*Havana*: The quarter-finals of the 2016 Copa America football tournament are surely full of suspense and excitement as the last eight teams are either tournament favorites or dark horses that toppled traditional powers during the group stage.The eight teams alive include an outstanding Argentina, while Mexico and Chile, two strong candidates, will eliminate each other, and a careful look is recommended at Colombia and the United States.
The first quarter-final will be on Thursday when the US will face Ecuador. On Friday, a South American high-voltage game will be held between ascending Peru and the Colombian team led by James Rodriguez.
On Saturday, Mexico and Chile will play in Santa Clara, while Argentina and Venezuela will face each other in Foxborough Stadium near Boston.
The favourite teams include Argentina, with the showman Lionel Messi and a powerful team ready to win Copa America, after the elimination of both Uruguay and Brazil.
Mexico, who play like being home thanks to the thousands of Mexican fans in the US territory, have remained undefeated since the leadership of Colombia coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/dharamsala9june-s.jpg*Dharamsala*
The BCCI on Wednesday pruned the list of 57 aspirants for the head coach's job to 21. Former India skippers Ravi Shastri and Anil Kumble and current selection committee chairman Sandeep Patil are some of the big names in the race for the top job, for which the BCCI has recently advertised.
The board is likely to put its seal of approval on the head coach at the conclave.
The conclave, from June 21-24, is the first ever the BCCI is holding and is expected to become an annual feature.
It will start with a workshop for media managers of all state cricket associations, which includes a session on digital media.
This will be followed by a conference of coaches and captains, Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council, junior committee and affiliation committee meeting before the all-important working committee meeting on the final day, when the next head coach's name may be announced, the BCCI announced.
The conclave will also focus on steps to strengthen one of the biggest domestic cricket season of the world and ways to take the IPL, the fastest growing league in the world, to new heights while also deliberating on ways to make the BCCI more transparent and efficient.
"This is the first time BCCI is hosting a four-day long conclave that aims at getting all stakeholders at one place and align everyone’s thoughts for improvement of the sport," BCCI President Anurag Thakur said in a statement.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16billy-s.jpg*Billy Bowden*
The 53-year-old Bowden, who officiated in 84 tests and 200 one-day internationals over 21 years, amused cricket fans with his eccentric signals, especially the crooked finger with which he indicated dismissals. Bowden insisted he couldn't extend the finger because of arthritis.
He was dropped from the International Cricket Council's elite panel in 2013, returned in 2014 but was omitted again after umpiring the test between the West Indies and England in Barbados in May, 2015.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16tite-s.jpg
The 55-year-old's appointment comes after the Selecao were dumped out of the Copa America following a 1-0 loss to Peru on Sunday, reports Xinhua.*Brazil's new coach Tite, participates in a training session at the team headquarters in Sao Paulo. Pic/ AFP*
It was the first time Brazil have failed to progress beyond the group stage of the continental tournament since 1987.
"Tite will no longer work with (us), he accepted the CBF's offer. Also leaving with him is his son, Matheus, and (football manager) Edu Gaspar," his former club Corinthians' president Roberto de Andrade said at a news conference on Wednesday.
"I was the first person he told of the decision. Until two hours ago I thought that he wouldn't go, I was surprised."
Tite's main task will be to guide Brazil to the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia. The Selecao are currently sixth in the South American zone standings with just two wins from their first six matches.
Only the top four teams are guaranteed a berth in the tournament while the fifth-ranked side will earn a playoff spot.
Tite is regarded as one of the most successful managers in Corinthians' history, having led them to the 2011 and 2015 Brazilian Serie A titles, and the 2012 Copa Libertadores-FIFA Club World Cup double.
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The legendary spinner added this picture which shows him along with Sachin Tendulkar, Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid and Nayan Mongia posing away to glory below a Boabad tree.
Under the Boabab tree in Zimbabwe, one of the oldest trees. #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/ianzzsYaRw
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) June 16, 2016
This was during their tour in Zimbabwe back in the day.
The former cricketer wrote: 'Under the Boabab tree in Zimbabwe, one of the oldest trees. #ThrowbackThursday.'
