A second-half goal by substitute Loic Remy earned France a 1-0 home win against the US on Friday, but Les Bleus failed to impress in their first preparation game for the Euro 2012 finals.
France, who booked their place for the continental tournament in Poland and Ukraine by topping their qualifying group last month, lacked creativity, but Remy’s strike saved the day on a cold night at the Stade de France.
The hosts dominated, but Juergen Klinsmann’s side could have been awarded a penalty in the 20th minute when Arsenal center back Laurent Koscielny, who had a night to forget, appeared to bring down Jozy Altidore in the box.
Photo: AFP
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Jeremy Menez proved a constant threat, but it was not quite enough as France failed to create clear chances.
Les Bleus had their best opportunity of the first half in the 37th minute when Franck Ribery broke down the left and set up Menez, whose swiveled attempt went over the bar.
France improved slightly after the break, coming very close when Karim Benzema’s header from an Adil Rami deflection hit the bar in the 55th minute.
One minute later, Tim Howard pulled off a great save to parry away a dipping Benzema free-kick.
Blanc made a string of changes around the hour, which bore fruit in the 71st minute when Remy collected a through ball from fellow substitute Marvin Martin, muscled his way through the defense and clinically fired home.
Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud earned his first cap in the second half and made some impact although he wasted a clear-cut chance in the closing stages.
The US lost 6-0 and 3-0 in their only two previous encounters with France in 1979.
? UKRAINE 3, GERMANY 3
Reuters, KIEV
Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine twice surrendered a two-goal lead against Germany as the first match in the newly-renovated Olimpiyskiy Stadium ended in a 3-3 draw on Friday.
A near-capacity crowd in the stadium that will host the final of Euro 2012 next year watched Ukraine lead 2-0 and 3-1 with goals by Andriy Yarmolenko, Yevhen Konoplianka and Serhiy Nazarenko, but Germany refused to be beaten and earned a draw with a Thomas Mueller goal after 77 minutes.
Yarmolenko opened the scoring after 28 minutes, tapping in from close range, before Konoplianka doubled the lead eight minutes later.
Germany replied with a Toni Kroos thunderbolt from the edge of the area after 39 minutes, but Ukraine went in at halftime with a two-goal cushion when substitute Nazarenko’s long-range effort flew into the top corner of the net.
The hosts nearly went further in front shortly after the break when Andriy Shevchenko’s curled effort was beaten away by Germany goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler.
Simon Rolfes got on the end of a corner at the far to bring Germany back into the game after 65 minutes and a rampant Germany side then took control.
Last year’s World Cup semi-finalists grabbed a deserved equalizer 13 minutes from time when Mueller poked the ball past a defender and fired a shot into the net.
It was an entertaining start for the 68,000-seat stadium which has undergone a drastic and problematic 410 million euros (US$565 million) reconstruction since 2007 and was finally officially unveiled last month after major delays.
Ukraine are co-hosting next year’s finals with Poland.
In other friendlies, it was:
‧ Italy 2, Poland 0
‧ Georgia 2, Moldova 0
‧ Azerbaijan 1, Albania 0
‧ Hungary 5, Liechtenstein 0
‧ Burkina Faso 1, Mali 1
‧ Cameroon 3, Sudan 1
‧ Scotland 2, Cyprus 1
‧ Denmark 2, Sweden 0
‧ Belgium 2, Romania 1
‧ Netherlands 0, Switzerland 0
‧ Greece 1, Russia 1
‧ Panama 2, Costa Rica 0
‧ Mexico 2, Serbia 0
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB