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PARIS (AP) — The Latest from soccer’s European Championship (all times local):
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8:00 p.m.
Italy coach Antonio Conte has made an impassioned plea to his countrymen to get behind the team after it advanced to the knockout stages of the European Championship.
Conte says Sweden supporters made the Stadium de Toulouse a “sea of yellow” and it was hard to pick out the 9,000 Italian fans in the ground during the match, which Italy won 1-0.
Before the tournament, many wrote off Italy’s chances at Euro 2016, saying the squad was aging. Conte suggested that the team wasn’t getting the support it needed as a result.
But now that Italy has advanced to the round of 16, he said “it should create enthusiasm.”
He said that “it will be great for us to see those waves of blue.”
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7:56 p.m.
The Czech Republic came back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with Croatia.
Substitute Tomas Necid scored the equalizer from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time after Domagoj Vida was penalized for a handball.
Milan Skoda pulled a goal back for the Czechs in the 76th minute with a powerful header.
Croatia had been cruising and deserved its 2-0 lead from goals by Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic.
The game was briefly suspended late in the second half after flares from the Croatian fans’ end were thrown onto the pitch.
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7:49 p.m.
GOAL: Tomas Necid scores for Czech Republic with a penalty in stoppage time. Croatia and Czech Republic are level at 2-2.
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7:46 p.m.
The match between Croatia and Czech Republic has restarted after it was temporarily suspended when flares were thrown onto the pitch.
The flares were thrown from the Croatian end of the pitch. Ivan Rakitic was among the Croatian players signaling to the team’s fans to calm down.
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7:42 p.m
The match between Croatia and Czech Republic has been temporarily suspended after several flares were thrown onto the pitch. A loud noise was heard when the flares were alight.
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7:35 p.m.
Milan Skoda’s powerful header in the 76th minute got one goal back for Czech Republic against Croatia.
The substitute, who had come on in the 67th minute, headed in the curled cross from captain Tomas Rosicky.
Croatia leads Czech Republic 2-1.
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7:31 p.m.
GOAL: Milan Skoda scores for Czech Republic in the 76th minute. Czech Republic trails Croatia 2-1.
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7:20 p.m.
Ivan Rakitic chipped the ball over Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech in the 59th minute to put Croatia 2-0 ahead in their Group D match in Saint-Etienne.
Rakitic celebrated his goal with Croatia captain Darijo Srna, who had provided the assist. Rakitic embraced Srna, who returned to France this week after attending his father’s funeral.
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7:15 p.m.
GOAL: Ivan Rakitic scores for Croatia in the 59th minute. Croatia leads Czech Republic 2-0.
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7:00 p.m.
Northern Ireland has asked UEFA if its players can again wear black armbands when it plays Germany on Tuesday, after a second supporter died at Euro 2016.
Northern Ireland players wore armbands during Thursday’s win over Ukraine to honor Darren Rodgers, who died after a fall following the team’s opening loss to Poland on Sunday.
Another fan, Robert Rainey, died during the game against Ukraine. A team statement Friday said Rainey “is understood to have suffered a heart attack.”
Coach Michael O’Neill said “We were all shocked when we heard this sad news after the game. The thoughts of all the players and the backroom staff are with Robert’s family and friends at this time.”
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6:45 p.m.
Croatia leads Czech Republic 1-0 at halftime in their Group D match after midfielder Ivan Perisic scored in the 37th minute.
Perisic got past a defender on the edge of the area and beat Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech with a low angled shot.
Croatia dominated the first half but wasted numerous chances before Perisic’s opener.
The Czech Republic has not produced a single dangerous move during the half.
If Croatia wins, it qualifies for the knockout stages of the European Championship.
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6:43 p.m.
Ivan Perisic got past a defender on the edge of the area and beat Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech with a low angled shot into the corner.
Croatia has dominated the first half but had wasted many chances before Perisic’ opener. The Czech Republic has not produced a single dangerous move.
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6:37 p.m.
GOAL: Ivan Perisic scores for Croatia in the 37th minute. Croatia leads Czech Republic 1-0.
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5:50 p.m.
Italy’s 88th-minute strike by Eder to beat Sweden 1-0 is the latest in a trend for late winners at the European Championship.
Five of the first 19 games have been decided by goals in the 85th minute or later.
The fashion was started in the 89th minute of the opening match by Dimitri Payet of France, whose goal secured a 2-1 victory for the host nation over Romania.
Gerard Pique did it in the 87th for Spain in its first game, Antoine Griezmann in the 90th, again for France against Albania, while Daniel Sturridge scored in stoppage time for England.
Six stoppage time goals so far — out of a total 35 — make it the most prolific period of Euro 2016 games.
When a team wins 2-0, it’s most likely that the second goal came in added time too: by Payet again, or Bastian Schweinsteiger, Graziano Pelle, or Niall McGinn.
Only 10 of the 35 have been first-half goals, and only two were in the first 10 minutes: Switzerland’s Fabian Schaer and Gareth Bale of Wales were rare opening goals.
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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 said 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.