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8 Best Moments from Day 12

Submitted by isport on Tue, 06/26/2012 - 08:33

We pick our highlights of another thrilling evening in Group D...

1. Tipster of the day
Iain Macintosh was in incredible tipping form as he paired a 1-0 England win prediction with Wayne Rooney open the scoring – perfection.

2. Unconvincing performance of the day (I)
England have had a strange old tournament. The unambitious opening performance against France could barely have been more different from the end-to-end spectacle that characterised the defeat of Sweden. With expectations predictably - if unjustifiably - raised, many expected Roy Hodgson's side to brush a modest Ukraine outfit aside in Donetsk last night.

The reality was quite different. England struggled to find any sort of rhythm in an uneventful first half before things improved slightly in the second half. A scrappy Wayne Rooney goal saw England top Group D but they will need to show a vast improvement against Italy in the quarter-finals.

3. Rabble-rouser of the day
Annoyed by questions about his side's elimination from Euro 2012, Ukraine manager Oleh Blokhin invited a journalist outside to settle a dispute. "If you're a man, go with me. One on one," the 59-year-old urged.

4. Irony of the day
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning strike against France would have been worthy of winning any contest. Unfortunately for him, though, it came far too late as the Swedes fate had already been sealed by their first two losses.

5. Fading hopes of the day
Before last night, Laurent Blanc would have been confident of guiding his France side to at least the semi-finals. Labelled as many people’s dark horses, the French were never competitive against a Sweden team already destined to return home.The performance was only half of the problem, though: France's inability to scratch out a victory means that they face Spain in the quarter-finals. Sacre bleu!

6. Unconvincing performance of the day (II)
Wayne Rooney made his much-anticipated return to the England side, having been suspended for the opening two games of Euro 2012. While he did nod home the winning goal, his overall performance left a lot to be desired after a month away. He'll definitely be hoping for better against Italy.

7. Puppy dog eyes of the day
Andriy Shevchenko was only fit enough for the bench in Donetsk before a brief cameo marked the end of his international career. All the former Chelsea striker managed to contribute last night was a rash lunge on Ashley Cole but his apologetic face saw him escape with just a yellow card. The Ukrainian legend was sent into international retirement bemoaning his side’s luck after their ‘ghost’ goal wasn’t given.

8. Final hurrah of the day
Seb Larsson played poorly in Sweden's losses to the Ukraine and England. Usually such a reliable supplier of crosses from the right, the Sunderland man failed to provide Markus Rosenberg, Johan Elmander and the rest with the service on which they could have thrived. However, he went some way to making up for that by setting up Zlatan’s opener before slamming home a goal of his own late on.