Republic of Ireland begin their Euro 2016 preparations with a friendly against Netherlands at Aviva Stadium on Friday, and Martin O Neill wants his team to come away with confidence intact .
Ireland will entertain the Dutch in Dublin before hosting Belarus in Cork next week ahead of their Group E opener against Sweden in Paris on June 13.
O Neill s team secured a place in the European Championship by overcoming
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Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs, but Netherlands missed out after finishing fourth in their qualifying group.
Nevertheless, the Ireland boss expects a tough match and wants to see his team come through it strongly.
I have a fair idea about the Dutch. I think it ll be a really good test for us, said O Neill.
I think we…
Juventus face Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League s first knockout round, with Claudio Marchisio eyeing a run to the final.
Claudio Marchisio believes Juventus can overcome Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League last 16 and return to Germany for the final in June.
Dortmund have struggled domestically this season, though Jurgen Klopp s side have enjoyed a good campaign among Europe s elite, topping Group D ahead of Arsenal, Anderlecht and Galatasaray.
But Marchisio is confident that Italian champions Juve who host Dortmund in the first leg of their tie next Tuesday have what it takes to beat the 2013 finalists and can go all the way to this season s Berlin showpiece.
We always aim to win. Our goal is to reach the final, he told Sky I…
A late goal from David Villa allowed Spain to escape and earn a 1-2 victory against a brave Belgian side.
The European champions conceded their first goal since their Euro 2008 encounter with Greece as striker Wesley Sonck but the home side in the lead after only seven minutes.
But Andres Iniesta found his way past Belgium keeper Stijn Stijnen in the 36th minute to level the score.
Euro 2008 top scorer David Villa himself netted the winning goal with just two minutes to go.
The Spanish have twelve points from four games, four points more than second placed Turkey. Belgium are third with seven points.
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Real Madrid Monday expressed its confidence in German coach Bernd Schuster despite a string of recent defeats for the Spanish champions.
We have full confidence in this coach, who is doing a great job despite some bad luck in recent matches, sporting director Pedja Mijatovic told a news conference.
Double champions Real have suffered several recent defeats in all competitions, and are currently fourth in the Primera Liga, five points behind leaders Barcelona.
On Saturday, it lost 1-0 at Valladolid, days after the club s humiliating ouster from the Spanish Cup by third division Real Union.
In the Champions League, it has suffered two defeats against Juventus, and must beat Zenit St Petersburg next month to be sure of qualifying for the last eight.
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Gareth Southgate has suggested Jack Wilshere can nail down a regular starting berth due to his technical quality, but warned Joe Hart faces a fight for his England place.
Arsenal midfielder Wilshere has not played for the national team since England were humiliated by Iceland at Euro 2016, but has earned a recall after fighting his way back into the Gunners starting XI.
Wilshere is joined in the team by Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook, who is one of four uncapped players alongside Burnley duo Nick Pope and James Tarkowski and Swansea City s Alfie Mawson.
And Southgate earmarked Wilshere as a player that can be crucial to the kind of football he wants the Three Lions to play.
Jack s a player that has unquestionable talent. The key for me is that he is p…
Juventus midfielder Rolando Mandragora is hoping to be fit for selection before the end of the year after undergoing successful surgery on a fractured metatarsal.
The 19-year-old midfielder has yet to feature for the Bianconeri following his move from Genoa in January, and the club sent him for surgery on the fifth metatarsal of his right foot after it was judged not to be healing properly.
The club paid €6 million to bring Mandragora to Juventus Stadium, but allowed him to complete a loan spell with Pescara in Serie B that had begun in July 2015 while he was still a Genoa player.
The talented youngster is highly rated by Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, and club doctor Claudio Riga was present as he was operated on successfully by a specialist in Porto.
Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes feels Arjen Robben could be vital in the UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Robben suffered several disappointments at the end of the 2011-12 season, including missing in Bayern s penalty shoot-out loss to Chelsea in the Champions League final and a poor Euro 2012 with the Netherlands.
An injury at the start of the season hampered the winger but the Dutchman has bounced back in impressive fashion, contributing two goals in his side s 7-0 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.
It is not a surprise. Arjen was very motivated after the European Championships last summer, Heynckes said.
But he got injured and lost time. He is still driven by ambition. He has a professional approach…
Stuart Pearce slammed his side s efforts in their 1-0 loss to Italy, as England made a poor start to the European Under-21 Championships.
Despite having a Craig Dawson header ruled out in the first half, which would have given them a lead, Pearce was angered by his players failure to fire on the big stage in Tel Aviv.
Lorenzo Insigne scored from a set-piece in the 79th minute to give Italy all three points and see them to the top of Group A a result that left the English coach frustrated.
The performance was very poor. The players know that it wasn t good enough, the better team won, he said.
The positive is we played that badly and only lost 1-0. We were awful.
The result ended England s nine-game unbeaten run that dated back to 2011, although…
Germany captain Michael Ballack on Thursday urged the Euro 2008 finalists to raise their game for Saturday s World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein to banish the memories of their recent defeats.
The 32-year-old Chelsea star is demanding a raised effort in Leipzig from his side who have lost their last two home games: a 2-1 defeat to England last November and a 1-0 defeat to Norway in February.
Germany have not suffered back-to-back home defeats since 1956 and Ballack says only a convincing win over Liechenstein, ranked 151st in the world, will suffice.
We simply have to play better and put in a better performance, Ballack told sports magazine Kicker.
And it will happen.
Germany are top of their qualifying group and are unbeaten with three …
Former German international goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has been banned from driving for four weeks and fined 127 euros (165 US dollars) after being caught speeding in Munich, German tabloid Bild reported on Saturday.
The Stuttgart goalkeeper, who made the last of his 61 appearances for Germany in the Euro 2008 final, hit the headlines here last year for using a helicopter to get from his Starnberg home near Munich to Stuttgart s training base 250 kilometres away.
The ex-Arsenal keeper may again resort to the elaborate mode of transport after he was caught driving 102km per hour along Munich s Landshuter Allee at 2am on September 3 2008 in an area which has a top speed of 60km/h.
Lehmann is under contract at Stuttgart until 2010 and has said he wants to play for the…