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The opening batsman is currently at the 'toughest spot' in Monte Carlo. Now before you get to guessing, he posted a picture of him being on track of the Monaco Grand Prix on a particular part of the track which is known to be the toughest.
The Monaco Grand prix is supposed to be one of the most prestigious and toughest race track on the Formula One circuit.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16MS-Dhoni-s.jpg*MS Dhoni with wife Sakshi and daughter Ziva at a party in Mumbai last December*
Dhoni will be next seen in October during the limited overs leg of the series against New Zealand.
"I think after a long time, I will take some time off cricket after this series (T20Is). Don't think my daughter (15-month old Ziva) still recognises me. I will make my daughter feel that I am her dad and spend time with family," the skipper said with his tongue firmly in cheek.
On a serious note, he was satisfied with the effort put in by the bowlers, who dismissed Zimbabwe in all the three ODIs — 168 (49.5 overs), 126 (34.3 overs) and 123 (42.2 overs) respectively — and then chased down the total with consummate ease.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/feb/24Mohd-Amir-s.jpg*Mohammad Aamir*
According to a well-placed source in the board the matter had been taken seriously since Aamir didn't inform them prior to accepting the invitation to appear in the show.
"This has happened just few days after the top PCB officials including Chairman, Sharharyar Khan and Najam Sethi had met with Aamir in Lahore and briefed him clearly on what was expected off him in England," the source told PTI.
He said Aamir had been told to give his explanation since the board and team management had worked out a plan for him limiting his media appearances ahead and during the tour to England.
The source said what had upset Shaharyar Khan and other officials was that Aamir went for the show even though few days earlier he was advised to remain low key, avoid the media and show tolerance and patience while dealing with the media and opposing players and fans in England.
"He was also told clearly to improve his attitude and not antagonize his own teammates," the source added. The PCB filed a special case to finally secure a visa for Aamir who was among three Pakistani players found guilty of spot-fixing during Pakistan¿s tour of England in 2010.
The other two, former captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were not even considered for the England tour after English authorities conveyed to the PCB they would not be welcome in the UK this year.
The source said Khan would be speaking to Aamir about the matter prior to the team's departure from Lahore for London this weekend.
Interestingly, Shaharyar Khan also didn't mince words when he spoke to the media in Karachi on Wednesday indicating that some players were not happy with the PCB decision to allow players to only have their families on tour to England for just two weeks.
He also said he was personally disappointed that the national selectors had not considered Fawad Alam for the Tests in England.
Khan also advised banned Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria to avoid speaking against the PCB while abroad.
"I think Danish needs to think about what he is saying about the PCB in India. It is not a good thing what he has said and he should be careful with his statements."
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India went on to whitewash Zimbabwe 3-0. Dhoni, who decided to go with a second-string team, was not left disappointed as the young guns of team India's performance was nothing short of outstanding.
The team later sat for a quiet dinner at ground level so to speak. In the words of Indian bowler Jaydev Unadkat it was a 'down-to-earth' dinner. He went on to post a picture of the same on his instagram account.
Down-to-earth Dinner Times with the Men!
A photo posted by Jaydev Unadkat (@jd_unadkat) onJun 12, 2016 at 1:39pm PDT
In the series, young cricketers such as Lokesh Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Barinder Sran tormented the Zimbabwean team. KL Rahul was the highest scorer with 195 runs while Jasprit Bumrah was the leading wicket taker with 9 wickets.
Even Faiz Fazal, who made his debut in the last ODI went on to prove his worth.
Rahul too, went on to post an image on his Twitter account after the series.
My wall of victory pictures seems to be expanding as does my hunger for winning ð¤ÂÂ#champions pic.twitter.com/zNiU5JPL27
— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) June 15, 2016
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The former world number one took to social networking site Twitter to post a series of pictures of her parting the night away with shuttlers like Parupalli Kashyap, Sai Praneeth, Guru sai Dutt, Arun Vishnu and others.
