Tony Popovic has pledged to instil a new energy into Australia s play after replacing Graham Arnold as the Socceroos head coach.
Arnold surprisingly resigned after six years in the role on Friday, following a poor start to Australia s 2026 World Cup qualification campaign.
A 1-0 defeat at home to Bahrain and a goalless draw in Indonesia in the September international break left the Socceroos fifth in the Asian World Cup qualification standings, with only the top two finishers getting automatic spots at the 48-team tournament.
Former Crystal Palace centre-back Popovich, who won 58 caps for Australia between 1995 and 2006, says there is enough talent available to change their fortunes.
Coaching the Socceroos is probably a dream come true, Popovic told rep…
It was an underwhelming day for England as they could not seal their place in the next round of Euro 2020, though Sweden moved a step closer to at least ensuring they do not go home early.
Nevertheless, Friday was not a day of great entertainment in the European Championship, with no team managing more than one goal among the three matches.
Only one of the three goals on the day was not a penalty, as Ivan Perisic made history when sealing a point for Croatia.
While the matches may not have set pulses racing, there was still plenty to talk about.
Using Opta data, Stats Perform takes a look at some of the best facts from across the day s games.
Good point for Scotland or did their performance merit more?
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020)
Hosts Brazil were agonisingly denied a place in the final of the women s football tournament at Rio 2016, courtesy of a penalty shoot-out defeat to Sweden.
Despite being on the front foot for the vast majority of Tuesday s match at the Maracana, Brazil were unable to break the deadlock against a team they beat 5-1 in the group stage.
After 120 minutes of goalless action, Sweden ran out 4-3 winners on penalties. Pia Sundhage s team will now face Germany, 2-0 winners over Canada, in Friday s final.
Silver medallists at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, Brazil had high hopes of going one better on home soil, particularly after Sweden eliminated two-time reigning champions the United States in the last eight.
That win also came in a shoot-out, the approach of S…
International football s perennial underachievers Spain are in defiant mood ahead of their Euro 2008 Group D opener against Russia in Innsbruck on Tuesday.
The talented Spaniards have earnt themselves a reputation as chokers and mentally brittle over the years after flattering to deceive time and again on the biggest stage.
But their players have been firing back with fighting talk this week and are in determined mood ahead of their clash against the unfancied Russians.
Mallorca striker Daniel Guiza insisted the team are paying no attention to their critics.
I don t care what people are saying. We have to stay calm and not listen to these commentaries, he said.
They have possibly the most talented midfield and attacking combination in the to…
Lionel Messi led the way once again as his goal against Villarreal took the Barcelona star to 50 goals for the season before any other player in Europe s major leagues.
The Argentina captain s goal was typical in its method, Messi dribbling beyond two Villarreal defenders before cutting a shot into the far corner, via a deflection.
With Neymar having opened the scoring at Camp Nou, Messi s strike also took Barca s MSN strikeforce to 100 goals for the third season in a row.
Messi, who reached 500 Barcelona goals with a recent Clasico double, also racked up a 50-goal season for the fifth time in his mesmeric career.
50 Lionel Messi is the first player from the Top 5 European Leagues to reach 50 goals this season in all competitions. Crucial.
— Op…
RoboCup 2009, the world s largest robotics event, kicked off Wednesday in the southern Austrian city of Graz, with some 400 teams and 2,000 robots ready to compete in sports and rescue operations.
On two or four legs, with wheels or virtually on a screen, robots of all sizes will battle it out on the football pitch the most popular event but also face off in a dance competition and domestic chores.
Participants from 44 countries are split into two categories, juniors and seniors, with the former dedicated to robots programmed by young people aged between 10 and 19.
Suitably for the occasion, robots performed the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, marking the opening of the five-day event, which is organised by the Graz University of Technology.
Local …
The Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles clash in an NFC East battle on Tuesday night, following the postponement of Week 15’s originally scheduled Sunday contest.
Both teams are sitting on 6-7 records and have a glimmer of hope of reaching the playoffs. This divisional game is always feisty and should be even more competitive with their seasons hanging in the balance.
Check out our NFL picks and predictions for Washington vs. Philadelphia and find out where we’re leaning in the biggest game of the year for both sides.
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The Dallas Cowboys visiting the Minnesota Vikings may be the best NFL game to watch in Week 11, but it also features a ton of betting value as stud wide receiver CeeDee Lamb goes against a shaky Vikes secondary (while trying to one-up Minnesota star Justin Jefferson too).
Meanwhile, the Bengals-Steelers game wasn’t good enough to stay in the SNF spot… but there’s another No. 1 WR in that matchup who is more than good enough to garner my attention.
With kickoff just hours away, here is my best free NFL player prop picks for today — with a No. 1 wide receiver flavor.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s teaser time!
It brings me great pleasure to share that my teaser cold streak has come to an end, but I won’t dine out on that very long as I still have a hole to get out of with my 6-9 season-long record.
Week 16 odds feature plenty of great options for teaser bettors, with a few big favorites that you can tease inside of the key number of seven and a handful of underdogs that you can tease both three and seven.
Let’s get into this week’s NFL picks, where we’ll hopefully land on a winning pairing that can add a little joy to the holiday season and a little bit (or a lot) of cash to our bankrolls!
Make …
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