World Cup: Benzema’s double and Palacios red help French sink Honduras June 15, 2014 FRANCE 3 HONDURAS 0 STRIKER Karim Benzema came within inches of a hat-trick on his World Cup debut as France brushed off roughhouse tactics from 10-man Honduras to secure a winning start in Group E. Benzema put Les Bleus ahead from the penalty spot just before half-time and prompted the second moments after the restart, [...]
World Cup: Hitzfeld delight at dream finish as Swiss triumph June 15, 2014 SWITZERLAND 2 ECUADOR 1 SWITZERLAND manager Ottmar Hitzfeld last night revelled in the “dream finish” that saw substitute Haris Seferovic get his team off to a winning start in Group E. The Swiss had not conceded a single goal from a set-piece during their World Cup qualifying campaign, but fell behind on 22 minutes when [...]
Ballance swings momentum in England favour June 15, 2014 BATSMAN Gary Ballance expects England to push on and take a series lead against Sri Lanka today after his maiden Test century ushered the hosts towards a likely victory at Lord’s. Ballance’s patient unbeaten 104 took England to 267-8 at the close of day four, a lead of 389, and kept them on course to [...]
Sport Comment: Spirit of tragic Elena Baltacha is an inspiration to us all June 15, 2014 IT HAS been a weekend of such sporting riches and complexity, it can be hard to know where to begin. Roy Hodgson and Stuart Lancaster both rightly accentuating the positive, after the England football and rugby teams performed to the limit of their abilities in the narrow defeats to Italy and New Zealand. The Test [...]
Robshaw challenges tourists to end New Zealand trip with win June 15, 2014 ENGLAND captain Chris Robshaw insists the opportunity to end an 11-year wait for victory on New Zealand soil will be enough to motivate them in Saturday’s dead rubber. A 28-27 defeat in Dunedin at the weekend wrapped up the three-Test series win for the All Blacks with a match to play. But Robshaw believes the [...]
Cycling chiefs: We didn’t bend rules for Froome June 15, 2014 CYCLING’S governing body the UCI has refuted suggestions that it bent anti-doping rules to favour Chris Froome ahead of the Tour de Romandie, which the Briton won last month. Froome finished 12th overall at the Criterium du Dauphine yesterday, four minutes 25 seconds behind winner Andrew Talansky from America, though had led the week-long race [...]
Gutsy Dimitrov wins Queen’s title June 15, 2014 TENNIS: Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov underlined his status as a Wimbledon contender by winning the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club yesterday. Dimitrov, 23, saved a match point in the second set before edging Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (8-6). Former world No1 Ana Ivanovic won her first grass-court title at the Aegon Classic at [...]
Courtois on way back to Chelsea June 15, 2014 FOOTBALL: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will be part of his first-team squad next season. The highly-rated 22-year-old has spent three campaigns on loan at Atletico Madrid since joining the Blues from Genk in 2011.
Koeman to take Southampton job June 15, 2014 FOOTBALL: Former Holland defender Ronald Koeman is poised to be confirmed as Southampton’s new manager. Koeman, 51, has managed Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica and Valencia and left Feyenoord at the end of last season despite finishing second in the Dutch league.
England miss bronze at World Cup June 15, 2014 HOCKEY: England’s men missed out on their first World Cup medal since 1986 yesterday when they lost the third-place match 2-0 to Argentina. England had lost their semi-final to hosts Holland, who were beaten 6-1 by Australia in the final.