Euro 2012 daily: Thursday, June 13

Holland on the brink

A double by Germany’s Mario Gomez saw the Netherlands slump to a 2 - 1 defeat last night leaving their hopes of reaching the last eight hanging by a thread.

Ireland bank on heart against Spain

Giovanni Trapattoni believes the heart shown by his players reaching the finals means they are in with a chance of pulling off a shock result tonight when they face Spain.

A loss for Ireland would see them eliminated from the competition.

Russian face hooligan penalty

Russia could be docked six points in qualifying for the next European Championship if their fans step out of line again following disturbances after their clash with the Czech Republic on Friday.

TODAY’S MATCH SCHEDULE

Italy v Croatia 5pm

BBC1

Spain v Ireland 7.45pm

ITV1

ONE TO WATCH - Mario Gomez

Although Gomez was second choice for a large part of Germany’s qualifying campaign he took his chances when he played netting 6 times for the Germans. Gomez managed 41 goals in 52 appearances for Bayern last season and has carried his stunning form into this year’s tournament. Contributing with a vital header in the 1-0 win over Portugal, Gomez followed up by netting twice against Holland in a 2-1 victory.

EURO FACTS

The European Football Championship, is named in honour of Henri Delaunay, the first General Secretary of UEFA, who devised the idea of a European championship but died five years prior to the first tournament in 1960.

For the 2008 tournament, the trophy was slightly remodelled, making it larger.

MEMORABLE GOAL OF EUROS PAST

John Jensen vs Germany – Euro ’92

Denmark’s run to the final surprised the footballing world and their eventual victory will forever inspire lesser footballing nations that victory in a major championship is in fact possible.

John Jensen’s opening goal set the Danes on their way to a 2 - 0 victory.

Jensen latched onto an inch-perfect pass from Flemming Povlsen before firing his shot into the top corner.

LATEST ODDS

TOURNAMENT WINNERS

Germany 5/2

Spain 3/1

France 9/1

TOP GOALSCORER

Mario Gomez 13/8

Alan Dzagoev 11/2

Karim Benzema 14/1

• Inside Sport podcast: Andrew Smith and Stuart Bathgate discuss Rangers, Euro 2012 and Andy Murray