John O'Shea Propels Ireland to a Legendary Draw

History was made this week as one of the most amazing football stories ever written fell upon Irishman John O'Shea. Not many gave the boys in green much chance as they lined out against World Cup winners Germany. Wes Hoolahan had been controversially been left out of the starting team after a good performance against Gibraltar, and it was his cross that later proved so vital for Ireland as he was brought on as a late substitute. Germany were coming off the back of a devastating 2-0 loss to Poland, and were looking for a good win to boost their qualification campaign. After a tense affair, with Germany controlling the possession stats and having the bulk of the chances, the tie remained a stale mate for the first 70 minutes of the game. Durm, the young German left back, came extremely close after his 35 yard wonder-strike hit the bar with goalkeeper Ford left stranded. Toni Kroos impressed for the team in white throughout the whole game, making many passes and finding a lot of space between Ireland's attack and midfield. He picked up the ball off Max Kruse, who had just come onto the pitch, and drove at Irish defender Quinn. He was given far too much space to travel in to and hit a superb strike in off the upright. Irish hearts appeared broken as their valiant defending for the majority of the game seemed for nothing. It went all the way down to the last minute of stoppage time, when a Hoolahan cross to the back post was knocked back into the area where it was expertly turned in to the bottom corner by none other than John O'Shea, wearing the captains armband, on his 100th cap, to take home a point for the Boys in Green.

Formula 1 World left Stunned by Bianchi Crash and Sochi Preview

     Every driver, pit crew, team manger and fan ever involved in any aspect of Formula 1 was left in a state of shock after Marussia driver Jules Bianchi crashed into a recovery vehicle as he ran off the track on the closing few laps of the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend. The Frenchman is said to still be in a 'critical but stable' condition. His family released a statement earlier this week saying he is suffering from 'diffuse axonal injury'.


     Marussia, out of respect for their severely injured driver, have opted to race only one car in this weekends Grand Prix in Sochi in Russia. Hamilton currently is in the lead after a mistake in practice has left Nico Rosberg back in fourth place. Hamilton has shone on the Sochi layout, an acrobatic 5.8km track, and said he "really enjoyed" it in his post practice interview. Even after a slip up cost him, Rosberg also seemed to enjoy the technical Russian circuit, which has been likened to Abu Dhabi and the Valencia Street Track

Liverpool Stumble as Basel Claim Three Points

Liverpool's lack of organisation from the dead ball was once again exploited as a second half strike from Basel skipper Streller was enough to claim the spoils after a poor all round performance from the reds. Brendan Rodgers said afterwards the he was disappointed with the defensive effort from his team, combined with a lack of composure in front of goal resulted in a loss that could prove costly with a difficult fixture coming up against reigning champions Real Madrid. Liverpool will need to severely step up to the plate if they are to qualify to the knockout stages.

Ryder Cup Day One - Morning Fourballs

The 40th Ryder Cup started today with the morning fourballs, the only big news being that Rory McIlroy had been partnered with Sergio Garcia, and not Graeme McDowell. The two Northern Irishmen are currently in the middle of a messy lawsuit over their managerial contracts, but were still expected by many to be paired together as they have been in past tournaments. McDowell wasn't included in the morning fourballs team, instead captain Paul McGinley rested him for the afternoon foursomes, in which he is teamed up with Frenchman Victor Dubuisson.

Europe came out worse after the first morning of action, trailing the US team 2.5 - 1.5. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson were the partnership to register Europe's only win, as they convincingly beat Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson 5&4, with the Americans failing to record a single birdie on the day. Rose eased home a putt on the 14th to secure the easy win.

The USA came back in force, with young guns Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed copying the score line of the early game, defeating Ryder Cup veteran Ian Poulter and his partner Stephen Gallacher 5&4. The Americans wasted no time, taking the lead at the first after Poulter missed a 3-foot putt for par. It was the Englishman's first defeat in four years of Ryder Cup action. In the following match Jimmy Walker holed a last gap putt on the final green to salvage a half against Martin Kaymer and Thomas Bjorn.

The most anticipated match of the day involved world number one Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia up against winless Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. It was a close affair, with the Europeans taking the lead on the 6th hole when the Spaniard holed out from a greenside bunker. The Americans were quick to respond with back to back birdies at 9 and 10 to put them ahead. Europe then won three of the next five holes and were stopped only by a fantastic eagle from Bradley at the 16th to tie the match up once again. Mickelson then won it on the last with a short birdie putt to claim all the spoils and the overall lead of the first round of matches.


 

World Prepares for 40th Ryder Cup

As we prepare for the biggest international golf tournament, excitement is running high in golf circles the world over. Team Captains Tom Watson and Paul McGinley have made their final wild card picks and the teams are preparing for the biggest competition of the year.

Team Europe:       Captain: Paul McGinley


Thomas Bjorn
Jamie Donaldson
Victor Dubuisson
Sergio Garcia
Martin Kaymer
Graeme McDowell
Rory McIlroy
Justin Rose
Henrik Stenson
Lee Westwood
Stephen Gallacher
Ian Poulter




Team USA:           Captain: Tom Watson


Rickie Fower
Jim Furyk
Zach Johnson
Matt Kuchar
Phil Mickeson
Patrick Reid
Jordan Spieth
Jimmy Walker
Bubba Watson
Keegan Bradley
Hunter Mahan
Webb Simpson


The most noticeable absence is that of Billy Horschel, the recent FedEx Cup and Tour Championship Winner, the wild card picks were made before Horschel's run in the FedEx, sparking debate whether they should be made at a later stage to give the captains further time to select their on-form players.

Liverpool Make a Winning Start to Champions League Return - Match Report

After over 1,000 days out of Champions League action, the biggest football competition returned to Anfield. The five time winners couldn't have asked for an easier start as they faced as they faced Ludogorets Razgrad, the Bulgarian champions who reached the group stage for the first time ever after a thrilling win in their qualifying round against Steaua Bucharest.


With only one player from the 2005 winning squad, captain Steven Gerrard, Liverpool started strongly, with Ludogorets struggling to keep pace with the Premier League Runners Up. After fighting off the initial surge, the Bulgarian side became comfortable, looking dangerous on the counter attack as Liverpool struggled in defence. Centre back Dejan Lovren had before the game said that poor English had been the reason for a ack of communication between him and Mamadou Sakho. At left back however, Alberto Moreno exploited the space left to him by Ludogorets but was unable to find a red jersey with any of his first half crosses. Brazilian midfielder Marcelinho put in a very good shift and frequently found space in behind Gerrard and Henderson.


Liverpool seemed to have clinched the decisive goal in the 82nd minute as Mario Balotelli  finally got on the end of a Moreno cross, he received the ball well before beating his man and slotted a cool finish into the side netting with the outside of his right boot. Nine minutes later, Ludogorets thought they had clinched a fairy-tale draw. Raheem Sterling was disposed as he attacked down the left hand side, the ball was quickly played forward to Marcelinho who curled a superb through ball into the path of substitute Dani Abalo who rounded Mignolet and finished into the empty net.


 Liverpool seemed to have been robbed of their 3 points, but a suspect backpass in the third minute of stoppage time forced debutant keeper Milan Borjan to bring down Javier Manquillo in the box giving The Reds a last gasp penalty. Local hero Gerrard calmly stepped up and powered his shot into the bottom right corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. Liverpool face Swiss side Basel next before a very difficult match up against Real Madrid, who beat Basel 5-1 in their opening game.