In preparing to face the threat of Danish dangerman Christian Eriksen in the World Cup play-off, Martin O’Neill believes his players are entitled to take encouragement from how they coped in the recent past with other standout stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gareth Bale and the Bosnian duo of Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic.

Lionel Messi scored his 100th European goal tonight.

Gonzalo Higuain's stoppage-time equaliser saw Serie A leaders Juventus salvage a 1-1 draw against 10-man Torino in the Turin derby.

Barcelona need another Nou Camp miracle if they are to reach the Champions League semi-finals after a crushing 3-0 loss to Juventus in Turin.

Porto 0 Juventus 2: Juventus struck twice in the second half to take control of last night’s Champions League last-16 tie against 10-man Porto.

Always prided yourself on knowing your Hamez from your James Rodriguez; your Molby from your Jan Molby, your Sol-shire-ah from your Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

A brilliant strike by teenager Manuel Locatelli fired AC Milan to a hard-earned 1-0 win over Serie A leaders Juventus at the San Siro.

After that memorable win over Germany last October, a piece on an Irish sports website analysed James McCarthy’s performance amid suggestions it was one of the great individual displays in an Ireland jersey.

On the evidence of what we saw on Friday night in Zenica - when the fog wasn’t making it impossible to see anything at all - Ireland now have a big chance of qualifying for next year’s European Championship finals by beating Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Aviva Stadium tonight.

Bosnia & Herzegovina 1 Republic of Ireland 1: After the fog of Zenica, we’re guaranteed clarity in Dublin on Monday night, with this European Championship play-off against Bosnia still finely poised.

Edin Dzeko tried to be diplomatic, even if he didn’t try too hard to think. After the Bosnia and Herzegovina striker spent a few minutes talking about how Ireland’s many absent players wouldn’t negatively affect Martin O’Neill’s side, the 29-year-old was asked which opposition players had impressed him.

Irish absentees in defence, midfield and up front tip the balance the way of the Bosnians in Zenica tonight, particularly when you factor in Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic, two players better than anyone in our team, writes Liam Brady

Bosnia has been here before, and so has Miralem Pjanic.

Arsenal must win their two remaining group games to stand any chance of progressing.

Ireland’s play-off opponents Bosnia-Herzegovina in numbers.

Mario Balotelli risked the wrath of Liverpool fans by tweeting a supportive message to former team-mate Raheem Sterling after his debut goal for Manchester City.

The agent of Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko has denied reports he had talks with Roma over a possible transfer of the player to the Serie A club.

Roma president James Pallotta says Manchester United will have to pay a "huge" fee to sign Kevin Strootman.

Manchester United are set to announce the signing of former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes on an 18-month contract.

Manchester United are set to announce the signing of former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes on an 18-month contract.

Manchester City 1 Roma 1

Champions League Group E

Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 Iran 1

Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 Iran 1

Shane Long ensured Ireland will head off to the Euro 2012 championships on the back of a win with the only goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina in today's friendly at the Aviva Stadium.

PORTUGAL boss Paulo Bento will demand patience from his players as they try to secure a place at Euro 2012 tonight against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

CHARISMA can have extraordinary power. In the summer of 2008, Miroslav Blazevic took over a Bosnian national side in crisis.

BOSNIA & Herzegovina set up a winner-takes-all Group D decider against France in Paris after coasting to a 5-0 victory over group minnows Luxembourg.

NEW Arsenal forward Gervinho maintains the club will move on should they fail to keep hold of wantaway captain Cesc Fabregas and contract rebel Samir Nasri.

Barcelona intend to push Arsenal’s resolve all the way through the remaining six weeks of the transfer window in their drawn out battle to bring the Gunners captain back to the Nou Camp.

ARSENAL continue to face a battle to hold onto captain Cesc Fabregas — with Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola vowing the Champions League holders will fight to the end to bring their former trainee back to the Nou Camp.

Arsenal continue to face a battle to hold onto captain Cesc Fabregas – with Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola vowing the Champions League holders will fight to the end to bring their former trainee back to the Nou Camp.

Belgium eased to a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland's main Euro 2012 Qualifier Group B rivals Russia in Voronezh.

RANGERS joined Manchester United at the top of Group C as they beat Bursaspor 1-0 at Ibrox last night.

BAYERN MUNICH defender Philipp Lahm has played down the impact of Lyon’s travel woes ahead of tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg.

TWO GOALS from Lisandro earned Lyon a crucial advantage over Bordeaux in their domestic French battle to discover who will face Manchester United or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

OUTSPOKEN Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has added to the antagonism surrounding tonight’s Champions League quarter-final against Bordeaux by poking fun at Les Girondins boss Laurent Blanc.