Partying with friends after the Australia open win ðÂÂÂðÂÂÂThank u so much all of u ðÂÂÂð pic.twitter.com/vstnugK0Bs
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) June 15, 2016
Party pic âºï¸Ââºï¸Â@sameerv2210 @buss_reddy pic.twitter.com/fD1S6Tm1QM
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) June 15, 2016
Partyyyyyy ðÂÂÂðÂÂÂ@parupallik @saiprneeth92 pic.twitter.com/Zo5Fzqap7H
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) June 15, 2016
Partyyyyyy ðÂÂÂðÂÂÂ@parupallik @saiprneeth92 pic.twitter.com/Zo5Fzqap7H
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) June 15, 2016
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Robert-Lewandowski-s.jpg*Poland captain Robert Lewandowski (centre) trains along with teammates at the team base in La Baule on Tuesday. Pic/AFP*
After beating Northern Ireland 1-0 in their opening match at Euro 2016, Lewandowski wants to again down their neighbours to put Poland in the knock-out phase and top of Group C. "For me, Germany are the favourites for the whole tournament, but anything can happen.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/apr/22Ben-Stokes-s.jpg*Ben Stokes*
The all-rounder has already been caught four times for over-speeding and has been banned till mid-December for admitting that he reached speeds of 75mph in a 50mph zone, the Sun reported on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old, who was smashed for four consecutive sixes in the World T20 final against the West Indies recently, pleaded guilty at the court on Tuesday.
Stokes is presently on a break from national duty and is getting ready for the One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka. He is still recuperating from a knee injury he suffered in the first Test against the Asian islanders.
Stokes also admitted to driving at an average speed of 61mph on the A1 northbound carriageway past some roadworks on the afternoon of August 26, two days after taking three wickets in the final Ashes Test match last year.
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India thrashed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the 3rd ODI to complete a 3-0 whitewash of the hosts on Wednesday.*Jasprit Bumrah celebrates fall of Zimbabwe wicket.*
*3* -This was India's third consecutive whitewash of Zimbabwe -- the previous two times were in 2013 and 2015.
*350* - Limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first Indian wicketkeeper and fourth in the world to complete 350 dismissals in ODIs when he caught Elton Chigumbura off medium pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the 33rd over of the final ODI on Wednesday. He has joined Kumar Sangakkara, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Boucher.
*107* - MS Dhoni equalled Allan Border's record of 107 wins to become the second most-successful ODI captain behind Ricky Ponting
*4* - India have won four successive overseas matches in ODIs between January 23, 2016 and June 15, 2016 - all by big margins - by 6 wickets vs Australia at Sydney, by 9 wickets, by 8 wickets and by 10 wickets - all three vs Zimbabwe at Harare.
*7 *- The number of ODIs Zimbabwe have lost by ten-wicket margins - two each to New Zealand, West Indies and India and one to Pakistan.
*6 *- This was the sixth time India registered a 10-wicket win in ODIs - two vs Zimbabwe and one each vs Kenya, West Indies, East Africa and Sri Lanka.
*1*- This was the first whitewash away from home under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy (minimum three matches) - the first two white-washes were against the visiting Englishmen - 5-0 in 2008-09 and 5-0 in 2011-12.
*12* - India have won twelve matches vs Zimbabwe in succession since July 24, 2013 - their best winning sequence against them.
*1* -This was the first time Jasprit Bumrah got a Man of the Match award in ODIs. His excellent figures of 4 for 22 are his best ever in ODIs, eclipsing the 4 for 28 in the first ODI vs Zimbabwe at Harare on June 11, 2016.
*1* - Bumrah has become the first Indian bowler to record two four-wicket hauls in the first four ODIs.
*3* - The three wickets India lost in the entire series to secure the whitewash was the fewest any team has lost in a three-match series.*Lokesh Rahul en route to his hundred on June 11. Pic/AFP*
*1* - KL Rahul became the first Indian ever to score a hundred on debut during the 1st ODI.
*30* - 3-year old Faiz Fazal became the oldest Indian ODI debutant in 16 years.
*9* - Number of wickets Bumrah took in the three-match ODI series at 8.55 runs apiece at an impressive economy rate of 2.98. It is the highest on either side in the just concluded series.
