Germany put Euro 2008 tickets on sale

[Pucko]

The German Football Federation (DFB) will put 14,400 tickets for Germany's first round matches at this summer's Euro 2008 on sale from Tuesday.

Tickets for the June 7-29 tournament will be sold on the DFB website from Tuesday at 10:00 (09:00 GMT) to midnight on February 12.

The DFB said they were putting 70 percent of their allocation on sale to the public with the remainder divided between federation chiefs, clubs, sponsors and the players.

Some 5,722 tickets are available for 45 euros (66 dollars) for the matches against Poland and Croatia on June 8 and June 12 at Klagenfurt, and 10,321 for the clash against Austria in Vienna on June 16.

But the limited capacity of stadia hosting Germany's games has been criticised in the press.

The daily Bild complained in their editoral Sunday: "99 percent of German supporters who will apply to buy a ticket will go away empty handed to the delight of the black market where tickets at 850 euros are already available.

"And that leads to the question: football is it now just for the rich?"

[Pierce]

Robert Green is hoping the start of a new era with the England team will give him the chance to prove himself at international level.

The West Ham goalkeeper has been in and out of the national squad in recent years and has seen very little match action.

But Green, who is in competition with the likes of Scott Carson, Paul Robinson, David James and Joe Hart, hopes the arrival of Fabio Capello will herald a change in his personal fortunes.

Achievement

He told the Sunday Times: "I've been part of the England set-up for 30 matches now and I've played for 45 minutes. You'd think a keeper who has been around the squad for four years would have played more than half a game.

"I don't want to make excuses, but part of our problem is that every time England play, it's a must-win game in the eyes of the media and the public.

"Because of that pressure, the manager is going to pick his first-choice keeper every time, which is counter-productive in that the No.2 gets not experience and therefore is never ready.

"If I play the next game for England, it will be my biggest achievement in football, and I'd love to do it, but after everything that's happened you learn to take nothing for granted.

"What's the point getting upset over it? I'm doing everything I can. For the past year I've played better than ever before. I had a sports psychologist at Norwich who had a saying: 'You can't control the uncontrollable', and I can't control the England thing.

"Don't get me wrong, I do want it, I'd run to Wembley - do anything - to be in the side, and maybe things will be different under a new manager."

Crazy

And Green has hit out at former England boss Steve McClaren for dropping Paul Robinson for the inexperienced Carson for the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley.

Carson dropped a clanger in the opening minutes to hand Croatia the lead, with Slaven Bilic's side going on to win 3-2 to end England's qualification hopes.

He added: "I thought it was crazy to put Scott in against Croatia at Wembley.

"Paul Robinson hadn't been playing well, but if there was a time to replace him, that certainly wasn't it. The right thing to do was to give him (Carson) experience in a friendly to feel his way in.

"You shouldn't get thrown in like that for England's biggest match for two years. It was too much to ask of anybody."