An entire nation will hold its breath in expectation of a home triumph as Brazil s men go in search of football gold on the penultimate day of Rio 2016 action.
Neymar will carry much of that weight on his shoulders when the hosts – whose women lost their bronze medal match to Canada – take on Germany, a nation to whom they lost 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup on home soil.
But while Brazil s national sport may ultimately hog the limelight for its citizens, there are events across the Games on Saturday sure to captivate the watching world.
Caster Semenya will put aside all the off-track talk about her when the South African runs in the 800 metres final, while Great Britain s Mo Farah seeks a fourth Olympic gold in the 5000m.
Elsewhere, the women s baske…
Best Odds: 3/5
Bookmaker:
Looking to extend on their stellar purple patch in midweek, Fortaleza will travel to Criciuma late on Wednesday night.
Criciuma
Starting with the hosts, while Criciuma might have opened July with a much-needed 1-0 victory against Cruzeiro, the Tigers have continued to struggle with their consistency since opening up the 2024 campaign. Although Claudio Tencati’s side might have made their Serie A return this season, the Santa Catarina-based outfit have a real battle on their hands in the race to keep hold of their top-flight status. Last seen over the weekend falling to a 2-1 defeat away at Flamengo, the former Vitoria boss has seen his squad muster just a single point from any of their previous four Serie A appearances. Holding just …
Best Odds: 4/5
Bookmaker:
Making their first appearance since opening 2022, England will welcome Switzerland to Wembley for a friendly meeting on Saturday evening.
England
Starting with the hosts, storming their way to this year s World Cup Finals with no real issues, England will simply be looking to kick on from where they left off back in November. Signing off their qualifying run with what was a 10-0 romp against San Marino on foreign soil, many have tipped Gareth Southgate s squad as a standout pick out in Qatar. While the Three Lions might have been disappointed to have played out a pair of 1-1 draws against Poland and Hungary last year, they do make their return to action this weekend in the midst of a seven-match unbeaten run. With that run stemming all…
While the EURO 24 qualifiers might be drawing to a close on Tuesday night, we have a stacked National League schedule on the cards.
With a string of crucial showdowns at both ends of the table, we have found a couple of intriguing National League betting markets that are worth keeping an eye out for.
19:45 Eastleigh vs Boreham Wood
Although Eastleigh might have eventually missed out on the chance to book a play-off ticket last season, the Spitfires have their sights set on mounting another top-seven charge this time around. Turning a real corner over the past fortnight, Richard’s Hill should be smelling the chance to make another statement here.
Snatching a late winner over the weekend as they claimed a 2-1 victory against Altrincham, the Hampshire-…
Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has denied leaking Lionel Messi s contract details and says the Argentina captain deserves his eye-watering salary.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo on Sunday reported that the deal Barca captain Messi signed in 2017 could earn him in excess of €555million.
The leak of the mercurial forward s earnings came as it was revealed Barca s debts have reportedly risen above €1.1billion, with the coronavirus pandemic having such a huge impact.
With much talk of who might have been responsible for passing on such confidential information, Bartomeu says he had nothing to do with it.
He told Esport3: It s a very serious issue and it s totally illegal to leak professional contracts.
Speaking on TV and making acc…
Germany head coach Joachim Low was relieved to claim a 2-0 win over a very difficult Northern Ireland in Euro 2020 qualifying at Windsor Park.
The 2014 World Cup winners were made to work hard for the three points in Monday s Group C qualifier, with second-half goals from Marcel Halstenberg and Serge Gnabry proving the difference.
Conor Washington missed good opportunities for Northern Ireland as the hosts caused real difficulty against a Germany defence containing the relatively inexperienced Halstenberg and Lukas Klostermann.
Low was impressed with Northern Ireland s performance and was happy to see the way his players adapted their performance to nullify the threat.
It was a very difficult 90 minutes against a Northern Ireland team that played very a…
Karim Benzema is struggling and has been ruled out of Real Madrid s trip to Rayo Vallecano on Monday, which could prove a worrying sign for France ahead of the World Cup.
The Ballon d Or winner returned from a short lay-off to feature as a substitute in Madrid s 5-1 Champions League win against Celtic on Wednesday, but he is now back on the sidelines.
Benzema has been troubled by muscular fatigue in his left quadriceps and the 34-year-old remains not quite at ease, although Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti expects him to be available for their home game against Cadiz on Thursday.
Benzema joins defender Antonio Rudiger in missing Monday s game, as Madrid seek a win that would take them back above Barcelona at the top of LaLiga.
Looking ahead to the trip t…
Liverpool are willing to listen to offers for midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, according to . The former Arsenal star is named among a number of players that the defending Premier League champions are open to cashing in on.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has been on the books of Liverpool since the summer of 2017 when he joined from Arsenal. The England international midfielder has had injury problems during his time at Anfield so far and is essentially a squad player.
According to , the 27-year-old has made two starts and six substitute appearances in the Premier League and has played 19 minutes in the Champions League for Liverpool so far this season. During the 2019-20 campaign, the England international made 17 starts in the league and three starts in the Champions League, …
Gareth Southgate thinks the wonderful bravery displayed by England against Spain on Monday will help his young players to kick on in their development.
A ruthless display in Seville saw the Three Lions claim a 3-2 victory, their first in the Nations League, and end Spain s 15-year unbeaten run at home in competitive internationals.
Two goals from Raheem Sterling and a Marcus Rashford strike put England 3-0 up at half-time, marking the first time 2010 world champions Spain have ever conceded three times at home outside of friendly games.
Southgate s side held firm under second-half pressure to secure the win, their first in a competitive match since the World Cup quarter-final defeat of Sweden, despite goals from Paco Alcacer and Sergio Ramos.
And the mana…
Kashima Antlers saw their AFC Champions League defence ended in the quarter-finals as Guangzhou Evergrande progressed to the last four with a 1-1 second-leg draw.
The sides played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg in China but Anderson Talisca s 40th-minute header in the return game gave Guangzhou control of the tie.
That left Kashima needing to score twice to go through and, though Serginho levelled matters six minutes after the restart, they could not find the decisive goal as Guangzhou won on away goals.
Guangzhou will face Urawa Red Diamonds over two legs for a place in the final.
Guangzhou Evergrande = Semi-Finalists!
— AFC Champions League (@TheAFCCL)
Talisca beat goalkeeper Kwoun Sun-tae to a near-post corner from Huang Bowen t…