Italy's victory over Belgium was celebrated as a triumph of the team over individual talents, but Friday's opponents Sweden are relying on the singular genius of frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get their Euro 2016 campaign off the ground.
For Ireland to reach the knockout stages at Euro 2016 they must achieve something they haven't done in 28 years - win a game at the European Championship. Martin O'Neill's team face an Italian side already guaranteed victory in Group E and manager Antonio Conte is likely to field many of his reserves, but it remains to be seen if Ireland can end their long winless streak in this must-win game.
The 12 winners of the Qualifiers on March 6-7 next year will compete alongside the six nations that have automatically qualified for the 2020 Finals.
Italy's ability to get over the line in by far their biggest challenge of the Euros so far has made many people on the peninsula more convinced than ever of their ability to go on and win it on Sunday.
India would look to seal a direct quarterfinal berth with a win against Canada in their final Pool C match of the men's hockey World Cup on Saturday.
Newcastle's worries deepened as they now remain at 19th in the table.
Holders France got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a disappointing start with a 1-1 draw at home to Ukraine
Italy are one win away from being crowned champions of Europe
Zlatan Ibrahimovic said he was under pressure to perform well in Sweden's opening Euro 2016 game against Ireland at the Stade de France on Monday but that the greatest pressure came from himself.
Spain prevail in shootout against gallant 10-men Swiss
Harmanpreet (41', 51') and Ramandeep Singh (35') scored in the second half after Akashdeep Singh (5') and SV Sunil (20') had put India ahead at half-time.
The Champs Elysees and the vast circle around the Arc de Triomphe were packed with an estimated 200,000 fans
England beat Nigeria 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday that provided some clues as to how coach Gareth Southgate will line up his still experimental side when the World Cup gets underway in two weeks' time.
The Davis Cup final between Belgium and Britain will go ahead despite Brussels being placed on maximum alert over the threat of an imminent attack, local organisers and the International Tennis Federation said on Monday.
England were booed by some of their fans in two friendlies while Ireland were jeered in Hungary for kneeling before kickoff
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said Friday's draw for the last 16 of the Europa League against Russian side Rostov has been unkind to his team, the favourites.
Caleb Ewan claimed his second victory in this year's Tour de France when he prevailed in a tightly contested sprint to win the 11th stage,
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was among the first to congratulate Dolgopyat praising the 24-year-old for making "blue and white history".
Hold your breath as Rediff.com brings to you some of the picturesque places that the cyclists race through at the Tour.
An important factor in India's stupendous success in 2021 was the way the government opened its coffers to support athletes.
Eight-time champions India have bee clubbed along side Australia, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand and hosts Japan in a tough Pool A in the men's competition
How England and Italy arrived at the final at Wembley.
A structured defence and clinical attack saw India beat hosts New Zealand 3-1 in the final round-robin match of the double-leg Four-Nation Invitational Hockey Tournament, at Blake Park in Tauranga, New Zealand, on Saturday.
The predictions by the world's biggest wealth manager were based on a statistical model using the results from the previous five tournaments and controlling for factors such as team strength and success in the qualification phase.
It took a great escape in injury time to get there after being two goals down to Japan, but Belgium can now view their quarter-final against Brazil free of the weight of expectation.
Zoo director Vladimir Gerasimov believes Cleopatra might have a little better understanding of soccer than other animals.
'It's a problem not just in football -- it's a problem in society, but football now is at the forefront of everybody's minds in terms of, we've got the power to do something about it'
Amid increasing cases of monkeypox being reported in non-endemic countries, the government on Tuesday issued guidelines directing district surveillance units to consider even one such case as an outbreak and initiating a detailed investigation through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.
Tite was asked about reports that he was set to take charge of the Champions League winners during a news conference ahead of Sunday's friendly against Austria, although it was not clear where they had originated.
Images from action in the Europa League matches on Thursday.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Akira Nishino's short time in charge of Japan has been defined by a succession of gambles and so it was perhaps fitting that his side departs the World Cup after risking it all in the last 16 against Belgium.
Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic became the first all-Croatian pair to capture a Grand Slam men's doubles title when they outclassed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-5 at Wimbledon on Saturday.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
A round-up of results from the Nations League matches played on Sunday
A round-up of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Serie A.
The eight-time Olympic champions, who will play in the last four stage at the Games after 49 years, will take on Belgium, who beat Spain 3-1 in another quarter-final earlier.
Germany's exit has no bearing on England preparations for the World Cup latter stages and they will be going all out to win their final Group G match against Belgium, coach Gareth Southgate said on Wednesday.
Lack of training is an obvious concern but India's hockey players are also feeling homesick and they made that known to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju in an online interaction on Thursday while pleading for limited resumption of practice. The Indian men's and women's hockey teams told the minister that resumption of on-field training in small groups as soon as possible will give them an an upper-hand over other top nations as they gear up for Olympics next year.
Raphael Varane's glancing header and a goalkeeping blunder that gifted Antoine Griezmann a soft goal gave France a 2-0 victory over Uruguay in the first World Cup quarter-final on Friday and a set up a last-four tie with Brazil or Belgium.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances