Euro 2012 qual. - Ireland to face Estonia in play-offs.

Ireland, whose only appearance at a European Championship came back in 1988, were given a huge boost in their bid to reach next year's finals when they were drawn to play Estonia in the two-legged play-offs.
The other matches will see Turkey against Croatia while Czech Republic face Montenegro and Bosnia meet Portugal after the play-off draw which included eight of the nine runners-up from the group stages of the qualifying competition.
Sweden, who finished as the runners-up with the best record, reached the finals automatically with the nine group winners.
The playoffs will take place on November 11/12 and November15 with the first named teams at home in the first leg.
The four winners will advance to next year's finals being staged in Poland and Ukraine.
Seeded Ireland, who controversially missed out on last year's World Cup finals after losing a play-off when Thierry Henry handled the ball in the build-up to France's winner, start as the strong favourites to progress this time.
They will be making their sixth play-off appearance in either the European Championship or World Cup.

Murray through as Nadal loses.

Andy Murray held off a spirited effort from Stanislas Wawrinka to complete a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters in China.
But there was only frustration for world number two and top seed Rafael Nadal, who was outgunned by the inspired play of Florian Mayer in an epic match that the German player won 7-6(5) 6-3.
British number one Murray - chasing his third straight title after victories in Thailand and Japan - looked in decent shape against Wawrinka as he advanced to a quarter-final match against Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden, who completed a 6-2 2-6 7-6 (8-6) victory over eighth seed Gilles Simon of France.
Murray was playing his first match in his defence of the Shanghai tournament after Dmitry Tursunov withdrew with a thigh injury before their second-round match on Wednesday.
Murray - who is trying to rise above Roger Federer to number three in the world before the end of the year - made a blistering start to his day in breaking Wawrinka twice in the opening three games on the way to pocketing the first set 6-4.

Gray Matter: What makes Vettel a true champion.

 
Sebastian Vettel became the eighth driver in history to retain his F1 crown at last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix - so what are the crucial ingredients that make him a true champion?
At just 24 years of age, Vettel joins Alberto Ascari, Juan-Manuel Fangio, Sir Jack Brabham, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso as the sport's only back-to-back title winners, and he is the youngest to have achieved that feat.
In just 77 races, he has started from pole 27 times and finished on the podium 33 times, with 19 race wins. He's the youngest driver to score a point, the youngest winner and the youngest champion. This year, a composed campaign has seen him eliminate the mistakes and demonstrate why he has what it takes to keep going for years.

NATURAL TALENT:

Haye set to retire from boxing.

Former world heavyweight champion David Haye is set to retire from boxing after not renewing his licence.

Haye, who has long maintained he would not fight beyond his 31st birthday, which falls on Thursday, lost his WBA world title on points to Vladimir Klitschko in a unification bout in his last fight in July.
"I can confirm that Mr. Haye is not renewing his professional boxer's licence," Board general secretary Robert Smith told Reuters.
The retirement plans were questioned by the Klitschko camp with promoter Bernd Boente saying Haye's manager Adam Booth had told him "five minutes ago" the Briton would return to the ring if there was a fight against either of the Klitschko brothers.
"The option is still there. It really depends only on the business case," he told Sky Sports News. "We are in constant contact, we are still awaiting some numbers from British TV and then we'll see if the business case is realistic."

Championship - West Ham Olympic Stadium deal collapses.

The deal to award the London 2012 Olympic Stadium to West Ham has collapsed, the Government has confirmed.

Legal challenges by Tottenham and Leyton Orient, plus an anonymous complaint to the European Commission, led to fears that court action could drag on for years while the stadium remains empty.
Sports minister Hugh Robertson said that the stadium will remain in public ownership and leased out to an anchor tenant following a new tender process.
He said: "The key point is the action we have taken today is about removing the uncertainty. The process had become bogged down in legal paralysis.
"Particularly relevant has been the anonymous complaint to the EC over 'state aid' and the OPLC received a letter from Newham Council yesterday (Monday) saying because of the uncertainty they no longer wanted to proceed.
"That was the straw that broke the camel's back and we thought it better to stop it dead in its tracks now."

Euro 2012 qual. - France sneak in, joy for Sweden and Denmark.

France qualified for the European Championship by the skin of their teeth after a contentious penalty gave them a 1-1 Group D draw at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina, while Sweden, Denmark, Russia and Greece also made it through. 

GROUP A - Germany win group, Turkey in play-offs
Turkey secured a place in the play-offs as a Burak Yilmaz second-half goal earned Guus Hiddink's side a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan that gave them second place in Group A.
The Trabzonspor striker fired the ball into the net in the 60th minute after a through ball from substitute Selcuk Inan sent him clear.
Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey needed a win and to hope that Belgium did not win but, as the Belgians lost 3-1 to Germany, a draw would have been enough.
Turkey finish the campaign in second place with 17 points, behind Germany, who won all 10 of their games. Azerbaijan finished fifth in the six-team group on seven points.
Turkey looked the better side from the start, with Real Madrid midfielder Hamit Altintop sending several shots just wide of the Azeri goal during the first half.
They controlled the second half too and after Yilmaz made the breakthrough he was denied a second goal when his shot was well saved by Azeri keeper in the 84th minute.
Former champions Germany completed a perfect Euro 2012 qualifying campaign to claim their 10th win in as many matches and end Belgium's hopes.
Mesut Ozil and Andre Schuerrle struck late in the first half and Mario Gomez added another goal just after the restart, dashing Belgium's hopes of recording their first victory against Germany since 1954.
Marouane Fellaini pulled a goal back for the visitors after 86 minutes, but they finished third in the group.
Triple European champions Germany set a record by improving on the eight wins out of eight they notched in qualifying for the 1982 World Cup.

World Cup - France unchanged for Wales semi-final.

France coach Marc Lievremont has stuck with the squad of 22 players that turned around their rugby World Cup campaign with their quarter-final defeat of England for their last four encounter against Wales at Eden Park on Saturday.


France beat the Six Nations champions 19-12 last Saturday after only qualifying for the knockout stage following unconvincing pool phase victories over Japan and Canada and reports of division within the team camp.
"Once again, the same team that played Tonga and England," Lievremont said. "I would not have hesitated to name a different team if I felt that would have been better.
"The danger is for the players to start thinking they are too good ... we are Latin, so there is always a risk. The Anglo-Saxons are far more pragmatic.
"I hope the prospect of playing in the final is enough."
Lievremont continued with the tactic of playing two scrum-halves with Morgan Parra again slotting in at fly-half and Dimitri Yachvili taking the number nine jersey, though the veteran will first rest a bruised thigh he sustained against England.
"Yachvili is going to be rested in training until at least Thursday ... but he will play," Lievremont said, before adding that his side must adhere to what they do best to have any chance of advancing to the final.