*11* - Bumrah has taken eleven wickets at an average of 10.63 - the highest tally by an Indian bowler in the first four matches in ODIs. Vijay Bharadwaj and Rudra Pratap Singh had captured ten wickets each in their first four matches.
*196* - Lokesh Rahul's average after he totalled 196 runs in his debut ODI series - the scores in three matches being 100 not out, 33 and 63 not out - all at Harare. His aggregate is the best by an Indian batsman in the first three ODIs, eclipsing Navjot Singh Sidhu's aggregate of 148 (ave.74.00).
** - Elton Chigumbura has recorded successive golden ducks for the first time in ODIs. Overall, he has registered six golden ducks in ODIs apart from being run out without facing a ball.
*16* - Chigumbura has registered 16 ducks in ODIs - his second against India. Just one Zimbabwean batsman has posted more ducks than him in ODIs - Grant Flower (18).
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*Sir Richard during a media interaction in the city yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera*
"We are seeing more results in Test cricket these days. The contest between bat and ball is pretty fair. In Test cricket, we are getting results. You are always going to get results in ODIs and T20s, so the balance is actually okay.
"The contest between bat and ball is pretty fair. Having said that with the bigger bats, heavier bats, (or) in some ways light bats with thick edges, a lot more boundaries are being hit. What I would like to see is bigger boundaries — bowlers at times do suffer in some formats with smaller boundaries, and you want to make that a contest.
Running between the wickets is an important part of the game. We don't see a lot of threes being run, so make it (boundaries) little bigger. It can bring an element into the game," Hadlee said during an interaction at the Bombay House in Fort, where he was hosted by Tata Trusts.
The ICC cricket committee headed by Anil Kumble raised concerns regarding the depth of the bat given that thicker bats have bigger 'sweet spots' which often results in even mishits sailing over the
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Antoine-Griezmann-s.jpg*France's forward Antoine Griezmann reacts after scoring France's first goal during the Euro 2016 group A football match between France and Albania at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille. Pic/AFP*
Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet both scored late goals to give France a 2-0 win over the minnows.
The Atletico Madrid forward, initially named as a substitute, headed home with just a minute of normal time remaining after Adil Rami's superb cross from the right flank, and Payet added his second goal of the tournament with a terrific injury-time finish to confirm his side's victory,
France had previously wasted numerous opportunities to take the lead against the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, with striker Olivier Giroud guilty of missing a number of gilt-edged chances in Marseille.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16PR-Sreejesh-s.jpg*India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh*
Though Australia are streets ahead of India in terms of World ranking — the Aussies are tops as compared to India's seventh position — but the Indians can take heart from the win they achieved against them in a Test at home, ahead of the World Hockey League Finals in Raipur. Nikkin Thimmaiah, who clearly loves big matches and has scored time and again against Korea in crucial games, also had a hat-trick against Australia at the 2015 Azlan Shah, when the Indians emerged winners, but that was an experimental team from the World No 1 side.
More recently, the Australians twice beat India at the Azlan Shah in Ipoh a couple of months back. Australia beat India 5-1 in the league game at Azlan Shah and then 4-0 in the final.
India coach, Roelant Oltmans, who has expressed satisfaction at the progress ahead of the Olympics, said, "Our goal was a medal at the Champions Trophy to begin with. So, we should try that and we are still in the hunt for that. As for the match against Australia, it is a very tough outing. We have to produce our best performance to put up a good contest."
He added, "I'm happy that our game has improved with every tournament."
On Tuesday night after India's narrow 2-1 win over Korea, Australia beat Belgium to extend their lead and are now at 10 points from four games. Then a fourth quarter penalty corner from Ashley Jackson earned Great Britain the draw against Germany and kept alive their chances of reaching the competition final. But that result knocked Germany out of contention for a place in the final.
India have seven points and Britain have five. Belgium, with four, still have a chance to get into final, if Australia beat India and Belgium beat Britain by a big margin to move up on goal difference.
