Bravest coaching call, any sport?

‘Celebrity’ is a label that doesn’t sit comfortably with most GAA players, regardless of the public and media interest during the summer months.

Remember some of the press reports about Dawn Approach, after the horse had beaten Mister Marc by two and three quarter lengths at Naas last month?

Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque maintains it would be “bad” if he did not have any doubts over just what side to pick for today’s Euro 2012 quarter-final against France in Donetsk.

No side has ever won three major titles in-a-row.

Samir Nasri looks like being the fall guy as Laurent Blanc attempts to heal the rifts in the France camp that have reopened old wounds between Les Bleus and their supporters back home.

Spain may have wowed the world over the last four years with their stylish passing football, but they would not be defending European, or World Cup, champions without [the interventions of keeper Iker Casillas.

Ireland’s Under 20s finished on a high to clinch fifth place at the Junior Rugby World Cup in Cape Town yesterday with a comprehensive victory over France in Cape Town’s Newlands Stadium.

They say that with lakes and protestants dominating the county, there isn’t much of a footballing pick left in Fermanagh.

England may find themselves in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 tomorrow night or they may be boarding a plane back to London; but whatever the result against Italy in Kiev it appears Roy Hodgson’s side may finally have learned the lesson the world has been waiting for them to grasp for so long; the art of humility.

It’s now or never for the Irish rugby squad if they wish to create history and beat New Zealand on their own hollowed turf.

France assistant coach Alain Boghossian has described the heated dressing room reaction to Tuesday’s defeat by Sweden as “normal” and revealed he expects a positive response in their Euro 2012 quarter-final with Spain.

Ireland’s women’s team are out of the European Championship chase with two qualifiers left after losing to Scotland last night at Turner’s Cross.

Natalya Coyle, who will be the last Irish athlete to compete in this summer's Olympics, has become the first Irish athlete to qualify for the modern pentathlon.

TWO men sitting in a pub, having a pint, talking about the European football championships:

I have seldom felt as excited coming away from an Ireland match as I did the evening of April 22, 1998.

Uefa referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina leapt to the defence of the additional assistant referee experiment after Fifa president Sepp Blatter declared Ukraine’s European Championship defeat to England made goalline technology “a necessity”.

In Hungary, there is no escaping the past when it comes to football.

All Black number eight Kieran Read has dismissed the notion Ireland will be easy pickings for New Zealand in this month’s three-test series.

There was a time when you could all but see the steam rising out of Robbie Keane’s ears at pre-match press conferences.