England to face Ireland and Brazil September 12, 2012 ■ FOOTBALL: England are to face Brazil and Republic of Ireland in friendlies at Wembley, on 6 February and 29 May respectively. The first is part of the Football Association’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
BT adds rugby to its TV offering September 12, 2012 BT has secured a £152m deal for the rights to show Premiership rugby union matches on its TV service, in the latest aggressive move from the company after its shock grab of Premier League football rights. The four-year contract, which allows BT to show 69 live games a year from the start of the 2013-14 [...]
Hodgson happy with deserved point for 10 man England September 11, 2012 AT WEMBLEY STADIUM ENGLAND 1 vs UKRAINE 1 ENGLAND manager Roy Hodgson insisted a draw was the least his 10 men deserved after Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard’s late penalty spared the home side’s blushes and maintained their unbeaten start to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Yevhen Konoplianka’s extraordinary first-half strike looked set to hand [...]
Clubs rapped as Financial Fair play rules bite September 11, 2012 EUROPEAN football’s regulatory chief has painted a bleak picture of clubs’ response to new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules after 23 teams became the first to be punished under the scheme. Atletico Madrid, who last month beat Chelsea to win the European Super Cup, and Sporting Lisbon were among those to have prize money withheld [...]
How they rated England September 11, 2012 Glen Johnson 5 A threat going forward but otherwise sloppy, particularly when passing Leighton Baines 6 Made one great clearance to deny Ukraine and was tidy, but hardly impressive Steven Gerrard 6 Passed well and made a vital clearance but ruined it with his deserved dismissal Jermain Defoe Unlucky to have what looked a good [...]
Oman fall for Ireland Trap September 11, 2012 REPUBLIC of Ireland last night defeated Oman 4-1 in a friendly on an otherwise unsuccessful evening for the Home Nations. Goals from Shane Long, debutant Robbie Brady, Kevin Doyle and Alex Pearce secured victory for Giovanni Trapattoni’s experimental line up but for every way in which their fixture was a success, for Wales the evening [...]
Winning the US Open is only the start – now Murray wants more September 11, 2012 British No1 Andy Murray believes his US Open victory can be the catalyst for myriad Major successes and has predicted that their is more to yet come from his game. Murray yesterday became the first British male to win a grand slam title in 76 years when he beat Novak Djokovic over five sets at [...]
Murray’s milestone: what they said September 11, 2012 I definitely see him going on to win more. I said the first one would be the hardest but I think it will be the first of many.” Ex-UK No1 Tim Henman Congrats @andy_murray to achieve his first Grand Slam! He and Nole [Djokovic] played a great US Open final.” Rafael Nadal, on Twitter I’m [...]
Karagounis signs for Fulham September 11, 2012 ■ FOOTBALL: Fulham have signed 35-year-old Greece international midfielder Giorgos Karagounis on a free transfer until the end of the season. “I’m looking forward to working under Martin Jol and playing alongside some fantastic players,” said Karagounis, who was available after failing to sign a new contract with Panathinaikos.
Bowman to review Team GB September 11, 2012 ■ ATHLETICS: The former coach of Michael Phelps, Bob Bowman, is to join German Olympic medallist Thomas Lurz in conducting a review into Team GB’s disappointing swimming performance at London 2012, after they won only three medals.