rooney

If the ban stands, Rooney would not be available until the quarter-final stage

Wayne Rooney is to appear before a Uefa panel on Thursday to appeal against his three-match European Championship ban.

The England striker, 26, received the punishment after being sent off for kicking Miodrag Dzudovic during the 2-2 draw with Montenegro in October.
Manager Fabio Capello is expected to join him at the hearing, which is scheduled to start in Switzerland at 0830 GMT, with a decision due later.
If the ban is upheld, Rooney will miss England's Group D matches in Ukraine.
On Friday, England were drawn to face France, Sweden and joint hosts Ukraine, with the top two sides reaching the quarter-finals.

ENGLAND AT EURO 2012

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• 11 June: France (Donetsk)
• 15 June: Sweden (Kiev)
• 19 June: Ukraine (Donetsk)

The Manchester United forward is expected to be driven about 140 miles to Nyon for the hearing after his club's Champions League game at Swiss side FC Basel on Wednesday night.
FA communications director Adrian Bevington, legal director Alistair MacLean, and lawyers, are also due to attend the hearing.
"We feel we have put a very robust case together with some evidence from Wayne, Fabio Capello, from the Montenegrin player and also from the specialist external legal advice and our own internal in-house lawyers that we work with as well," said Bevington.
Rooney has admitted the kick was "stupid" but maintained that the ban was "a bit harsh". He added: "It will be a bonus if it is cut by one game."
The FA's appeal has included a written letter by Dzudovic asking that the ban be reduced.
Rooney, who has scored 28 goals in 73 appearances for England, was not included in the 1-0 friendly wins over Spain and Sweden in November.
But Capello has said his most prolific forward will appear in subsequent friendlies in the new year, with one organised against the Netherlands at Wembley on 29 February.

England and Rooney

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	With Rooney	Without Rooney
Played	73	31
Won	44	22
Lost	13	5
Drawn	16	4
For	139	66
Against	63	24
Win %	60.3%	71%

The Italian has said he is hoping for leniency and will wait before deciding whether to include him in the squad for the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.
"I hope Rooney will be there. The sentence, three games, was too much for me and I hope the appeal will help us reduce the sentence," he said.
"I hope he'll be available for the third game. I hope they understand our lawyer, what Rooney says and what I will say at the committee."
The appeal will be heard by three Uefa members - panel chairman Michel Wuilleret (Switzerland), Levent Bicakci (Turkey) and Ivaylo Ivkov (Bulgaria).