Off the pitch
England request to commemorate slain fan
England players made a formal request on Wednesday to wear black armbands for their forthcoming quarter final clash against Portugal.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's side made the request to UEFA in remembrance of Stephen Smith who died Tuesday after being stabbed by a Ukrainian pickpocket in Lisbon.
Sky Sports reported that a spokesman for the Football Association (FA) had asked Uefa for permission as a mark of respect for the 27-year-old supporter.
The attack took place after England beat Croatia 4-2 to book a place in the last eight of the tournament.
Danish consulate egged in Milan
Eggs of vengeance were thrown at the Danish consulate in Milan during the wee hours of Wednesday after a Sweden-Denmark tie (2-2) forced Italy out of the Euro 2004 football tournament.
"On arriving this morning we noticed that the front door and some of the facade had been dirtied by eggs," said Lars Eric Kruse, the Danish consul in Milan.
Amid rumors of a Nordic plot against the Italian team, football-crazed tifosi are furious at the high-scoring draw that enabled both of the Scandinavian teams to qualify for the quarter-finals at the Azzurri's expense.
Sour grapes from grumpy Goran
Goran Ivanisevic is delighted to have won his first round match at Wimbledon but the 2001 champion is fuming over Croatia's 4-2 defeat to England in Euro 2004.
"We made England look like Brazil, but some of the guys in the England team are third division. I don't want to name names but they are really bad," he told the BBC.
"I would like England to go through. I think how people celebrate here, how they live for football is good.
"I would like England to win but I think the two best teams so far are the Czech Republic and Denmark."
England set to feel at home
Despite playing Thursday's quarter-final with hosts Portugal in the lions' den of the Stadium of Light, England will feel almost as if they are playing at home with more fans than their rivals.
"The English have snapped up most of the tickets for the game," sports daily A Bola quoted "official sources" as saying, adding many England supporters, with more purchasing power than their hosts, had trawled the Internet to bag any ticket still going for the sellout meeting.
It has echoes of last year's rugby World Cup in Australia where England fans appeared to even outnumber Australian fans at the final in Sydney.
British fan stabbed in Algarve
A 19-year-old British fan was stabbed in the neck in the Algarve region but his injuries are not life threatening police announced on Wednesday. .
The circumstances of the stabbing in Portimao were not yet clear, and the assailant has not been arrested or identified.
Another British fan died Tuesday after being stabbed by a Ukrainian pickpocket in Lisbon.
A German fan was hospitalized in Lisbon with injuries after trying to fight off three assailants who robbed of some 2,100 euros (2,500 dollars), a cell phone and six tickets for the German-Czech match overnight Tuesday.
Greek team reap rewards
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| Greece's players celebrate, 20 June 2004 at the end of their European Nations championship football match at Faro stadium. Russia and Greece are competing in Group A with Spain and Portugal. Russia won 2-1, Greece qualifies for the quarter finals. |
Greece's football team will receive a one-million euro bonus for reaching the quarter-finals from the Greek government.
The bonus, announced by Greek sports minister Yiorgos Orfanos, comes on top of a reward over a total two million euros (2.42 million dollars) already offered by the Greek Football Federation EPO.
Greece reached the last eight for the first time in their history after beating hosts Portugal 2-1 and a 1-1 draw with Spain.
Football-crazed Greece hosts the August 13-29 Athens Olympics. The team's good showing is considered as a good omen for the Games.
Cambodia's King is France fan
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| Cambodia King Norodom Sihanouk (R) and Queen Monineath give a traditional greeting as people celebrate the Water Festival along the Mekong river in Phnom Penh, 08 November 2003. The race is an important part of an annual three-day festival, which sees tens of thousands visit the capital from the countryside for the festivities. King Norodom Sihanouk celebrated his 81st birthday 31 October. AFP PHOTO/CAMBODGE SOIR |
Cambodia's 81-year-old King Norodom Sihanouk has spoken of his lifelong love of football and his support for France.
"I've always loved (and this has been the case since my early youth until the 1960s) football as a player," he said on his internet site.
"After China freed me in January 1979 from the clutches of the satanic Pol Pot, I became a fan of the French team as the Cambodian team was too unimpressive," he wrote.
"To be a fan of the French team, is to wish that it wins every match," said the king, a great francophile and francophone in a handwritten message in French.
Plane facts of life hit Greeks
Greek travel agents were scrambling for aircraft to carry local football fans to Portugal ahead of Friday's quarter-final against France.
"Travel agents are in a race against the clock. Some of them see it as their patriotic duty to get as many fans to Portugal as possible," said one travel agent.
Up to 6,000 Greek fans will travel after Greece secured an unprecedented berth in the last eight.
"There are no planes for the charter market in Greece. We have to find aircraft abroad, most in Britain and Spain," added the agent.
Italians mocked by press
The Italian press directed its fury at its national team on Wednesday after the Azzurri crashed out of Euro 2004 while Sweden and Denmark qualified.
"The millionaires go home," said the Il Messaggero daily.
"A little Italy is out of the Euro and the Danes and Swedes made a mockery of us." screamed the Corriere dello Sport daily.
"Being a champion is a way of life... a champion does not blame bad luck for their own misfortune and never insults an opponent," said Turin-based La Stampa in reference to accusations Sweden and Denmark had rigged their 2-2 draw.
Newcastle chase Miguel
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| Portrait of Miguel before a international friendly match Portugal vs Greece, at the Aveiro Municipal soccer stadium, in Portugal, 15 November 2003. AFP PHOTO/ Aris MESSINIS |
Newcastle United are considering making a 13 million euro bid for Portuguese defender Miguel in a cash plus player deal involving midfielder Hugo Viana going the other way.
Miguel, 24, replaced Chelsea-bound Paulo Ferreira in the Portugal defence at Euro 2004 after the tournament-opening defeat to Greece.
He played in the victories over Russia and Spain which sent the host nation into Thursday's quarter-final against England.
Originally a winger, Miguel converted to defensive duties after joining Benfica in 2000.