did. Referees are human beings and human beings make mistakes.'
The Football Association has been fined five thousand Euros by UEFA for the 'inappropriate conduct' of some England fans in Friday's Euro 2012 win over Sweden. The fine was for the attempted pitch invasion by supporters during the 3-2 Group D victory in Kiev. The FA has decided not to contest the fine, maintaining the relatively small amount reflects UEFA's belief the incident was not serious. 'We accept the sanction and consider the matter closed,' a statement read.
After England's second and third goals by Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck between twenty and thirty fans surged forward towards the barriers but no-one got further than the outside of the Olympic Stadium's running track. The FA had presented video evidence and strong mitigating circumstances in their defence at a UEFA hearing, including that the potential 'invasion' during the comeback win was nothing more than exuberance rather than a deliberate plan by some supporters to get onto the pitch. The incident was so minor the UEFA match delegate is not thought to have even mentioned it in his report of the game. The FA has also confirmed that there has not been any arrests of England fans in Poland or Ukraine this summer.
ITV's average audience for their coverage of the England versus Ukraine game on Tuesday night was 12.7m. The peak, which occurred just around about the time that John Terry hooked that goalbound effort off the line (allegedly), was 18.6m. Catching up with the highlights programme on BBC1 it's worth mentioning that good old Mark Lawrenson came up with two of the finest commentary moments of the tournament so far.
Firstly when Guy Mowbray noted that there was 'a wall of noise' coming from the partisan crowd in the Donbass Arena as the game kicked off Lawro replied 'yeah, but it's not intimidating. It's more like St Trinians!' And then, a moment later, when discussing the absence of Andriy Shevchenko, Lawro told the viewers: 'He played like he had a piano on his back at Chelsea!' Incidentally, the other great moment on BBC1 on Tuesday evening was when a faintly desperate continuity announcer said, immediately after the local news had finished at 7pm: 'If you want to keep up with the England game, you can listen to live and exclusive commentary on BBC 5Live.' Yeah mate, or you could, you know, just turn over to ITV and watch the thing! I mean, I know it means putting up with Adrian Chiles and Jamie Carragher for a couple of hours, but still ...
Never can ITV have played such a prominent role at a Sky drinks bash. The satellite broadcaster's summer party at London's Oxo Tower on Tuesday night was unfortunately timed to coincide with England's crucial last group game against Ukraine.
So a handful of big screens were provided on which guests could follow Roy Hodgson's lads winning 1-0 with the voice of Clive Tyldesley echoing around the brasserie. Well, Sky is still a seven and a half per cent shareholder in ITV. Freddie Flintoff and Elle Macpherson added a little celebrity sparkle to the assorted hacks and executives present. Sky News's nasty Kay Burley and Dermot Murnaghan were also in attendance, along with Sky Sports's Georgie Thompson. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, with whom the satellite broadcaster has just concluded a new enormously expensive live rights deal, was spotted making an early exit. Presumably he has an even bigger screen at home to watch the football on.
I've played this down, but it was his first game in a while and the fact he's had eighty minutes in this match will fill him with confidence.' Hodgson also paid testimony to captain Steven Gerrard, who set up Rooney's goal and was voted man of the match. 'You've got to single Steven out. I think to some extent he's been our man of the match in every match, it was a captain's performance,' insisted Hodgson. The coach admitted England enjoyed a slice of luck on Tuesday. Ukraine not only dominated for long periods but were denied a perfectly good equaliser when Marko Devic's shot was several inches over the line before being hooked away by John Terry, but the goal was not given by the officials. It evoked memories of the World Cup in 2010 when a similar decision went against England during the last-sixteen defeat by Germany. 'We don't have goal-line technology, and even with slow-motion we can't be one hundred per cent certain. I'm led to believe the ball crossed the line, and that was a slice of luck,' admitted Hodgson. 'But England have suffered in the past, and if there was a slice of luck, we got it.' By winning Group D, England avoided world and European champions Spain in the quarter-finals and will play Group C runners-up Italy instead in Kiev on Sunday. 'I'd have been quite happy to play the Spanish, but I'd rather miss them because they are the favourites alongside Germany,' added Hodgson. 'I think this team of ours would have given Spain a pretty good run for their money. The good thing is that we're there and we're not travelling home. There was not one person in our group who wanted to be on that plane tomorrow.'FIFA president Sepp Blatter has renewed his call for the introduction of goal-line technology after a controversial incident in England's 1-0 win over Ukraine helped eliminate the co-hosts. Goal-line technology could be approved by the International Football Association Board on 5 July.
