Fernando Santos suffered his first competitive defeat as Portugal coach, with the European champions beginning their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 loss to Group B rivals Switzerland, who ended the match with 10 men.
Since taking over from Paulo Bento in September 2014, Santos had navigated Portugal through 14 non-friendly matches without loss, winning Euro 2016 in the process, but that run came to an end at St Jakob-Park on Tuesday.
After a bright start the European champions fell behind in the 23rd minute when goalkeeper Rui Patricio pushed Ricardo Rodriguez s free-kick straight to Breel Embolo, who responded to being selected in place of the injured Xherdan Shaqiri by heading home his second international goal and first since October 2015.
It …
Ten-man Turkey made the greatest of escapes to book their Euro 2008 quarter-final berth as they came from 2-0 down to stun the Czech Republic 3-2 here on Sunday and take their place in the quarter-finals.
The Turks had looked dead and buried on 62 minutes as Czech winger Jaroslav Plasil scored his side s second goal following a first-half header from giant striker Jan Koller as the Euro 2004 semi-finalists looked safe.
But three goals in the last 15 minutes including two by captain Nihat Kahveci in the 87th and 89th minutes put them in the quarter-finals.
The third goal was an error and led to our collapse, said Czech coach Karel Bruckner.
To lose such a match is incredible, there was 15 minutes left when the first goal went in, they just kept coming…
Harry Kane conceded an opportunity missed for England after the Three Lions suffered Euro 2024 final heartbreak against Spain in Berlin.
The Three Lions became the first nation to lose back-to-back European Championship finals, as Mikel Oyarzabal snatched a 2-1 victory for La Roja with four minutes remaining on Sunday.
Substitute Cole Palmer had earlier cancelled out Nico Williams second-half opener, but it was not to be once again for Gareth Southgate s side, whose 58-year wait for silverware continues.
Kane acknowledged the feeling of defeat was extremely painful after another blow in the European Championships.
Our journey comes to an end at the final stage, as the are beaten 2-1 by Spain.
— England (@England)
It s hard to put in…
Aymeric Laporte said he was right to initially turn down Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in 2016 before joining the Premier League leaders in January.
French defender Laporte swapped Athletic Bilbao for City in a club-record £57million deal last month.
The 23-year-old, who remains uncapped by France, appeared set to link up with Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium 18 months earlier but the deal fell through.
Speaking ahead of Sunday s EFL Cup final against Arsenal, Laporte said: I was injured and I didn t think it was the right moment for me to come here.
The injury complicated things a bit but I knew that if I kept working hard, the chance would come as City knew the potential I had.
I know what I have to do and what I had to work on.
L…
Eden Hazard believes Lille winning Ligue 1 this season would be a greater achievement than when he inspired the club to a domestic double a decade ago.
Belgium star Hazard enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2010-11 when Lille won Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.
He left for Chelsea after the following season, when he retained the Ligue 1 Player of the Year crown, but has kept a keen eye on Les Dogues ever since, having joined the club at 14 and progressed through the youth ranks.
I owe almost everything to Lille, he said in an interview with the club s official website.
If I am here today, it is partly thanks to the people I met in the north [of France], to the coaches, but also to all those whom I was able to meet during these years.
They all ha…
In a week in which most of my football bets crashed and burned, my NFL Survivor Pool picks were spot on. It’s hollow consolation since my survivor season went up in smoke many moons ago, but we’ll take the positives where we can get them at this point.
We told you to take the Colts with our “smart” pick and Buffalo with our “safe” selection, and also warned you about the Steelers laying an egg against the Lions. And with ties serving the same as loss in survivor pool rules, we hope you heeded that warning.
With that back-patting out of the way, we get right into our Week 11 Survivor Pool Picks.
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Whelp, that was an interesting Sunday.
Football bettors have little time to come down from the latest NFL betting results before sizing up the opening odds for Week 3.
A fresh batch of spreads and totals are on the board, which means we dig into which bets you should make now and which ones you should wait on.
…
Two teams coming off close losses in Week 1 will get after it in Nashville with the Titans playing host to the Chargers. NFL odds has Tennessee as an underdog for a second straight week coming in at +3, while the total for the game comes in at 45. The teams met somewhat recently, with the Chargers edging out a 17-14 victory in mid-December of last season. Week 2 NFL odds promises this game to be exciting no matter which way you slice it.
These teams played in dramatically different games in Week 1 as the Chargers are coming off the highest-scoring game of the week where they combined for 70 points with the Dolphins, while the Titans and Saints put up a combined 31 points.
Let’s dig into what we saw from the teams in Week 1 and I’ll provide my…
The Arizona Cardinals are set to host the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12 odds. The Cardinals have the second-worst record in the league at 2-9 but things have been trending in the right direction after Kyler Murray returned to the team two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the Rams are trending in the opposite direction and have dropped six of their last nine contests. Bookmakers are expecting a close game with NFL odds installing the Rams as slim 1.5-point road favorites.
Here are my best free NFL picks for Rams vs. Cardinals on November 26.
Rams vs Cardinals odds
Rams vs Cardinals predictions
Optimism is high after Kyler Murray returned from an ACL injury two weeks ago to provide a spark for the Arizona Cardinals’ sp…
Super Bowl Sunday is finally here.
After a two-week ramp-up, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers duke it out tonight in Las Vegas to see who gets to lay claim to the Lombardi Trophy.
And it’s not just the players and coaches feeling that Big Game buzz. Sports bettors have been picking apart the Super Bowl odds ever since this AFC/NFC matchup was made.
There are endless ways to wager, which makes for a long list of Super Bowl predictions by the time tonight’s kickoff rolls around at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Below, I focus on the moneyline, point spread, and Over/Under total for Super Bowl 58 and give my best NFL picks for Chiefs vs. 49ers.