Italy 1-1 Spain (Insigne 68; Aduriz 70)Italy: Buffon; Darmian, Bonucci, Astori; Florenzi (De Silvestri 89), Parolo (Jorginho 89), Thiago Motta, Giaccherini (Antonelli 79); Candreva (Bernardeschi 61), Pellè (Zaza 61), Éder (Insigne 52).Spain: De Gea; Juanfran (Alba 79), Piqué, Ramos (Nacho 46), Azpilicueta; Fàbregas, San José, Alcántara (Isco 61); Mata (Koke 46), Aduriz (David Silva 71), Morata (Alcácer 86)David de Gea boosted his chances of displacing Iker Casillas as Spain's No1 with a series of fine saves as the European reigning champions held Italy for 68 minutes until home substitute Lorenzo Insigne broke the ...
Football Update
Croatia, Romania, Poland win friendlies
Croatia 2-0 Israel (Perišić 4, Brozović 34)Croatia: Subašić (L Kalinić 46); Vida, Lovren, Ćorluka (Schildenfeld 46); Perišić, Badelj (Halilović 51), Modrić (Antolić 68), Brozović, Srna (Vrsaljko 44); Kalinić N (Kovačić 58), Mandžukić.Croatia coach Ante Čačić fielded a new 3-5-2 formation and had Internazionale Milano midfielders Ivan Perišić and Marcelo Brozović to thanks for victory. Brozović set up Perišić for the first and got the second himself after Mario Mandžukić hit the post. Croatia looked good in attack but received a blow when captain Darijo Srna went down injured following Rami Gershon's sliding tackle;...
Redknapp’s three-hour Jordan job
"I'm very proud to have been given this task and I promise you I'll do my best to represent your country." Those were Harry Redknapp's first words as he was unveiled as the new coach of Jordan, the well-known English manager underlining his commitment to the cause – despite taking command for a limited time only. His brief, after all, could hardly be more specific, with Redknapp appointed to get results in Jordan's final two group-stage qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.Although most coaches prefer time to get to know their players and pass on their message, the new man at the helm has opted to forego all that. Instead, his spell will effectively last just three ho...
Follow Under-21 qualifying live
The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship features a qualifying group stage and a play-off round to determine which 11 teams join hosts Poland in the final tournament.Qualifying group stageTeams are split into nine groups – seven of six sides and two of five – and play each other on a home-and-away basis. The nine group winners qualify automatically. The four runners-up with the best record against the nations first, third, fourth and fifth in their sections advance to the play-offs.Play-offsThe two play-off ties are contested according to the knockout system. The team that scores the greater aggregate of goals proceeds to...
Futsal World Cup play-off updates
European qualifying for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup comprises two group stages and a play-off round.Preliminary roundThe lower-ranked nations are drawn into four-team mini-tournaments played from 22 to 25 October 2015. Each mini-tournament is staged by one of the countries and each team plays one another once with the group winners progressing alongside the best two runners-up.Main roundThe preliminary round qualifiers join the remaining entrants in seven groups of four nations held from 10 to 13 December 2015. The top two in each group go into the play-offs.Play-offsThe group winners will be drawn a...
Semi-finalist profile: Real Madrid
Real Madrid avenged their 2014 semi-final defeat against Benfica by eliminating the Portuguese side in the last eight to book their place in their second UEFA Youth League final tournament.With Borja Mayoral, already a member of the senior squad, leading the attack, Santiago Solari's group features a number of players tipped to make the grade at the Santiago Bernabéu.Goalkeeper Luca Zidane is the son of first-team coach Zinédine and, in addition to his excellent shot-stopping abilities, his distribution from the back shows that he has some of his father's adeptness on the ball. Cristian Cedrés has proven himself to be an attacking midfielder with an eye for goal, while Al...
EURO 1976 team of the tournament
GK: Ivo Viktor (Czechoslovakia) Viktor was the goalkeeper famously lobbed from the opposition half, but not beaten, by Pelé at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. At the 1976 UEFA European Championship the 34-year-old enjoyed the best week of his career. His performances against the Netherlands and even more so West Germany were the stuff of legend. After several telling saves, some bordering on the miraculous, he was voted into third place in the 1976 Ballon d'Or. Five times the Czechoslovakian Footballer of the Year, Viktor ended his career in 1977 with 63 caps.DF: Ján Pivarník (Czechoslovakia)