‘Still here’: a Welsh World Cup odyssey sets seal on emotional awakening

“Dafydd Iwan!” a man with a big belly shouts at the bottom of a hill which overlooks Caernarfon Castle and offers views of the Menai Strait, Anglesey and the mountains of Snowdonia. Iwan, the 79-year-old composer, turns and smiles. There is a long pause as he is also a politician, a preacher and now the unofficial leader of the Red Wall of football supporters who will follow Wales at their first World Cup in 64 years.

Eventually the man just lifts his hand and, in dazed surprise, says: “Yma o Hyd.”

Iwan waves back and repeats the title of a song he wrote almost 40 years ago, a paean to Welsh defiance and nationalism which has become an emotional World Cup anthem. Yma o Hyd means “still here” in English a…

Euro 2024 social round-up: The Dutch take over Munich and Ed Sheeran´s private performance

The Euro 2024 round of 16 comes to an end on Tuesday.

Romania and the Netherlands are in action in Munich, with their fans creating quite the atmosphere.

Turkiye and Austria face off later on.

And there was also plenty of reaction from the previous matches of the round, too. We ve picked out some of the best social media posts.

Private Ed-ucation

England thought they were heading out of the tournament until Jude Bellingham s moment of brilliance against Slovakia on Sunday.

And along with a quarter-final against Switzerland coming as a reward, the Three Lions squad got an extra treat when pop sensation Ed Sheeran visited their camp to put on a private performance.

Clips of the gig made it onto social media. Perhaps that is what Engl…

Gignac ´haunted´ by Euro 2016 final miss

France striker Andre-Pierre Gignac says he is haunted by his miss during the Euro 2016 final defeat to Portugal in July.

With the game goalless in second-half stoppage time, Gignac turned a low shot past goalkeeper Rui Patricio, only to see the ball come back off the base of the post.

Portugal went on to snatch victory against the host nation in extra time, with Eder rifling home from distance to seal his country s first major trophy.

And Gignac concedes that it is difficult not to think about what might have been had his shot crept in off the woodwork.

The first week afterwards was very tough. It will haunt me for the rest of my career, the Tigres forward told Telefoot.

I thought of the joy of my team-mates, had I scored that goal in the 92nd m…

Italy into Euro 2008 quarters after toppling 10-man France

World champions Italy beat old foes France 2-0 here on Tuesday to go through to the Euro 2008 quarter-finals as Group C runners up with a helping hand from Holland whilst their rivals and 2006 World Cup finalists exited.

The French endured a wretched night, suffering two major blows in the first 25 minutes, with first star midfielder Franck Ribery stretchered off then Eric Abidal red-carded with Andrea Pirlo converting the penalty.

Daniele de Rossi added Italy s second after the break to send the world champion s on a last eight date with Spain in Vienna on Sunday.

The win would have been inconsequential if the Romanians had beaten Holland, but the Dutch instead beat Romania 2-0 to make it three wins out of three.

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said th…

Euro 2024 social round-up: ´I´ve done my job´ quips Alcaraz as Spain and England gear up for Berlin

After 50 games, 114 goals and 10 different host cities, Euro 2024 comes to an end on Sunday evening.

England, featuring in back-to-back European Championship finals, aim to end their 58-year wait for an international honour.

But standing in their way are a Spain side yet to taste defeat in Germany, with the potential of claiming a record fourth title.

Here, we round up the best Euro 2024 social media posts ahead of this evening s final in Berlin.

I ve done my job

Sunday could prove to be a famous sporting day for Spain, and they are already guaranteed one champion, after Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic to retain the Wimbledon title.

Asked for his thoughts on the match after his triumph on Centre Court, Alcaraz much to chagrin of th…

2016-17 UEFA Study: The headlines in transfers, wages and revenues

A detailed study on the financial landscape of European football was released by UEFA on Tuesday.

The governing body broke down the statistics behind the previous transfer window, detailing the evolution of fees and the league with the lowest net spend.

Information on revenues, wage bills and balance sheets were also revealed.

Here, we take a look at the major headlines from the report.

 

The previous transfer window featured six of the top 20 transfer fees of all time and 10 reported transfers of €50million or more. Neymar s €222m switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain was the biggest.

The most significant jump in high-value transfers is visible in the €50m+ category, where the number of moves are twice as high as in the pr…

Diego Milito Scores Twice to Win the 2010 Champions League for Inter Milan (Video)

On this day (May 22nd) in 2010, Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final by 2-0, both goals courtesy of Diego Milito.

The triumph was the culmination of a spectacular season in which the Nerazzurri, under the command of Jose Mourinho, won the great treble.

https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/1263747257066762241

Best Spot Bets for NFL Week 11: Titans-Texans Spells Letdown For Tennessee

As the 2021 season takes its toll on NFL teams, bettors have to keep a close eye on the potential situational boobytraps laid out by the schedule. 

Even when the odds and advanced metrics say otherwise, a nasty situational spot can abruptly send even the best teams reeling – as evidenced by last week’s top “schedule” spot which pinpointed the Ravens’ rough return to the road for the first time in almost 40 days.

What does Week 11 have in store for situational handicappers? We take a look with our favorite NFL spot bets: letdown, lookahead, and schedule.

Derrick Henry MNF Spotlight: Henry the Workhorse Rules the Ground

The Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills will begin a Monday Night Football doubleheader at Highmark Stadium to put an exclamation point on Week 2.

The Bills are understandably large home favorites in this tilt exiting an emphatic Week 1 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. The Titans were dealt a last-minute 21-20 loss by the New York Giants to kick off their year.

There are plenty of juicy Titans vs. Bills picks out there, but we’ll turn our attention to the player prop markets, specifically those of outstanding Tennessee tailback Derrick Henry. Here are our three favorite Derrick Henry props for …

Colts vs Texans Odds, Picks, and Predictions Week 2: Pierce Carves Through Colts Defense

Week 2 in the NFL features a duel between rookie quarterbacks with C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans hosting Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts. Both teams lost by double digits in Week 1 and it should be another long season for these rebuilding franchises.

That said, Stroud and Richards give these fanbases hope for the future and should make this clash interesting. Oddsmakers are expecting a close contest with NFL betting odds having the Texans installed as slim 1.5-point favorites. Here are my best free NFL picks for Colts vs. Texans on September 17.

Colts vs Texans odds

Colts vs Texans predictions

Houston Texans running back Dameon Pierce was one of the biggest surprises in the NFL last …