ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has dropped its bid to host the 2020 European Championship final and semifinals, and will focus on hosting Euro 2024 alone. Turkeys football federation announced its decision ahead of Fridays bidding deadline despite Istanbul being a front-runner for the marquee matches with support already pledged by UEFA President Michel Platini. "We believe ... we are at a point where we can undertake the entire tournament, not just the semifinals and final," the Turkish federation said in a statement. The strategic move makes England and Germany favoured to receive the prestige package of final and semifinals for the 24-nation 2020 tournament. England has proposed Wembley Stadium in London and Germany has offered the Allianz Arena in Munich. UEFA will choose 13 host cities across Europe for Euro 2020 at a Sept. 19 meeting of its executive committee. Twelve winning bidders will each host three group-stage matches and a single knockout match from the last-16 or quarterfinals rounds. At least 20 UEFA member countries are expected to meet Fridays deadline to bid, including Italy and the Netherlands, plus newcomers Azerbaijan and Romania. A total of 32 countries expressed interest last September when Turkey was already a clear favourite for the final. Platini has publicly supported Turkeys claim since his native France won a close race between the countries in May 2010 to host Euro 2016. Turkey seemed sure to host Euro 2020 alone but the campaign was complicated by Istanbuls insistence on bidding for the 2020 Olympics, scheduled weeks later. Despite UEFA and Platini seeking a firm commitment for its tournament, Turkeys political and sporting leaders proceeded in the Olympics contest won by Tokyo last year. Turkey automatically becomes the favourite to host Euro 2024, with one of its probable opponents -- England or Germany -- likely to step aside if either gets the prestige matches in 2020. Also Friday, France and Switzerland withdrew from the Euro 2020 bidding, saying it was too soon to repeat as host nations. Switzerland shared Euro 2008 with neighbouring Austria. Euro 2012 co-host Poland backed out this week, following the Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland and Portugal. UEFA will confirm the Euro 2020 candidates on Saturday. Keelan Cole Jersey . The Grizzlies erased most of a 25-point deficit before Durant, the leagues scoring champion, got hot. Austin Seferian-Jenkins Jersey . I suppose Sternberg has earned the right to speak out since his Rays, despite one of the lowest payrolls in the Majors at $58 million, are entering the final weekend of the regular season holding down the first Wild Card spot in the American League, one game ahead of Cleveland and two up on Texas. http://www.officialjacksonvillejaguarsfootball.com/authentic-t.j.-yeldon-jersey-womens . The Durban-based Sharks withstood a furious second-half fightback to beat the Queensland Reds 35-20 for a fourth straight win which gave them a five-point lead atop the championship table. The Hamilton-based Chiefs scored two late tries to beat the Cape Town-based Stormers 36-20 for their third win, after the Stormers rallied from 24-6 down to 24-20 with six minutes remaining. Yannick Ngakoue Jersey . The 2014 edition will be the ninth meeting between the Caps and Vikes in a tradition that dates back to 2005. "Since the original Whitecaps, the club has enjoyed fantastic support from fans in Victoria and all across Vancouver Island," said Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi. Josh Lambo Jersey . Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus both went deep for the Blue Jays, who are second in the American League with 34 home runs on the season.Germany and Argentina will renew their World Cup rivalry on Sunday when they meet in the final at the Maracana. The two fabled nations have a history of squaring off in World Cup finals as they met one another in the 1986 finale and again in 1990. Listen to the match LIVE at 3pm et/Noon pt on TSN Radio Toronto 1050, TSN 690 Montreal, TSN 1200 Ottawa, TSN 1260 Edmonton, TSN 1290 Winnipeg and TEAM 1410 Vancouver. In 1986, Argentina, led by Diego Maradona, edged West Germany for the title behind a late strike from Jorge Burruchaga. But the Germans avenged the defeat in controversial fashion four years later as Rudi Voller earned a dubious penalty that Andreas Brehme converted with just five minutes left to play, giving the European nation a narrow victory. It was Germanys third World Cup title and it would be another 12 years before Die Mannschaft would log another appearance in the final, a contest the European nation lost as Brazil triumphed behind a brace from Ronaldo. Germany, which made history by becoming the first nation to make four successive appearances in the semifinals, returns to the title match after back-to-back third-place finishes and is looking to make the leap from bridesmaid to bride. It was an eventful journey to the final for Germany, which emerged from the Group of Death and stacked half of the bracket to survive a brutal draw. The Germans opened the tournament in style by cruising to a 4-0 defeat of Portugal. They looked vulnerable in a 2-2 draw with Ghana but managed to secure top spot in Group G behind their 1-0 defeat of the United States. The knockout round began in somewhat unconvincing fashion as Algeria pushed Germany to the brink of elimination. A scoreless 90 minutes forced extra time, but Germany scored twice early on to advance with a narrow 2-1 victory. The win resulted in a meeting with high-flying France, and a header from Mats Hummels proved to be the only difference between the two nations. Germany moved on to the semifinals where it met Brazil for a rematch of the 2002 final, and it was one-way traffic as the Germans thumped the host nation in a 7-1 victory. Miroslav Klose scored a goal in the emphatic win to make him the tournaments all-time leading scorer. But the 36-year-old, who has been on the losing end in a World Cup final, insisted that Germany must move on from its thrashing of Brazil. "We enjoyed the game against Brazil, but we ticked it off aftter 24 hours," Klose said.dddddddddddd"In the next game, we have to again play to the best of our abilities. It feels really awful to lose a final, so its our time to win this one." Thomas Muller has been pegged as the heir apparent to Klose given his penchant for scoring goals in the World Cup. The Bayern Munich man won the Golden Boot in 2010 and is one goal shy of James Rodriguez atop the scoring chart, but he is expecting a tough and cagey affair against Argentina. "I dont know what kind of a game it will be (on Sunday), but I dont expect it to be 5-0 at halftime," the Bayern Munich forward said at a press conference. "That would be nice, but its probably going to be tight like it was against Algeria or France." Argentinas stout defensive showing thus far indicates that Muller is correct. La Albiceleste has conceded just three goals in the tournament, all of which came in the group stage. The South American nation opened the tournament with a 2-1 defeat of Bosnia- Herzegovina thanks to a game-winning strike from Lionel Messi. The Barcelona man came to Argentinas rescue twice more by scoring at the death in a narrow 1-0 victory over Iran and bagging a brace in a 3-2 victory over Nigeria. Despite failing to produce a goal in the knockout round, Messi proved he can still influence the final result without finding the net himself. He set up Angel Di Maria for a late winner against Switzerland in the round of 16 with a brilliant through ball, demonstrating his ability to thread the needle in crucial moments. The goal sent Argentina through to the quarterfinals where an early strike from Gonzalo Higuain was all the nation would need to dispatch Belgium, setting up a semifinal clash with the Netherlands. It was a tactical battle between the two nations as penalties were needed to decide a winner, and Sergio Romero proved to be the hero, stopping two attempts to see Argentina reach its fifth World Cup final. The finale has been billed as the worlds best player (Messi) facing the worlds greatest international team (Germany). But according to striker Sergio Aguero, Argentina is happy to play the role of the underdog. "Germany were always the favorites, along with Brazil, to win the World Cup," the Manchester City man said on Thursday. "They continue to be so now. We need to play our own game and it suits us that all the pressure is on them." 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