One of the first big matches in Euro 2008 takes place today as Italy faces the Netherlands. The game will take place at Stade de Suisse in Bern, Switzerland and should be one of the best ones so far in the tournament. Both teams have been picked to do well and neither wants to start with a loss. The Netherlands will be missing Arjen Robben who is out with an injury. They are also without Ryan Babela and Van Persie. The key player for the Dutch is Ruud Van Nistelrooy. He will look to lead the Netherlands offense against Italy.

Italy is -.5 (+130) with a total of 2 over (-120) at SBG Global
Three-way line – Italy +130, Netherlands +220, Draw +210

The Italians are without Fabio Cannavaro who is injured while Cristian Panucci is also hurt but expected to play. The key player for Italy is Luca Toni who had a great year for Bayern Munich with 39 goals and 12 assists in 46 matches. He will team with Daniel Derossi to lead the attack.

Read more on Euro 2008 Betting Preview: Netherlands vs Italy

On Saturday, Manchester United overtook Arsenal in the top of the Premiership with 20 points for Manchester United in the standings versus 19 points for Arsenal. ManU took the lead with an earlier Saturday win gainst Wigan Athletic. However, Arsenal’s Sunday victory on their home pitch at the Emirates Stadium against Sunderland returned them to first place in the Premier League.

Arsenal’s Robin van Persie scored on the 80th minute to give Arsenal a one goal lead, and the full three points in order to regain their position at the top of the English Premier League standings. Robin van Persie was also responsible for opening the scoring of the match with a scorching free kick in the 7th minute that left Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon helpless, and putting up Arsenal 1-0. In the 14th minute, Arsenal’s Philippe Senderos was able to pick up a loose ball from a corner, and put it in the back of the Sunderland net to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead.
Read More on Robin Van Persie Scores for Arsenal To Beat Sunderland 3-2

Manchester United: 4, Wigan Athletic: 0!

The scene on Saturday at Old Trafford was very festive as Manchester United scored 4 amazing goals against visitors Wigan Athletic to give them their 4th win of the season plus the lead atop the English Premier League with 20 points. However, Manchester United’s top standing in the Premiership only lasted less than 24 hours as Arsenal would collect 3 points on Sunday with a 3-2 win against Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium to overtake ManU with 22 points…
Read more on Manchester United win against Wigan Athletic

Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is also the striker for Spanish La Liga Champions Real Madrid, scored a late goal in their UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Albania in the Qemal Stafa at Tirana, Albania, to give them a 1-0 win, and tie Romania on top of Group G with 20 points each.

Netherlands’ substitute Urby Emanuelson crossed the ball from the left wing to Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who made an acrobatic volley that sent the ball past Albanian goalkeeper Arian Beqaj in injury time. Van Nistelrooy’s goal gives him his 30th goal in 57 international matches for Netherlands…[read more]

The Netherlands 2-0 victory over Bulgaria at the Amsterdam Arena saw goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder who are also in the first squad of Spanish La Liga Champions Real Madrid.

Bulgaria had an unbeaten run in Group G of the 2008 Euro Qualifers, and sat on 2nd place for the longest time. In the 2008 Euro Qualifiers, only the top 2 of each group will be advancing to the final tournament which will be hosted with the combined resources of Austria and Switzerland. However, Bulgaria failed to maintain their unbeaten streak and lost a crucial game versus Netherlands, and allowed the Dutch national team to overtake them and steal the 2nd place spot. With just a few matches left in the 2008 Euro Qualifiers, the 17 points of Netherlands in 2nd place over Bulgaria’s 15 points in 3rd are looking good. Netherlands looks to be a sure winner against Albania in next week’s 2008 Euro Qualifer match. However, Bulgaria are also favored to win against Luxembourg, so the race for the second spot in Group G behind group leaders Romania who lead Group G with 20 points…[read more]

Besiktas JK winger ?brahim Üzülmez has withdrawn from Fatih Terim’s Turkey squad for Wednesday’s UEFA EURO 2008 Group C qualifier against Norway in Frankfurt after being ruled out for four weeks with knee ligament damage.
The 33-year-old lasted only 19 minutes of Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Greece in Athens before being taken off. Galatasaray SK’s Ferhat [...]

Portugal set up a quarter-final showdown with Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men in Gelsenkirchen next Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Holland thanks to Maniche’s goal.
The game saw an astonishing four red cards and a record-equalling 16 bookings, but when the dust settled it was Phil Scolari’s Portugal who were left standing.
Holland started the brighter of the [...]

Marco van Basten watched his side battle to a goalless draw against the South Americans who have played the most eye-pleasing football of this World Cup so far. The Dutch coach described Argentina as playing "Top of the Pops" football.
Argentina and Holland played out an entertaining 0-0 draw in Frankfurt as both nations concluded their [...]

Coming off a lopsided 6-0 victory over Serbia-Montenegro, two-time champion Argentina will try to maintain the momentum against the Netherlands – its toughest rival in Group C. It promises to be a game of high quality although the sting has been taken out of the contest because the sides are already through to the second [...]

In almost any other group, the game between Netherlands and Côte d’Ivoire on 16 June would stand out from the rest. Not in Group C, though, where all four sides positively sparkle with talent. Instead, this will be one of several titanic matchups, pitting one of the tournament favourites against a side considered by many [...]