England 4 Bulgaria 0 Jermain Defoe scored a hat-trick as England began their Euro 2010 qualifying campaign with a resounding victory against Bulgaria at Wembley. After a dismal performance in this summer’s World Cup, manager Fabio Capello was under increasing pressure to deliver a convincing win. Tottenham Hotspur striker Defoe settled any nerves with an [...]
Montenegro 1 Wales 0 A narrow defeat in Montenegro saw Wales begin their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign on the backfoot. The only goal of the game was scored by Montenegro captain Mirko Vucinic after half an hour. Wales substitute Simon Church saw a header come back off the crossbar and was later flagged off-side when [...]
Slovenia 0 Northern Ireland 1 Substitute Corry Evans grabbed a late winner for Northern Ireland, scoring with his first touch and securing a precious Euro 2012 qualifier victory in Slovenia. The home side wasted numerous first half chances and dominated after the break but it was youngster Evans who scored in a rare attack after [...]
Lithuania 0 Scotland 0 Scotland left Kaunas with just a single point as both they and Lithuania failed to score in their opening Euro 2012 Group I qualifier. Scottish goalkeeper Allan McGregor saved well from Saulius Mikoliunas, while Barry Robson was denied twice from long range by Zydrunas Karcemarskas. Lithuania were arguably more dangerous in [...]
Jonathan Woodgate was the most high profile victim of the Premier League’s new 25-man rule after being left out of Tottenham Hotspur’s squad. The 30-year-old defender made only three appearances last season and has not featured since November 2009 due to a long-standing groin problem. There is speculation the former Real Madrid defender may even [...]
Tottenham Hotspur have secured the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart for £8 million ($12.3 million). Manager Harry Redknapp made his move to sign the 27-year-old Dutch international just two hours before the transfer window closed at 1800 BST on Tuesday. However, the club’s urgency to file the required paperwork before the [...]
Sunderland smashed their transfer record to clinch the signing of Asamoah Gyan from Rennes in what was the biggest transfer move on deadline day. The Ghana striker, who scored three times for his country during the World Cup this summer, joined for a fee in excess of £13 million and penned a four-year contract. Asamoah’s [...]
Liverpool have completed the signing of Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles from Porto. The Reds have paid 14m euros (£11.5m) for the 27-year-old who has won 38 caps for his country. The Portuguese, who signed a four-year contract, is a combative player who will replace the Barcelona-bound Javier Mascherano. “Liverpool are a historic club and I [...]
Manchester United 3 West Ham United 0 Wayne Rooney ended the longest goal drought of his career when he scored in a comfortable victory against West Ham at Old Trafford. Rooney scored from the penalty spot, his first goal in 13 matches and goals from Nani and Dimitar Berbatov ensured United remained two points behind [...]
The current Test between Pakistan and England at Lord’s is embroiled in an alleged cricket betting scam. Scotland Yard said a 35-year-old man was being held on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers. UK Sunday newspaper The News of the World claimed it gave £150,000 ($233,000) to a middleman who provided details about three “no [...]