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By Philip O’Connor

Czech Republic players celebra…
Getty Images - Jun 19, 5:46 pm EDT

VIBORG, Denmark, June 19 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic scored two late goals to knock England out of the European Under-21 Championship and Spain beat 10-man Ukraine 3-0 to top Group B on Sunday.

Striker Danny Welbeck looked to have headed England into the semi-finals when he powered home a cross from Daniel Sturridge 11 minutes from time but substitute Jan Chramosta equalised for the Czechs in the 89th minute.

A draw would have been enough for the Czechs but as England poured forward in search of a winner Chramosta turned provider, setting up Tomas Pekhart for a simple finish into an empty net to seal a 2-1 win for his side.

The reward for the Czechs is a semi-final meeting with Switzerland on Wednesday, while Spain, who comfortably beat Ukraine courtesy of two goals from Mata and one by Adrian, will face Belarus on the same day.

(Writing by Philip O’Connor in Stockholm) (Editing by Ed Osmond)

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Labels: Cruise, Czechs, England, Reuters, Spain, strike

BARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Villarreal was held to a 1-1 draw by last-place Malaga in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Marco Ruben put Villarreal ahead in the 36th mnute, tapping in a deflection of a shot by teammate Giuseppe Rossi. Malaga’s Sebastian Fernandez finished off a counterattack led by Jose Rondon to split the points in the 82nd.

Valencia's Miguel Brito fr…
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AP - Feb 13, 5:04 pm EST CORRECTS NAME OF PLAYER - Real…
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With the draw, Villarreal remained in fourth place, two points behind provincial rival Valencia.

Also, Javad Nekounam scored twice in Osasuna’s 4-0 win over Espanyol on coach Jose Luis Mendilibar’s debut.

The Iran Midfielder put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute, heading in a corner delivered by countryman Masoud Soleimani, and added the second from the penalty spot in the 55th after Espanyol’s Aldo Duscher had handled in the area.

Manuel “Lolo” Ortiz made it 3-0 in the 80th, and Fernando Soriano capped the victory in the 88th.

Osasuna moved out of the drop zone with the win, while sixth-place Espanyol has lost its last four games.

Deportivo La Coruna goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia scored in injury time to give his team a 1-1 draw at Almeria, and Racing Santander beat Getafe 1-0.

Almeria looked set to convert Pablo Piatti’s 49th-minute opener into three points, but Aranzubia charged forward to head home a corner right on the final whistle in the 95th.

In Madrid, Pablo Pinillos scored the 88th-minute winner for Racing Santander from the penalty spot after Getafe defender Ivan Marcano was sent off for pulling down Giovani Dos Santos with only the keeper to beat.

Later, Barcelona looks to extend its lead over Real Madrid to five points with the visit of Athletic Bilbao to Camp Nou stadium, while Sevilla tries for its first win in four weeks as its hosts Hercules.

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Labels: draws, Malaga, Spain, Villarreal

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Sebastian Vettel remained the man to beat with the quickest time on day two of F1 testing at Catalunya,

Having set the fastest time on the opening day at the wheel of Red Bull?s new RB7, Vettel set the benchmark again late in the morning as the team worked on race weekend simulation.

The only issue came when the race simulation during the afternoon was hit by red flags and a heat shield issue but head of engineering Ian Morgan was pleased to once again see the RB7 leading the way.

?Generally it was good today and we got through almost everything we wanted to,? he said. ?We had a few small problems, such as an issue with a heat shield. But that?s why we do these tests, to iron out any little problems, and generally the simulations went well.

?The weather is forecast to deteriorate a bit overnight, which may make it difficult to run the simulations, but hopefully we can do the same simulations with Mark that we did with Seb today.?

To view times from the second day of testing in Barcelona, CLICK HERE.

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Labels: Eurosport, Front, Spain, stays, Vettel, Yahoo

World Cup winner Spain leads the FIFA rankings, and new Asian champion Japan has moved into the top 20. The United States remains at No. 18 to lead CONCACAF teams. African champion Egypt dropped out of the top 10, down to No. 33, because its title is more than a year old. Spain heads an unchanged top nine, followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and Argentina.


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Labels: Japan, leads, rankings, Spain

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has said that Rafael Benitez's failed stint at Inter was not entirely his fault.

Benitez was sacked by the Italian and European champions after they won the Club World Cup in December in the wake of his ultimatum in which he demanded January reinforcements.

Del Bosque, though, believes that the former Valencia and Liverpool manager could have succeeded in Italy.

“Benitez is a great trainer. His career speaks for itself," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“His only fault is that of not having had reinforcements, but rather only injuries and the injuries are certainly not his fault.”

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Labels: Benitez, Bosque, coach, defends, Goalcom, Rafael, Spain, Vicente

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Tottenham Hotspur pulled off a deserved 1-0 win at AC Milan and Raul made a scoring return to Spain to earn Schalke 04 a 1-1 draw at Valencia in Champions League last-16 first-leg matches on Tuesday.

Spurs, making their debut in the competition this season, outplayed the seven-times European champions in a bad-tempered game and England striker Peter Crouch struck the winner 10 minutes from time with a fine breakaway goal.

Tempers flared after the final whistle and Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso was involved in an angry altercation with Tottenham assistant coach Joe Jordan. "It's a great night for the fans and a great night for Tottenham," Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said. "They lost their heads at the end there, they were rattled for sure, and I guess that's a good sign."

Gattuso apologised for his behaviour.

"I lost control," he told reporters. "There is no excuse for what I have done. I take my responsibilities for that. I was nervous. I was wrong to do what I have done."

Spurs, who lost 4-3 to Inter Milan at the San Siro in the group stage after fighting back from 4-0 down, dominated the first half but failed to find a way through the Milan defence.

The Serie A leaders improved following the introduction of Alexandre Pato as a second-half substitute and Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes made two instinctive saves to keep out powerful headers from Mario Yepes.

Tottenham looked pleased to be heading for a draw before England winger Aaron Lennon burst into the Milan half and laid the ball off perfectly for the unmarked Crouch to score with a clinical low shot.

At the Mestalla, Roberto Soldado put Valencia ahead in the 17th minute but Raul equalised for Schalke midway through the second half with a trademark finish, turning sharply to extend his record Champions League goal tally to 69.

"He showed the class he has always had. He exploited his talents, not only for the goal but all the work he put in during the match," Schalke coach Felix Magath said.

Schalke defender Lukas Schmitz was sent off in stoppage time following his second yellow card.

Arsenal host Barcelona and AS Roma entertain Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday with the other four first-leg ties to be played next week.

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Labels: Eurosport, Milan, SoccerSpurs, Spain, strikes, tetchy, Yahoo

Spain have been named the Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

La Furia Roja won the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa in the summer for the first time in their history.

Spain were voted as the best sports team of the past 12 months ahead of Inter, who won the treble in the last campaign as they lifted the Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League trophies.

French football legend Zinedine Zidane was bestowed with the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award for his brilliant career in which he won the European Championship, World Cup and the Champions League.

The full Laureus World Sports Awards 2011 are as follows:

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Rafael Nadal
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Lindsey Vonn
Laureus World Team of the Year: Spain World Cup Team
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Martin Kaymer
Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Valentino Rossi
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Verena Bentele
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Kelly Slater
Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Zinedine Zidane
Laureus Spirit of Sport Award: European Ryder Cup Team
Laureus Sport for Good Award: May El-Khalil, founder of the Beirut Marathon

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Labels: Award, Goalcom, Laureus, Spain, Sports, World