Perhaps it was Giovanni Trapattoni seemingly on his way to the sack that caused Faroe Islands Lars Olsen to downplay his side’s hopes before they hosted Ireland last October.

IRELAND failed to retain their European Girls’ Team Championships title in Denmark on Saturday.

IRELAND are within one match of completing back-to-back victories in the European Girls’ Team Championship after another highly successful day in Denmark.

IRELAND are within one match of completing back-to-back victories in the European Girls’ Team Championship after another highly successful day in Denmark.

IRELAND’S hopes of winning a third European Men’s Amateur team title in four years were dashed in Sweden yesterday when they failed to make the top flight for the matchplay phase.

Valeri Bojinov was handed his first Manchester City start since August 2007 as Mark Hughes’ men looked to ease their lingering fears of relegation by beating Sunderland at Eastlands.

Shay Given believes Manchester City’s big stars will hit form as the club’s prospects of European glory increase.

Manchester City 2 FC Copenhagen 1 (City win 4-3 on aggregate)

IRISH international Aiden McGeady is struggling with a knee injury which could make him a doubt for the Republic of Ireland’s vital World Cup qualifying clashes against Georgia and Bulgaria early next year.

Celtic midfielder Aiden McGeady will miss out on the visit of Inverness in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League as the Parkhead medical team monitor a knee injury that may require surgery.

Dimitar Berbatov returned to training after a hamstring injury today but Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson is still to decide how to use him in Sunday’s derby clash with Manchester City.

Celtic were left stunned after the 2-1 Champions League defeat at Aalborg which last night sent them crashing out of Europe.

Paul Hartley has added to Celtic‘s injury concerns after suffering an ankle injury during Scotland‘s 1-0 defeat by Argentina.

SO for two weekends in-a-row, we’ve had two-goal victories on the back of severely disputed refereeing decisions, which would ordinarily cause the more fair-minded such as me to squirm uncomfortably.

A TYPICALLY absorbing, and uncompromising, meeting between these two Lancashire rivals offered a tale of three managers.

Wayne Rooney will be fit for England next week, even though he is still a doubt for Manchester United's Barclays Premier League clash with Blackburn at Ewood Park tomorrow.

Manchester United have confirmed that midfielder Paul Scholes will be out for 10 weeks after suffering medial ligament damage in last night’s Champions League victory at Aalborg.

Alex Ferguson will wait for news on his injured stars today – with Fabio Capello also likely to take a keen interest in the Manchester United medical bulletin.

Sunderland boss Roy Keane expects more transfer activity at the Stadium of Light before the transfer window closes.

Twelve world cities have agreed to darken their skylines for an hour in an Australian initiative to raise awareness about climate change, organisers say.

Scandinavian airline SAS cancelled all flights today to a regional airport where a passenger plane caught fire after a dramatic emergency landing.

BUSINESS people and members of the Waterford community are being urged to aid a fundraising drive ahead of the Tall Ships’ Races in July.