Sport

French hat-trick PORTUGAL STARTED the prestigious annual event with a satisfactory 0-0 draw against Argentina, the same score line achieved by Group A rivals China and the Czech Republic. The

Portuguese demise TWO YEARS after the senior event, Uefa has awarded Portugal the ‘junior’ continental championships disputed by eight nations, divided into two groups of four. The venues, Porto, Braga,

MUNSTER WON their first Heineken Cup final, at the third attempt, by beating Biarritz 23-19 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium last Saturday. The Basque side took an early lead through a

SPAIN WILL will travel to Germany without Liverpool striker Fernando Morientes who has been a national team regular since 1998, or Barcelona’s in-form keeper Victor Valdes. Southampton’s Alexander Ostlund has

THE ENGLAND party enjoyed their team-building pre-World Cup stay in Vale do Lobo last week, although the value and timing of the exercise must be questioned. David Beckham arrived late,

ARSENAL’S BID to succeed in their first Champions League final, and become the first English club south of Birmingham to lift the European Cup, faltered as early as the 20th

THE GERMAN Open was robbed of much of its significance by the last minute withdrawal of its top two seeds, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The pair declared themselves too

THE LAST of the Derby and Oaks trials have been run, and the two most prestigious races of the flat season are now only just over a week away. The

Uefa Cup final: So near, yet so far STEVE MCCLAREN’S intended last hurrah in Eindhoven turned sour, as Middlesbrough’s tremendous European run finally came to an emphatic end. Having staged

THE ATP Italian Masters ended in yet another titanic final showdown between world number one, Roger Federer, and the young clay court king, Rafael Nadal. Federer, who has yet to