PARIS (AP) — The Latest from soccer’s European Championship (all times local):
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5:35 p.m.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos says Cristiano Ronaldo’s “emotional” criticism of Iceland was a response to heckling and booing during their match on Tuesday.
Ronaldo appeared frustrated that Iceland seemed to be overly focused on defending in the Group F match in Saint-Etienne that ended 1-1. He suggested Iceland, which is making its first appearance in a major competition, was just happy to collect a point.
Icelandic newspaper Frettabladid said Ronaldo is “not the most popular man in Iceland.”
Speaking through a translator, Santos said “when people talk about fair play sometimes it makes me want to laugh … after what the Iceland manager and some players said and did for 90 minutes.”
Santos claimed they “booed Pepe and Ronaldo.”
Concluding an answer about Ronaldo’s comments, Santos said “sometimes people will respond in a very emotional way.”
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5:25 p.m.
Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba has brought in veteran Sparta Prague striker David Lafata into his starting line-up for his team’s match against Croatia.
Lafata, who was used as a substitute in the 1-0 loss to Spain, replaces Tomas Necid.
Croatia, which started its European Championship campaign with a 1-0 win over Turkey, has not made any changes for its second Group D.
Captain Darijo Srna is in the team just days after he returned home to attend his father’s funeral.
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5:15 p.m.
Here are the lineups for the Group D match between Czech Republic and Croatia at Geoffroy Guichard stadium in Saint Etienne:
Czech Republic: Petr Cech, Pavel Kaderabek, Roman Hubnik, Tomas Sivok, David Limbersky, Tomas Rosicky, Jaroslav Plasil, Ladislav Krejci, Jiri Skalak, David Lafata, Vladimir Darida
Croatia: Danijel Subasic, Ivan Strinic, Ivan Perisic, Vedran Corluka, Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric, Darijo Srna, Marcelo Brozovic, Mario Mandzukic, Milan Badelj, Domagoj Vida
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5:10 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has laughed off fan violence at the European Championship and urged local authorities in France to treat supporters from all countries equally.
After a week of violence, French authorities on Thursday sentenced three Russian fans to prison and planned to deport 20 others for their role in the violence in Marseille that marred Russia’s opening match against England.
Speaking at Russia’s top economic gathering in St. Petersburg, Putin says the violence is a “disgrace” but then laughed it off.
Putin says “I don’t know how 200 fans could hurt several thousand Englishmen.”
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4:51 p.m.
Italy’s win puts the team into the round of 16 at the European Championship.
The Italians opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Belgium. Now with six points after beating Sweden 1-0, Italy is assured of a spot in the next round no matter what happens in the team’s final Group E match against Ireland on Wednesday in Lille.
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4:50 p.m.
Eder scored a late goal to give Italy a 1-0 win over Sweden at the European Championship.
The Inter Milan forward curled in a shot in the 88th minute after a quick move following a throw-in from Giorgio Chiellini. Substitute Simone Zaza headed the ball into Eder’s path and he ran toward the area before unleashing a hard shot.
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4:44 p.m.
GOAL: Eder scores for Italy in the 88th minute. Italy leads Sweden 1-0.
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3:45 p.m.
Sweden and Italy are tied 0-0 at a halftime at the Stadium de Toulouse, with the Swedes dominating possession and frustrating the Azzurri.
Before the Group E match, Sweden coach Erik Hamren promised a brighter start compared to the Ireland game and his players didn’t let him down. Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic had an early chance when Kim Kallstrom whipped in a dangerous cross from the left, but Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini made a headed clearance.
Whenever Ibrahimovic had the ball in the middle, Italian defenders swarmed around him. That freed up space on the left for fullback Martin Olsson to work in.
Italy’s chances were restricted to a shot from Alessandro Florenzi that deflected into Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson’s arms.
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2:18 p.m.
No surprises up front for Sweden, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the attack against Italy in Toulouse.
Mikael Lustig was injured in Sweden’s 1-1 draw with Ireland and has been replaced by Erik Johansson in one of three changes.
Italy coach Antonio Conte has made one change to his starting lineup from the Azzurri’s 2-0 win over Belgium, with midfielder Alessandro Florenzi replacing defender Matteo Darmian.
Graziano Pelle, who scored Italy’s second goal, has shaken off a foot injury which kept him out of training Tuesday.
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2:15 p.m.
Here are the lineups for the match between Italy and Sweden at Stadium de Toulouse:
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Antonio Candreva, Graziano Pelle, Andrea Barzagli, Alessandro Florenzi, Daniele De Rossi, Eder, Marco Parolo, Leonardo Bonucci, Emanuele Giaccherini.
Sweden: Andreas Isaksson, Erik Johansson, Victor Lindelof, Andreas Granqvist, Martin Olsson, Sebastian Larsson, Albin Ekdal, Kim Kallstrom, Emil Forsberg, John Guidetti, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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11:50 p.m.
German police say they have arrested six Russian soccer hooligans after an attack on a pair of Spanish tourists and their companion at the square in front of the cathedral in Cologne.
Police were investigating whether the suspects were involved in other disturbances during the European Championship in France.
A statement from Cologne police says five of the men were immediately arrested after the incident Thursday evening by plainclothes and uniformed police. The suspects were drunk and found to have tickets to Russia’s matches as well as face masks and mouth guards that police regarded as typical hooligan gear.
A sixth suspect fled the square but was arrested in the departure lounge at the Cologne-Bonn airport before he could board a flight for Ibiza, Spain.
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11:20 a.m.
UEFA’s tournament director says some surfaces at the European Championship have not been good enough.
Martin Kallen says recent heavy rain is a reason the grass in Marseille is not as good as UEFA wants.
Stadiums which stage non-soccer events — including the Stade de France and in Lille — have longer-standing issues with quality.
Kallen says “we have problems and we do our utmost.”
In Marseille, new turf was laid a month ago but Kallen says “it could not take enough roots” because of rain.
A new roof at the renovated Stade Velodrome also deprives the surface of sunshine and drying winds.
Kallen says playing surfaces are better at stadiums “where only football takes place,” like Parc des Princes in Paris.