Two second-half goals by veteran striker Andriy Shevchenko gave co-hosts Ukraine a 2-1 win over Sweden on Monday.
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic put Sweden ahead in the 51st minute, side-footing home from close range after Kim Kallstrom s shot.
Shevchenko levelled for the co-hosts four minutes later, connecting with Andriy Yarmolenko s cross to head past Andreas Isaksson in the Sweden goal.
And it took just another six minutes for the 35-year-old to put his team ahead, nodding home a near-post corner.
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Scotland boss Steve Clarke is desperate to reach the Qatar 2022 World Cup as his side prepare for an emotionally charged encounter with Ukraine.
The two sides meet in a UEFA qualifying semi-final playoff at Hampden Park this week, with the winner set to face Wales for a spot at the end-of-year tournament.
The match will mark Ukraine s first competitive fixture since the nation was invaded by Russia in February, with neutrals likely to be cheering Oleksandr Petrakov s visitors on in Glasgow.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Clarke says the emotional tenor of the game will be led by their opponents, but insists his side will only be focused on their own on-field goals.
We always said we would be guided by the Ukrainians as to how they felt, he stated.
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One-time World Cup winners France lead the chase in Group E, with les Bleus hoping to make amends for the 2010 tournament when they crashed out in the group stage. Playing without Franck Ribery but with some of world s most talented footballers, Didier Deschamps side are rightly considered group favourites.
The up-and-coming Switzerland side aim to at least get past the group stage after the triumph over soon-to-be champions Spain did not prove sufficient to reach the knockout stages last time out. Taking part at the World Cup for the third time, Ecuador and Honduras will be out to spring a surprise or two and try to upset the odds and qualify for the Last 16 stage.
Winners of Group E
France have come a long way since the Raymond Domenech reign that ended up costing th…
Reigning champions Spain do battle with Portugal in their Euro 2012 semi-final on Wednesday with one man on coach Vicente del Bosque s mind.
Paulo Bento s Portugal possess one of the most damaging players at the tournament in Poland and Ukraine with Cristiano Ronaldo s three goals to date and constant threat helping them into the last four in style.
The Spaniards know Ronaldo all too well with four likely starters being team-mates of his at Real Madrid, while another five have played against him countless times for Barcelona.
Ronaldo scored the winner as Portugal played the Czech Republic off the park in their 1-0 quarter-final win and will pose a threat to Spain, who were thoroughly dominant against France to win 2-0.
Despite striker Helder Postiga side…
With the dust finally starting to settle after another remarkable 48 hours from Qatar, the World Cup s final four nations have been decided following some major upsets in the Middle East.
While the likes of Brazil and Portugal might have had their sights firmly set on making more history this winter, both of world football s elite fell by the wayside in what will long be remembered as two historic upsets.
Likewise, with England suffering more World Cup penalty shootout heartbreak as they eventually slumped to a 2-1 loss against European rivals France on Saturday night, it will be Les Blues, Croatia, Argentian and Morocco who make up the last four countries standing in Qatar.
With the World Cup s first festive tournament only continuing to produce some huge upset…
David Luiz rejoined Chelsea from Paris St Germain in a £32million deal on this day in 2016.
The Brazil international returned to familiar territory as then Blues boss Antonio Conte shuffled his pack with full-back Marcos Alonso also arriving from Fiorentina as midfielder Juan Cuadrado joined Juventus on loan.
Luiz, then 23, had initially joined Chelsea from Portuguese side Benfica in a deal worth up to £25million in January 2011.
He had arrived at Stamford Bridge on the same day as striker Fernando Torres, who cost the reigning champions £50million – a record transfer fee between British clubs – when they lured him away from Liverpool.
The defender made 143 appearances in his first spell and won the Champions League, Europa League and the FA Cup be…
The Los Angeles Rams will return from a mini bye week, after defeating the Seahawks on TNF in Week 5, with a trip to the Meadowlands to take on the New York Giants.
As L.A. has ramped up its return to practice and geared toward Sunday’s meeting, New York’s been fighting the injury bug with issues across its roster. It will, however, have Daniel Jones under center after the QB was cleared at the end of the week.
Will Danny Dimes be enough for the G-Men to cover the NFL betting line in this one? Find out with our free Rams vs. Giants picks and predictions.
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The Washington Commanders hit the road for the first time under their new team name. They face a trip to face the Kansas City Chiefs after both teams dropped a game in the first week of preseason.
Don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for the Commanders vs. Chiefs, with kickoff on August 20.
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While it can be easy to pinpoint a few serious contenders for the Super Bowl, as well as a few serious disasters for the top pick in the NFL Draft, the league typically features a decent amount of turnover from year to year.
Last year, for example, we saw the defending Super Bowl champion L.A. Rams plummet from 12 to five wins, while the rebuild was ahead of schedule in both Jacksonville and Detroit, with the Jags and Lions each getting to nine wins after just three the season before.
Jared Goff was the QB7 in 2018.Is he a QB1 in 2023? pic.twitter.com/CkLXhAs0qd
— PlayerProfiler (@rotounderworld) July 19, 2023
With that theme of risers and sliders in mind, here’s my list of teams who I think will rise above exp…
On paper, tonight’s Monday Night Football match between the Las Vegas Raiders and Detroit Lions looks like a mismatch. The Lions boast a 5-2 record and have one of the best offenses in all of football, while the Raiders are in the bottom five in most major offensive categories.
However, the game is not played on paper and the Raiders, have plenty of talent to keep this game close. The oddsmakers have tabbed the Lions as 7-point favorites with the total sitting at 46.5.
While there are a number of different subscription-based TV channels and streaming services available to watch this game… did you know that you can also live stream Raiders/Lions directly from legal sports betting sites?
Caesars, BetRivers, and Fanatics Sportsbook are three …