'After last night's match GLT is no longer an alternative but a necessity,' Blatter tweeted. UEFA president Michel Platini prefers the system of five match officials. But he stated on Monday that he expects the IFAB meeting in Zurich to give one of two goal-line systems currently being tested the go-ahead. If that is the case, individual associations can decide whether to use the technology in their competitions. That means UEFA could still decide not to implement the system. The Premier League has previously stated its willingness to make the change. UEFA's chief refereeing officer Big Scary Pierluigi Collina has defended the officiating at the tournament, claiming two similar decisions in previous games were correct. Collina said: 'We made a mistake. I wish we hadn't made the mistake but we did. Referees are human beings and human beings make mistakes.'The Football Association has been fined five thousand Euros by UEFA for the 'inappropriate conduct' of some England fans in Friday's Euro 2012 win over Sweden. The fine was for the attempted pitch invasion by supporters during the 3-2 Group D victory in Kiev. The FA has decided not to contest the fine, maintaining the relatively small amount reflects UEFA's belief the incident was not serious. 'We accept the sanction and consider the matter closed,' a statement read.
After England's second and third goals by Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck between twenty and thirty fans surged forward towards the barriers but no-one got further than the outside of the Olympic Stadium's running track. The FA had presented video evidence and strong mitigating circumstances in their defence at a UEFA hearing, including that the potential 'invasion' during the comeback win was nothing more than exuberance rather than a deliberate plan by some supporters to get onto the pitch. The incident was so minor the UEFA match delegate is not thought to have even mentioned it in his report of the game. The FA has also confirmed that there has not been any arrests of England fans in Poland or Ukraine this summer.ITV's average audience for their coverage of the England versus Ukraine game on Tuesday night was 12.7m. The peak, which occurred just around about the time that John Terry hooked that goalbound effort off the line (allegedly), was 18.6m. Catching up with the highlights programme on BBC1 it's worth mentioning that good old Mark Lawrenson came up with two of the finest commentary moments of the tournament so far.
Firstly when Guy Mowbray noted that there was 'a wall of noise' coming from the partisan crowd in the Donbass Arena as the game kicked off Lawro replied 'yeah, but it's not intimidating. It's more like St Trinians!' And then, a moment later, when discussing the absence of Andriy Shevchenko, Lawro told the viewers: 'He played like he had a piano on his back at Chelsea!' Incidentally, the other great moment on BBC1 on Tuesday evening was when a faintly desperate continuity announcer said, immediately after the local news had finished at 7pm: 'If you want to keep up with the England game, you can listen to live and exclusive commentary on BBC 5Live.' Yeah mate, or you could, you know, just turn over to ITV and watch the thing! I mean, I know it means putting up with Adrian Chiles and Jamie Carragher for a couple of hours, but still ... Never can ITV have played such a prominent role at a Sky drinks bash. The satellite broadcaster's summer party at London's Oxo Tower on Tuesday night was unfortunately timed to coincide with England's crucial last group game against Ukraine.
So a handful of big screens were provided on which guests could follow Roy Hodgson's lads winning 1-0 with the voice of Clive Tyldesley echoing around the brasserie. Well, Sky is still a seven and a half per cent shareholder in ITV. Freddie Flintoff and Elle Macpherson added a little celebrity sparkle to the assorted hacks and executives present. Sky News's nasty Kay Burley and Dermot Murnaghan were also in attendance, along with Sky Sports's Georgie Thompson. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, with whom the satellite broadcaster has just concluded a new enormously expensive live rights deal, was spotted making an early exit. Presumably he has an even bigger screen at home to watch the football on.
