Soccer's stubborn governing bodies will come under increased pressure to finally introduce goal-line technology after co-host Ukraine suffered what appeared to be a severe injustice against England on Tuesday and was eliminated from Euro 2012.To the naked eye, England's John Terry robbed Ukraine's Marko Devic of a goal on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

Replays showed that Marko Devic's 62nd-minute effort crept over the line before being hooked clear on the final night of action in Group D. However, despite extra officials being stationed behind the goals for this tournament, the wrong call was made and England went on to a 1-0 win at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk.

The appropriate technology needed to adjudicate disputed decisions has been available for nearly a decade, but has been stubbornly resisted by soccer's hierarchy. Even now, two companies have devised failsafe measures that still require ratification to be accepted by the authorities.

Instead, the likes of FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini prefer to leave huge decisions that affect the sporting hopes of

By the time Wayne Rooney makes his first appearance at Euro 2012 on Wednesday, Ukraine will already have been defeated, the Manchester United striker will have scored a couple of goals and England will be marching merrily toward the quarterfinals.

These events, it is worth noting, will all have taken place in Rooney's mind, as part of his preparatory routine for what must count as one of the biggest games of his international career.

English forward Wayne Rooney will make his first appearance at Euro 2012 on Wednesday. (AFP)Rooney recently detailed the intricate mental web he weaves for himself leading up to every match, and the decisive clash in Group D, where England must avoid defeat to co-host Ukraine in order to stave off elimination, is no exception.

On Tuesday afternoon, he will contact the team's equipment manager to find out whether England will be wearing its white home jerseys or its navy blue away kit, as well as discovering the color scheme of its opponent and analyzing the layout of the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, where the game will take place in front of

Cristiano Ronaldo created a slice of history in powering Portugal to the quarterfinals of Euro 2012 on Sunday but faces a lonely day off after his supermodel girlfriend decided to remain in New York instead of jetting to Poland.

Ronaldo scored two goals as Portugal beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the Ukranian city of Kharkiv to guarantee itself second place in Group B and a last-eight showdown with the Czech Republic.

After Portugal's impressive recovery from losing to Germany in its opening game, coach Paulo Bento decided to reward his players with a day off to spend with their wives and girlfriends when they return to their Polish training base.

Irina Shayk. (SI.com)However, Ronaldo will be on his own after his leading lady Irina Shayk opted to stay in the United States rather than travel to the tournament.

"We will rest and regroup and the players will have some time to enjoy themselves," Bento said. "It is important after coming through a difficult group that they can have some normal time. We want

Italian soccer fans fear their national team's hopes of Euro 2012 glory could be ruined by an extraordinary conspiracy masterminded by archrival Spain.

Going into its final game in Group C on Monday, Italy must defeat the Republic of Ireland to stand a chance of progressing to the quarterfinals. But even then, the Azzurri could be foiled if the group's other finale between Spain and Croatia ends in a 2-2 draw.

Leonardo Bonucci (left) and Andrea Pirlo know Italy's destiny is out of their hands. (AP)The tournament's tiebreaker system means that such a result would eliminate the Italians, irrespective of the margin it defeats Ireland. While players from both Spain and Croatia rubbished suggestions that collusion could take place, bookmakers slashed odds on a 2-2 result from 18:1 to 5:2.

Making things worse for Italy and its nervous supporters is that they have been in this position before. At Euro 2004, a 2-2 draw between Sweden and Denmark knocked Italy out of the competition amid wide-scale accusations that the game had been fixed.

"Having been burned once

Danny Welbeck produced the most unusual and imaginative goal of Euro 2012 to hand England a desperately needed victory over Sweden on Friday and provide the highest point in a career that itself is a triumph against long odds.

Welbeck (left) shows off his skill on the winning goal against Sweden. (AP)Welbeck completed a dramatic comeback for England with the final goal in a 3-2 win in Kiev and leave his country needing just a draw against co-host Ukraine in its final match in Group D to guarantee a place in the quarterfinals.

The 21 year-old Manchester United striker had his back to the goal when Theo Walcott fired in a low cross from the right after 78 minutes, but he was able to flick the ball with the back of his right heel, sending it past Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson and into the net.

It was Welbeck's second goal for his country, and some fans had expressed doubts as to his suitability for a starting place in the absence of suspended first-choice forward Wayne Rooney. However, Welbeck is no stranger to overcoming adversity, having battled an

Andriy Shevchenko has provided Euro 2012 with perhaps its most dramatic moment so far, with his two-goal haul against Sweden on Monday sending co-host Ukraine into wild national celebrations.

He is a genuine superstar, having won seven league titles, the Champions League, the Ballon D'Or award given to the world's best player (2004) and excelled in Italy's Serie A, one of the toughest leagues of all.

Andriy Shevchenko electrified the home crowd with his performance Monday. (AFP) He has an American supermodel wife, loves the United States and is strongly considering ending his career in Major League Soccer.

Great news, right? Not so fast.

While MLS is rarely slow to roll out the welcome mat to global stars and a handful of clubs likely will be interested in snapping up Shevchenko, plenty of evidence suggests that what appears to be a marriage made in heaven may be somewhat less desirable than it looks.

For a start, there is his age – 36 in September – that casts doubt on his suitability for a switch. Shevchenko's double against Sweden was a tremendous

An epic choke in front of goal from Cristiano Ronaldo was forgiven on Wednesday as the world's most expensive player's blushes were spared by a teammate who cost absolutely nothing.

Ronaldo, who Real Madrid bought from Manchester United in 2009 for a world record $131 million transfer fee, could not disguise his disbelief as he missed the simplest of chances when completely unmarked just a few yards from the net in Portugal's crucial Euro 2012 clash with Denmark.

When Portugal, having already lost its first game to Germany, conceded a goal just moments later to level scores at 2-2, the team – captained by Ronaldo – was in danger of being pushed to the brink of elimination.

Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after missing one of his easy scoring chances. (AP)However, with just three minutes remaining in this Group B contest in Lviv, Ukraine, forward Silvestre Varela unleashed a ferocious strike to provide one of the goals of the tournament so far and a much-needed lifeline for Portugal, the world's fifth-ranked team.

Varela has long been regarded as a promising

The most widespread case of soccer hooliganism for more than two decades erupted between fans of Poland and Russia on Tuesday, and the incident has prompted the sport's two biggest governing bodies to order an investigation that may change the way major tournaments are organized.

Fans clash prior to the match between Poland and Russia. (AP) In the hours leading up to a 1-1 draw between the two teams in Group A of Euro 2012, hundreds of fans fought bloody battles with fists, bottles and metal weapons on the streets of the Polish capital Warsaw, as riot police firing rubber bullets and releasing tear gas tried to keep them apart.

A series of factors combined to make this the highest-risk match of the championships in terms of fan violence, as highlighted by Yahoo! Sports on Monday, and unfortunately violence transpired. Although officials claimed only 10 people had been seriously injured, onlookers estimated that figure to be much lower than they observed.

The disgraceful scenes, the likes of which soccer hoped were a thing of the