A win over Australia will guarantee India a place in the final, something they have never achieved in Champions Trophy. India's best has been third in 1982 and they have been fourth on six occasions.
Great Britain and Belgium clash in the last league engagement but after the Australia-India fixture. If Australia beat India, hosts Britain will just need a win over Belgium to overtake India on points, as the hosts have a better goal difference. But Belgium too can finish second on goal difference if they prevail in this match.
India has a great chance to meet Australia twice in two days and that would be a great experience ahead of the Rio Games. But India need to be careful against conceding too many penalty corners, as they did in first three games, but against Korea they gave away none.
Australia's worry is penalty corner specialist Chris Ciriello's fitness, but India's VR Raghunath and Harmanpreet Singh have also had limited success. The Indian forwards will need to jell and make more opportunities count and PR Sreejesh, normally the "Great Wall" for India will need to be more consistent than some of his recent outings.
"We had a lot of chances up front but we couldn't convert", said India striker Manpreet Singh of the match against Korea, but he also added, "I think overall our team performance was very good because we conceded a goal late but in the next minute we hit back with a goal of our own."
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Oscar-Pistorius-s.jpg*Oscar Pistorius walks across the courtroom without his prosthetic legs at the Pretoria High Court yesterday. Pic/AFP*
The double-amputee removed his prosthetic limbs at the request of his lawyer Barry Roux who is pleading for leniency, but state prosecutor Gerrie Nel sought a minimum 15-year jail term for Pistorius for killing Reeva Steenkamp.
The Paralympic athlete held onto wooden benches for support as he hobbled in front of the judge at the Pretoria High Court, and appeared in distress as a cushion was provided for him to rest on.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Ukraine-s.jpghttp://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Marek-Hamsik-s.jpghttp://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/may/04Sardar-Singh-s.jpg*Sardar Singh*
DCW chief Swati Maliwal also demanded that an FIR be registered against Punjab Police for failing to register the first information report (FIR) against Singh despite the woman alleging rape and assault in January 2016.
"The woman has given us a complaint and alleged that was physically assaulted by Singh and that there was an attempt to push her from the top floor of a five-star hotel in Delhi and that she was raped by Singh therein. We have recommended registration of an FIR against Singh to SHO Chanakyapuri police station (in Delhi)," Maliwal said, adding that the Police Commissioner and his deputy have also been marked in the directive.
"Also, the law clearly states that if a woman says that she has been raped, police has to file an FIR. But the Punjab Police did not do so despite the woman approaching them and even upon revelation of cognisable offence. "We demand that an FIR be registered against Punjab Police under section 166A of IPC for failing to register an FIR," Maliwal said.
Justice should be delivered in a fast track manner, she said. The Commission also issued a notice to Hockey India president Narinder Batra today and sought an explanation with regard to the allegations made by the complainant against HI and the action taken or proposed to be taken by it in the matter.
The 21-year-old complainant was the first British-Asian woman to represent England in hockey in 2010 as part of their junior women's team. She had filed a police complaint in February in Ludhiana following which an SIT was formed to probe the sexual harassment allegations. The SIT had given a clean chit to the Indian hockey team skipper.
Sardar has earlier denied all the allegations levelled against him, saying that the charges were 'inappropriate' and 'false'. The Commission also sought to know the policy followed by HI for handling complaints of sexual harassment and assault by team members of the Indian hockey team and whether it has constituted an 'Internal Complaints Committee' for handling cases of sexual harassment as per the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act.
It also sought the information regarding the policy followed by HI regarding the benefits, travel facilities, hotel facilities and accompaniment policy of wives and girlfriends of the India men's hockey team.
The woman in her complaint has alleged rape, physical abuse and criminal intimidation by Singh and informed the Commission that she got pregnant in 2015 with Singh's child and upon the revelation of the same to the accused, he threatened her and forced her to abort the pregnancy.
In addition, she has alleged that HI has taken no action on her complaint, despite knowing about these incidents and that HI has facilitated her travel to various destinations and stay in hotels to accompany Singh during his hockey matches.
