Hodgson happy, Shevchenko hits home and Arsenal leading charge for Giroud

England boss Roy Hodgson has said that his side's 1-1 draw against Group D favourites France is "a good platform" on which to build, according to the BBC.

Hodgson's men performed better than expected against the French, going ahead through Joleon Lescott's first-half header before Samir Nasri equalised before half-time.

Captain Steven Gerrard paid tribute to his players, claiming that England "caused as many problems [for France] as they caused us".

Later last night, the Guardian described how Andriy Shevchenko got his country off to a dream start at Euro 2012 with two goals in Ukraine's 2-1 win over Sweden.

Although Sweden's main man Zlatan Ibrahimovic put them ahead just after half-time, it was Ukraine's talismanic frontman that hit back with two quick goals and stole the headlines.

Elsewhere, German champions Borussia Dortmund have denied reports that forward Robert Lewandowski will be heading to Manchester United this summer.

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke told Sportinformationsdienst: "I am sick of this speculation. It does not matter if we receive bids...Robert will be back in training with our club after Euro 2012."

Meanwhile, Sky Sports has reported that Arsenal is the club most likely to sign hot prospect Olivier Giroud from Montpellier.

The French forward, who scored 25 goals for his side last season, has reportedly made it clear that he would like to play in England.

Montpellier boss Rene Girard said that it was just a matter of agreeing terms with Arsenal for the striker to move to the Emirates.

QPR manager Mark Hughes is set to make a £3 million bid for Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given, the Telegraph reports.

The Irish keeper scored two fantasy football points last year in a difficult season for Villa, though played under Hughes at Manchester City.

Finally, Stoke boss Tony Pulis is reportedly keeping his eye on Michael Owen after the former Manchester United man became a free agent last month.

Although Owen failed to register any fantasy football points last season and only appeared once for United, the Telegraph reports that Stoke are "monitoring" him.