Euro 2012 in brief: Richard Dunne steps up bid to be fit for Spain

Richard Dunne was back in training yesterday as the Republic of Ireland continued their preparations for tomorrow night’s Euro 2012 showdown with Spain.

The Aston Villa man sat out Monday’s session with blistered feet, but resumed at the Municipal Stadium in Gdynia yesterday morning.

Midfielder Darron Gibson was also able to take part after undergoing a scan on a thigh muscle on Monday with manager Giovanni Trapattoni having all 23 members of his squad in action. The Irish lost their first match, 3-1 to Croatia.

Cassano makes jibe over homosexuals

Italy forward Antonio Cassano caused a stir yesterday when he said he hopes there are no homosexual players on the team at Euro 2012, and he then used a derogatory word to describe gays.

After being told by an Italian reporter that there might be some undeclared gay players on the team, Cassano appeared at a loss for words before responding.

He said: “That’s their problem, but I hope not. But I don’t know.”

Cassano then said he hopes his answer had sufficed “because if not, you know I’ll be attacked from every direction.”

Uefa to probe racist chants at Balotelli

UEFA has announced it is to investigate allegations of racist chanting directed at Mario Balotelli during Sunday’s Euro 2012 draw between Italy and Spain in Gdansk.

Uefa has decided to launch an inquiry into that game, plus Russia’s encounter with the Czech Republic on Friday.

“Following the provision of new independent information today, regarding the two cases of alleged racist chanting in the Spain-Italy and Russia-Czech Republic matches, Uefa is now conducting further investigations,” Uefa said.

Shevchenko’s car hit after victory

Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko’s car was hit from behind as he was returning home on Monday after scoring twice in the co-hosts’ first Euro 2012 game against Sweden but the player was not hurt, Ukrainian newspaper Segodnya reported yesterday.

Another car struck Shevchenko’s Porsche from behind when he stopped at a street light, the newspaper said. Fans, who celebrated Ukraine’s victory all night, surrounded Shevchenko as he got out of the car to survey the damage.