Czech Republic Survives Early Scare As Svěrkoš Scores

Czech Republic substitute Václav Svěrkoš crashed the party for co-hosts Switzerland by scoring the only goal of the UEFA EURO 2008™ curtain-raiser in Basel.

Deflated
Svěrkoš struck after 71 minutes to defeat a home side already deflated by a knee injury to forward Alexander Frei. The closest the Swiss came to rescuing a Group A point was a late Johan Vonlanthen shot off the underside of the crossbar.

Portugal Thrash Turkey In Euro Opener

Losers on the opening day four years ago, Portugal made a sure-footed start to UEFA EURO 2008™ as second-half strikes from Pepe and substitute Raul Meireles secured all three points against Turkey at the Stade de Genève.

Just deserts
It was a deserved victory for Luiz Felipe Scolari's men who also rattled the woodwork twice through Nuno Gomes. For Turkey, by contrast, defeat here continued their unhappy sequence of results against not just Portugal, who had previously bettered them at the 1996 and 2000 finals, but also teams coached by Scolari – his Brazil beat them twice at the 2002 FIFA World Cup – and made Wednesday's Group A meeting with Switzerland a virtual eliminator.

Euro Cup 2008 Standings

Group A

Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts
Portugal	1	2	3
Czech Republic	1	1	3
Switzerland	1	-1	0
Turkey	1	-2	0

Group B

Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts
Germany	1	2	3
Croatia	1	1	3
Austria	1	-1	0
Poland	1	-2	0

Group C

Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts
Netherlands	0	0	0
Italy	0	0	0
Romania	0	0	0
France	0	0	0

Group D

Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts
Greece	0	0	0
Sweden	0	0	0
Spain	0	0	0
Russia	0	0	0

A True Soccer Legend - David Beckham

David Beckham - What's it all about?

When you watch David Beckham with a ball you watch someone at the very pinnacle of their profession. The master craftsman, perhaps even a great artist! Europe is in mourning as he leaves for America and yet many in his new homeland aren't sure what it's all about.

Soccer is growing in The States, no question about that and its about to get a whole lot bigger. Many in The States cannot get excited about soccer but even they wonder what's so special about David Beckham playing soccer?

To understand the phenomena that is David Beckham you need to understand the player. The reason he first won the England fans over and then the Real Madrid fans was not because he was the best player in the team, he wasn't. Nor was it his speed, or his ball juggling skills, his witty after match comments etc.

The reason his fans love him and even supporters of rival teams admire him so much is because the guy just never gives up. His team can be 2 goals down with a few minutes left on the clock but Beckham will be running and chasing to win the ball. It is this will to win and belief in himself that will win over America's arm chair sports fans. He plays with his heart on his sleeve and always has done.

He is of course the worlds greatest crosser of a soccer ball which helps win the fans over and his free kicks still rank him along side the worlds best dead ball specialists. But even these skills are acredited to his never give in spirit and his will to succeed. David was never a great natural player, someone born with a gift like a George Best or a Maradona. His skills were learnt as a necessity because as a young player trying to break into the first team at the great Manchester United the young David Beckham had a problem - He could not get past a defender!

He soon realized if he was to progress under the ever watchful eye of the great coach Sir Alex Ferguson he needed a solution. So instead of trying to beat the defender and losing the ball he simply learnt to cross the ball into the danger area for others, learning how to make it swerve around the defense and thereby completely removing the need to worry about a little thing like defenders!

All this practising with a moving ball meant his dead ball skills went through the roof and he soon established himself as Manchester United's and then England's free kick specialist. His peers regard him the finest free kick taker in the world.

As David Beckham sets off on a new adventure both the L.A. Galaxy and arm chair fans will soon come to understand why we loved him so much and why we miss him already.

Ronldo career in Jeopardy

Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has urged international striker Ronaldo to keep his head up and work hard to overcome his latest career-threatening knee injury.

The 31-year-old AC Milan player underwent surgery on his left knee in Paris on Thursday after collapsing in pain during a game against Livorno in Italy, fuelling speculation the Brazilian's storied career may be over.

Lula, a self-described sports fanatic who peppers his speeches with soccer metaphors, said on Friday he and "millions of Brazilians" were saddened by Ronaldo's latest injury but also confident the three-times World Player of the Year would make another triumphant comeback.

"Young man, keep moving forward, be strong, don't give up," Lula said in an open letter to Ronaldo. "I have faith, just as the Brazilian people do, that you will return to the playing field and once again you'll be an example of perseverance and courage."

Ronaldo, suffered a similar injury on his right knee while playing for Inter Milan in 2000 but recovered to help Brazil to win a fifth World Cup in 2002.

In 2006, Ronaldo became the all-time leading scorer in World Cups with 15 goals in three tournaments. Since then, he has been plagued by injuries and has played sparingly.

Kevin Keegan conquers Newcastle United For the Third Time

Kevin Keegan will outline his future plans for Newcastle United when he is officially presented at a media conference at St James' Park on Friday (1400 GMT).

The 56-year-old began work on Thursday when he took his first training session and spent time with club chairman Chris Mort ahead of his first match in charge against Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday.

Keegan's third coming at Newcastle after his previous incarnations as player (1982-84) and manager (1992-97) has galvanised the soccer-mad city, but Friday's media conference will be a relatively low key affair.

Keegan has asked that the ground should not be open to fans while he meets the media. The fans, though, will give him a rapturous welcome on Saturday.

He will quickly need to turn his attention to the transfer market, with the window closing in two weeks, if he is to strengthen his side, currently in mid-table.

He is also yet to announce who his assistant will be with former right-hand man Terry McDermott a possible choice.

Chris Coleman, who resigned as manager as Real Sociedad on Wednesday and was Keegan's captain when he was manager at Fulham, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for the job.

Keegan has confessed to not seeing a match live since he left his last job as Manchester City manager in 2005, but he saw Newcastle beat Stoke City 4-1 in an FA Cup third round replay on Wednesday.

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Kaka, Iraq Emerge winners

LONDON - AC Milan star Kaka looks set to collect a sweep of player of the year awards after scooping more than 50 per cent of the votes in the annual poll conducted by the respected magazine World Soccer, whose readers also gave Iraq the team prize. Kaka, who is the hot favourite to pick up the FIFA player of the year award on Monday and already won European soccer's Golden Ball, finished way ahead of his rivals in a poll of the magazine's readers.

The Brazilian received 52.8 per cent of the votes ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi (17.6) and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo (16.0). Messi won the young player award ahead of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas.

The biggest surprise in the poll was Iraq winning the vote for world team of the year.

Winner of the Asian Cup in July, the Iraqi team not only overcame stronger teams but also achieved the triumph against a background of chaos and tragedy back home in its war-torn country.

Iraq edged Milan, which won the Champions League for its seventh triumph in European soccer's most prestigious competition, with two-time UEFA Cup winner Sevilla a distant third.

Manchester United's Alex Ferguson captured the coach of the year award after leading the Red Devils to their ninth Champions League title in 15 years. Ferguson edged Juande Ramos, who won back-to-back UEFA Cup titles with Sevilla before moving on to Tottenham.