Craig Goodwin scored a stunner and set up Australia s equaliser as they beat China 3-1 in Tony Popovic s first game in charge.
Popovic replaced Graham Arnold in September and, despite seeing his team fall behind in Thursday s World Cup qualifier, was ultimately able to celebrate a convincing win.
Goodwin was playing in front of a hometown crowd in Adelaide and smashed in a long-range, left-footed strike to put Australia in front in the 53rd minute.
The 32-year-old had earlier crossed in for Lewis Miller to head home on the stroke of half-time.
Miller s goal cancelled out Xie Wenneng s 20th-minute opener for China.
Substitute Nishan Velupillay completed the scoring late on, marking his debut in style just nine minutes after coming on.
A Goo…
Romania head coach Edward Iordanescu was left furious after suggestions his side could manipulate a draw with Slovakia to ensure Euro 2024 progression.
With all four sides level on points heading into the final matchday, a point apiece in Romania s game would have ensured both teams went through to the last 16 regardless of Belgium s result against Ukraine.
Iordanescu s men ultimately prevailed as unlikely Group E winners after their 1-1 draw with Slovakia, coupled with Belgium s goalless stalemate on Wednesday.
Yet Iordanescu noted claims his team would play for – or attempt to manipulate – a share of the spoils, blasting those suggestions after the match.
I believe it was clear that both teams gave everything for 80 minutes, Iordanescu told reporte…
The South African government was confident Thursday of its 2010 World Cup readiness, as the country gears up to stage the draw for next year s Confederations Cup.
The stadia are on schedule and they will finish on time. We believe we are on track, said Sicelo Shiceka, the provincial and local government minister, after a two-day workshop with host cities.
A high level FIFA team, including its vice-president Jack Warner, will be in Johannesburg on November 22 for the draw for the Confederations Cup, FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer told AFP Thursday.
Other members of the delegation include FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Issa Hayatou.
The Confederations Cup has traditionally been used to test a …
Italy will have a shot at their first European title for 53 years after overcoming Spain on penalties in Tuesday s Euro 2020 semi-final.
Four-time world champions Italy were taken to extra-time at Wembley, where Alvaro Morata cancelled out Federico Chiesa s opener to ensure it was 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Neither side could find the breakthrough during the additional half hour and Manuel Locatelli and Dani Olmo failed with the opening penalties for their respective sides.
But Morata turned from hero to villain when Gianluigi Donnarumma saved his tame spot-kick and Jorginho converted to book a final showdown with either England or Denmark.
For Spain, and Morata in particular, this night could have ended up feeling very different indeed.
Ita…
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes Italy will spring a surprise over Germany and advance to the Euro 2012 final.
The Azzurri saw off England on Sunday on penalties after 90 minutes of normal play and a half-hour of extra-time failed to produce a winner and will now face Joachim Loew s men on Thursday.
Portugal are set to play reigning champions Spain a day earlier and Mancini believes there will be some shock results in the semi-final clashes.
The final will be between Italy and Portugal, Mancini told Radio RAI.
The former Inter coach compared the upcoming semi-final matches to Chelsea s surprising Champions League victory in the last four over Barcelona and Bayern Munich s win against Real Madrid at the same stage of the competition.
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In one of the most important fixtures of the season so far, City look to continue the form that is looking like taking them to fourth spot in the league, whilst United need a victory to hold onto any possibility of winning the Premierleague this year.
Mancini s Manchester City have kept up a remarkable run of form of late and fourth position is looking like theirs to give away, but they have some tricky games and facing United at home is probably the most tricky of all. A derby of this masgnitude can always throw up surprising results but both teams will be doing all they can to pick up the three points. Man City look to have a good squad to choose from but they do have Ireland, Richards and Lescott missing from the first team.
Alex Ferguson will still be smarting from …
Brazil turned on the style and piled on the goals as they continued their perfect home World Cup qualifying record with a comfortable 4-0 win over Paraguay in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday.
Leeds United forward Raphinha had a goal disallowed by the VAR early before netting the opener in the 28th minute, with new Aston Villa signing Coutinho adding a second on 62 minutes for his first international goal since 2020.
Brazil added two more in the dying minutes as Ajax forward Antony curled in, before Newcastle United addition Bruno Guimaraes laid off for Rodrygo to tap home.
The victory means Selecao, who have already clinched their spot at Qatar 2022, are unbeaten in 15 qualifiers and remain four points clear of rivals Argentina at the top of the CONMEBOL standings.
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Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery has vented at the injustice of his failure to win the 2013 Ballon d Or, claiming he did not have the support of his own country.
Ribery finished third with 23.36 per cent of the vote, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (27.99 per cent) and Lionel Messi (24.72 per cent), despite having won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup with Bayern that year.
The prize was voted for by a journalist from each FIFA member federation, along with the coach and captain of the national men s team.
And former France international Ribery believes a lack of support in his homeland cost him the honour.
The Ballon d Or was difficult, he told Canal Football Club. It was incomprehensible.
I won all the…
The result of this game doesn’t really feel like it’s up for debate. The Houston Texans are 14.5-point underdogs and only the Lions are on a longer losing streak. Meanwhile, the Rams sit 6-1 and only two teams have outscored them on the season entering Week 8.
There’s still plenty to wager on for this game, so make sure that you read our NFL picks and predictions for the Los Angeles Rams vs. Houston Texans on Sunday, October 31.
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Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. After having their heart ripped out three times by the Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round, the Buffalo Bills appear stronger heading into the 2022 NFL season.
Buffalo made targeted personnel moves during the offseason, patching holes and fortifying its biggest weakness from the year before — moves that many say were acts of panic and not careful planning for the future.
Whatever the cause, the Bills jumped up the Super Bowl futures board this offseason and enter 2022 as Big Game favorites, which also brings a lofty season win total and sizable spreads. These expectations are warranted for the best two-way team in the NFL.
We circle the wagons and take out the tables for our Buffalo Bills NFL bett…