The complainant has also informed the Commission that HI had taken no action on a complaint she had sent to the organisation in May 2016. Talking to reporters, she claimed that despite providing police with all the evidences, they did not file any FIR. "I was sent from SHO to ACP, then to the DCP and well way to DGP of Punjab Police, I also met the Ludhiana Police Commissioner," she claimed.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Football-fans-drink-s.jpg*Football fans drink beer on the terrace of a bar in Lille, France yesterday. Pic/AFP*
Watched by hundreds of police, groups of fans roamed the streets of Lille and Lens with Russian, English, Welsh and Slovakian flags draped around their shoulders.
Amid fears of a repeat of football violence that rocked Marseille at the weekend, French authorities said the influx could total more than 70,000 in a hope to see either Russia play Slovakia yesterday or England take on Wales on Thursday.
*No effect of ban*
The authorities ordered a clampdown on alcohol sales. Some cafes refused to serve alcohol until lunchtime. Guillaume, a barman at Le Khedive, a brasserie in the centre of the city, said he served his first beer at 8:00 am "and I haven't stopped since."
The Lille fan zone, where only lower strength beer was available, was only doing slow business however. A guard at the entrance said he had turned away some Russian fans for being too drunk.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Shiva-Thapa-2-s.jpg*Shiva Thapa *
India's chief boxing coach GS Sandhu was satisfied with the training camp where boxers from England, Ireland, Kazakhstan and Germany also participated. Prior to the 2012 London Olympics, Indian boxers had a similar training experience in Ireland, but there weren't any participating nations except Ireland.
The camp featured 29 Rio-bound boxers from five nations. The 15-day trip should come in handy for India's Shiva Thapa, who is the only Indian boxer qualified for Rio till date.
In 2012 London Olympics, he was a novice and made a first-round exit. This time, there is a stark difference though. The stakes are high, expectations are big and the preparation is even bigger. The 23-year-old pugilist is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for a medal in the 52kg-56kg bantamweight category at Rio.
*High expectations*
"There are expectations from me this time. I need to work hard and stay focused. The Irish training camp was very useful, playing alongside the boxers from other countries helps," said India's youngest-ever Olympian, who will travel to Colorado, USA for further training later this month.*Shiva Thapa's modest house in Guwahati, Assam*
Thapa is also on a strict diet regime. Thapa prefers fruits like apples, grapes and mangoes. Mushrooms and pastas also form a part of his diet. When at home, he prefers "Maa ke haath ka khana" with "Aloo ki sabji" being his all-time favourite.
Thapa's father Padam, who runs a mobile franchisee store in Guwahati, was instrumental in making his son take up boxing.
"I used to like combat sports since childhood. Earlier, my father encouraged my elder brother Govind and me to take up karate, but when he came to know that it is not an Olympic sport, he preferred boxing. He wanted us to become Olympians… that was his dream," said Thapa, who was inspired after watching Mike Tyson on HBO as a 10-year-old. "Then I saw Rocky. During this period, I started boxing very seriously," he said.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/jun/16Switzerland-s.jpg*Swiss and Romanian players thank the match officials after a 1-1 draw following the Euro 2016 group A football match between Romania and Switzerland at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. Pic/AFP*
Bogdan Stancu (18th minute) converted a penalty to hand Romania an early lead before Admir Mehmedi (57th) restored parity for the Swiss in the second half.
The result puts Switzerland at the top of Group A with four points after two matches. Romania are third with one point, two behind hosts France.
Romania had produced a spirited fight in the 1-0 defeat to title favourites France in their first match. The East Europeans repeated a similar spirited fight against the more skillful Swiss who were high on confidence having started with a win over Albania.
Switzerland dominated most of the match and much of the action was confined to the Romanian half.
Romania were forced to defend tooth and nail but a fast counter saw Stephan Lichtsteiner bring down Alexandru Chipciu inside the Swiss penalty area. Stancu stepped forward to smash home the resultant penalty and give Romania the lead.
Switzerland continued to dominate possession with Romania sitting back in defence. They were finally rewarded for their persistent aggression when Ahmedi slammed a loose ball into the net to salvage a point. Reported by Mid-Day 2 days ago.