Can Real Madrid star Gareth Bale inspire Wales to qualification for Euro 2016?

Wales drew 0-0 with highly-fancied Belgium in Brussels last night in Group B of Euro 2016 qualifying.

It was not the best attacking display we will ever see from Gareth Bale and company, but defensive wise they produce an outstanding performance.

Second

A draw away at the group favourites is not to be sniffed at and took Wales onto eight points, second place in the group table, although some of their rivals do have a game in-hand.

The Welsh points tally at this stage of a very competitive group is a good one.

The likes of Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina will still be fancied to come back from their currently low positions in the group and Israel are the surp…

Thibaut Courtois vowed to continue fighting but acknowledged Real Madrid s LaLiga title hopes may be over after a dramatic defeat at Barcelona on Sunday.

Franck Kessie scored a last-gasp Clasico winner in a 2-1 win over fierce rivals Madrid at Camp Nou to send Xavi s side 12 points clear at the top heading into the international break.

Carlo Ancelotti s side had taken the lead through Ronald Araujo s ninth-minute own goal, only for Sergi Roberto to deservedly equalise on the stroke of half-time.

Courtois impressed with a fine individual display to keep Los Blancos in the game, though the goalkeeper conceded Madrid s defence of their Spanish crown will likely come to an end.

The Belgium international told LaLiga TV: We have to be honest. We will continue f…

Chelsea tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League as Kai Havertz s double guided them to a routine 2-0 win over Fulham at Stamford Bridge.

Havertz had only scored twice in his previous 24 Premier League appearances in his first season following a high-profile move from Bayer Leverkusen.

But he showed his class against relegation-threatened Fulham in Saturday s clash, a goal in each half sending Chelsea six points clear of fifth-placed West Ham, who face Burnley on Monday.

Fulham are nine points adrift of safety with four games to play and will be all but relegated if Newcastle United defeat Arsenal on Sunday and Burnley overcome West Ham.

After a bright start by Fulham, they were quickly undone by some brilliance from Mason Mount, who con…

Real Salt Lake continued their giant-slaying run with another upset, this time stunning Sporting Kansas City 2-1 at the death to reach the Western Conference final in the MLS Cup play-offs.

After eliminating Seattle Sounders on penalties in the opening round, RSL were at it again on Sunday as they produced a second-half comeback to end Sporting KC s season in dramatic fashion.

Sporting KC appeared on track thanks to Johnny Russell s 24th-minute penalty before the seventh-seeded RSL – who were making their 10th Conference semi-final appearance, only Seattle have managed more (12) since 2008 – made their move.

After almost falling 2-0 behind when Gadi Kinda s free-kick was headed off the post, RSL substitute Anderson Julio equalised 18 minutes from the end.

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Julian Nagelsmann called for improvements from Bayern Munich and insisted his side must not become disenchanted after two disappointing performances.

The reigning Bundesliga champions are six points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund at the summit, despite falling to a 4-2 loss at Bochum last Saturday.

Nagelsmann s side followed up that disappointing defeat with another unspectacular performance in Salzburg on Wednesday, where they required a late Kingsley Coman strike to secure a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.

The former RB Leipzig head coach expressed his frustrations with the recent outings but expects his team to bounce back when they travel to Furth on Sunday.

We want to remain critical and have a certain …

Mikhail Fomenko thinks Ukraine deserved to qualify for Euro 2016 after seeing off Slovenia in a two-legged play-off.

Ukraine finally ended their play-off curse thanks to a 1-1 draw in Slovenia on Tuesday that sealed a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

The Ukrainians had lost five two-legged play-off matches to reach major tournaments in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2010 and 2014, but finally ended that run to book a spot in France next year.

Speaking afterwards in Maribor, head coach Fomenko heaped praise on the Ukraine squad, telling reporters: I would like to thank from my heart all the players for their work. For such a fight on the pitch you have to be really prepared both physically and mentally.

Compliments also go to the entire leadership of the national team and the f…

George Saville will never complain about a lack of recognition for his work in the Millwall and Northern Ireland engine rooms, but when praise came his way at the end of the season he was delighted to get it.

Saville has made his career out of doing the dirty work in midfield, the sort of unglamorous role which can go unnoticed.

But the 30-year-old was third in the running for Millwall’s player of the season award after being singled out by manager Gary Rowett for praise during a play-off push which fell short on the final day of the Championship season as Blackburn came from 3-1 down to win 4-3 at The Den.

“With the manager having that trust in me, how he spoke to me at the back end of the season was fantastic and to get recognition at that level was great,�…

New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter has challenged his team to bounce back from their heavy defeat last time out when they host Atlanta United on Wednesday.

The Revs four-match unbeaten streak in MLS was ended by a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Columbus Crew at the weekend.

Their recent run has lifted them off the foot of the Eastern Conference and kept them in the hunt for what looked to be an unlikely playoff place.

Porter is confident his team can quickly put the weekend s disappointment behind them.

You can t lose to teams that are in around you and give them points, Porter said. They are in the hunt with us for the playoffs, so it s really important we bounce back.

We still have confidence. We know we re a good team, and it has t…

Carlos Queiroz attributed Iran s vital World Cup win over Wales on Friday to his players going back to their roots .

Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian both scored in stoppage time to seal a 2-0 victory for Iran after Wayne Hennessey had been sent off late on for Wales.

Iran were thumped 6-2 by England in their opening game in Qatar, but a deserved three points against the Dragons has injected fresh life into their bid to reach the last 16.

Queiroz was thrilled by his side s display, describing the win as a gift to Iran s fans.

What a moment for IR Iran! |

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup)

We played with amazing character, he said. We always play with a sense of unity and cohesion. Today, we went back to our roots. We were able to p…

Ollie Watkins labelled Spain s Lamine Yamal as a generational talent ahead of England s clash with La Roja in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday.

Yamal played a key role in Spain reaching their first major tournament final since 2012, scoring a stunner to cancel out Randal Kolo Muani s opener before Dani Olmo s winner four minutes later.

The teenager has had 13 shot involvements following a ball carry at Euro 2024 (six shots, seven chances created), at least three more than any other player.

Having beaten Pele s record in becoming the youngest player to score at a major tournament, more history beckons for Yamal in Berlin.

A day after his 17th birthday, the Barcelona forward could be the youngest player to feature in a World Cup or European Championship fin…