EURO NEWS

 Man United step up Rodriguez hunt after Porto reject £30m bid

 reports of a £30million-plus bid for the 20-year old winger being rejected by Porto.

After having him watched repeatedly last season, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has made the Porto prospect one of his top summer targets and registered his interest with the Primeira League champions.

Sportsmail revealed last week that Rodriguez would not come cheap after he agreed to a £40million buy-out clause being included in the five-year contract he signed last summer.

Expensive: Rodriguez has a buy-out clause of £40million in his contract with the Portuguese giants

Wenger's spending spree continues as Giroud finally seals £13m Arsenal arrival

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hailed Olivier Giroud after unveiling the £13million striker.

Giroud, who arrives from Montpellier, has joined German striker Lukas Podolski at the Emirates Stadium in a new-look attacking line-up.

It remains to be seen whether they will play alongside Robin van Persie, who has one year left on his deal and is wanted by Manchester City.

Looking ahead: Olivier Giroud has been unveiled as Arsenal's second major summer signing

My mate Ronaldo has yet to hit top gear, Casillas warns Spain 100 wins

Iker Casillas knows Spain must stop his Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo if he is to become the first player to rack up 100 victories in international football.

The 31-year-old goalkeeper is set to make his 136th appearance for his country in Wednesday's Euro 2012 semi-final against Portugal.

Safe hands: Iker Casillas could be first player to record 100 international victories

And Casillas believes former World Player of the Year Ronaldo has still not quite reproduced the form that helped Real Madrid capture the La Liga title last season.

'His season at Madrid was incredible in terms of the way he played, the goals and the records,' the 31-year-old, known in Spain as 'Saint Iker' thanks to his miraculous saves, was quoted as saying in Spanish newspaper Marca.

'I don't think that right now he is at his best level,' he added.

Real deal: Casillas admits new Tango ball is difficult to handle

A fired-up Ronaldo has been peppering opposition goals with shots in Portugal's four Euro 2012 outings and Casillas said he will have to be wary of any deviation in the air due to the peculiar way Ronaldo strikes the ball.

'The ball does something strange,' he told Marca, adding that those being used at Euro 2012 did not bend and swerve as much as the 'Jabulani'used at the World Cup two years ago.

'It doesn't quite reach those extremes but if you give it a good whack it always swerves in a deceptive way,' he said. 'I'll have to be on my guard.'

Handy: Portugal prepare for Spain clash

Spain's last competitive meeting with the Portuguese came at the 2010 World Cup, when they won a close encounter 1-0 thanks to a second-half David Villa strike.

Spain struggled to penetrate Portugal's defence in that match in Cape Town but the introduction of towering striker Fernando Llorente early in the second half changed the game.

Francer banning Nasri for two years 

Samir Nasri could be hit with a two-year international ban for his astonishing behaviour following France’s elimination from Euro 2012.

The Manchester City midfielder was involved in a foul-mouthed confrontation with French reporters following his country’s 2-0 defeat by Spain in Donetsk and the French Football Federation are now considering making an example of him.

If they were to take such stringent action, Nasri – who told one reporter to “f*** off” and invited him outside to continue the argument – would be precluded from the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and, potentially, the finals in Brazil.

Case to answer: Midfielder Samir Nasri is in trouble with French football bosses

Nasri may discover his fate as early as next Tuesday when the FFF executive meets to decide what action to take against him, Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, Yann M’Villa of Rennes and Paris St Germain’s Jeremy Menez for various breaches of discipline.

Should Nasri be banned for two years, it would be the most severe punishment ever bestowed to a French player and, significantly, a poll on the website of influential French newspaper L’Equipe revealed that 56 per cent wanted the 25-year-old removed from the national team.

Once again another major tournament has ended in rancour for France and Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has admitted that his former club-mate Nasri is too impetuous and needs to learn to control his temper.

Over and out: Nasri launched a foul-mouthed rant at a reporter

‘This is a sensitive issue and I was not there but I know when something does not please Samir he speaks his mind,’ said Sagna, who missed Euro 2012 after breaking his leg against Norwich in May.

‘He can have a violent reaction but you have to share your responsibilities. When someone attacks the press it will not go away.

‘With the excitement of the game and everything that was written about him it was perhaps not the right time to respond. He should have kept his cool but it weighed on him. The Euros had not even started and the press had already criticised him. Everyone is human.’ 

Iniesta: Portugal will play like it did at the World Cup

The World Cup winner believes the Seleccao's style of play will be easy to predict ahead of the semifinal encounter, but remains adamant that it could be a threat

Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta feels he has a good idea of how Portugal will play ahead of the two sides' Euro 2012 semifinal clash.

The world and European Champions face their Iberian neighbors in the first last-four fixture on Wednesday, and Iniesta believes that the Portuguese will adopt a similar defensive style of play to the one they used in the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup, when the Spaniards defeated their neighbors 1-0.