Wayne Rooney believes there are exciting times ahead for England after he played a key role in securing their place at the FIFA World Cup.
The Manchester United striker s seventh goal in six Group H games put his country on course for the victory over Poland on Tuesday night that ensured they will board the plane to Brazil next year.
Skipper Steven Gerrard put the icing on the cake with a second goal to seal a 2-0 win on a nervous night for Roy Hodgson s side at Wembley.
The three points ensured England finished top of the group and avoided the play-offs, with Ukraine consigned to second spot.
And Rooney believes England can head to South America with great optimism.
He told ITV Sport: We have always remained positive. We have had a great belief in ourselve…
Didier Deschamps acknowledged Spain were superior as France suffered Euro 2024 elimination following their 2-1 semi-final defeat in Munich.
Les Bleus opened the scoring after just eight minutes through Randal Kolo Muani s header, though Lamine Yamal levelled with a long-range stunner, becoming the youngest scorer in major tournament history at the age of just 16 years and 362 days.
Dani Olmo seized on that momentum swing just four minutes later, dancing through the France defence before finishing past Mike Maignan as Jules Kounde was unable to clear on the line.
Spain held on to move into Sunday s final as France opened the scoring and lost for only the second time in a European Championship game, after a 3-2 defeat to the Netherlands in the 2000 group stages.
Arsene Wenger is keen for Arsenal to show how far they have come since a New Year s Day nightmare when they return to Southampton.
Arsenal slumped to a dispiriting 2-0 loss at St Mary s on the first day of 2015 a defeat that still rankles with their long-serving boss.
However, almost 12 months on as they prepare for a Boxing Day assignment on the south coast, Arsenal have collected 78 points during the calendar year 10 more than any other Premier League team and are primed for a tilt at the title after Monday s stirring 2-1 win over Manchester City closed them to within two points of leaders Leicester City.
Every loss hurts and that one has not gone out of my mind, Wenger told Arsenal Player. It was a bad moment for us but also a turning point because we res…
Influential midfielder Vince Grella has returned but the Australian squad will be without Brett Emerton and probably Harry Kewell for next week s key 2010 World Cup Asian qualifier to face Japan in Yokohama.
Grella, the Blackburn Rovers holding midfielder, was named in a 22-man squad by coach Pim Verbeek on Tuesday for the February 11 showdown with Australia s chief regional rivals.
Grella missed Australia s last three qualifying wins over Uzbekistan, Qatar and Bahrain through injury.
But Verbeek will be without Grella s Blackburn teammate Emerton, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the English Premier League season with a cruciate knee ligament injury.
The Socceroos will also likely be without Harry Kewell, who is recovering from an abdominal h…
The Los Angeles Chargers head into Houston to face the Texans as they continue to fight for their postseason lives. The 8-6 Chargers are two wins behind the Chiefs but have a chance of a wild-card spot. They face a Texans team already in the prep stages for next season.
Here are our NFL betting picks and predictions for the Los Angeles Chargers vs. Houston Texans on December 26.
…
The NFL season is waning fast, as the calendar has flipped to December. Dreams will be crushed and realized in the regular season’s stretch run, those of bettors included.
Let’s try to get lucky in Week 13 and hitch our wagon to the Commanders and Chiefs in both of these parlay plays. I’ll attack those two games in two different ways, as I outline below.
…
We’ve got a smaller NFL odds slate than usual on Sunday, with Week 16 odds more spread around for the festive period. With that said, we still have plenty of action to wager on.
I looked through the “First Touchdown Scorer” markets to find three players who offer the perfect mix of value and opportunity to deliver some healthy returns.
Here are my free NFL picks regarding that moment for the upcoming weekend of action!
…
If you think you have what it takes to go against the smartest football minds in the betting business, then these NFL survivor pool contests could be for you. There are millions on the line with steep registration fees. Football survival pools have become one of the more popular full-season betting contests offered at some of the most influential sportsbooks in the business. Just pick a winning team every week, and you could be a Circa or DraftKings Survivor champion.
…
A penalty from Spain’s Pablo Sarabia secured a 1-0 victory in their World Cup qualifier away to Greece, ensuring Wales are guaranteed a play-off spot at least.
Rob Page’s side started their qualifying campaign knowing they would almost certainly reach the play-offs after winning their Nations League group. Wales must finish second in the group to be seeded for March’s play-offs.
La Roja themselves need a point from their showdown with Sweden at the weekend to secure a place at next year’s World Cup finals.
Republic of Ireland impress with draw as Portugal’s Pepe is sent offRead more
Sarabia’s winner came in the 26th minute after Iñigo Martínez was tripped following a corner. Sa…
The block across from us – full of guests of the potato chip brand Lay’s – all had their phones ready to capture the big moment. Manchester City had just defeated Internazionale to become European champions and win the treble. Fans around us cried and hugged as Ilkay Gündogan walked up to lift his third trophy in a month. This was the endpoint of a wild journey for the team that I’ve been watching since my first match in 1992. It was, as a football fan, as good as it could ever possibly get, but almost all I could think about was: how the hell can I get some water?
In an attempt to keep the rival fans apart, beat Istanbul’s impressively stubborn traffic and get everyone to their seats in time, Uefa had insisted that City’s fans …