Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Italy humiliated, France held to draw

World Cup holders Italy have lost their opening match at the Euro 2008 in Switzerland against the Netherlands 3-0.

France were held to a 0-0 draw by Romania on Monday.

Van Nistelrooy and Sneijder scored for the Dutch in the first half, before van Bronckhorst sealed victory in the 80th minute in Bern’s 31,500 capacity stadium.

It marks Italy’s biggest defeat ever at a European championship.

In the other match of Group C Romania held France to a goalless draw in Zurich.

Despite France making 11 attempts at goal to Romania’s seven, the favourites were unable to deliver.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR