Jessica Kurten upped her status as favourite to capture the 2008 World Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden, when she streaked home to win tonight's second competition in the weekend series.

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has confirmed 10 of his intended starting 11 for tomorrow night's World Cup qualifier against Georgia, with doubts surrounding who will fill the right-back slot.

Dimitar Berbatov is likely to be on the bench for Manchester United’s Club World Cup final clash with LDU Quito in Yokohama tomorrow.

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Former Republic striker John Aldridge has lamented the loss of Roy Keane to the Irish set-up after the player announced his retirement from international football today.

Legislation to protect the Irish Republic’s “crown jewels” sporting events for terrestrial TV has been signed into law by President Mary McAleese.

Wayne Rooney insists he does not care what his critics think and is focused only on helping England do well at the World Cup. The Manchester United striker has come in for criticism of late, with some believing he does not warrant a starting place in Roy Hodgson’s side.

Tickets for next year’s Rugby World Cup go on sale on this morning with high-demand games to be decided via a ballot.

South Africa coach Jake White would love the chance to coach England if his contract with the Springboks is not renewed.

Aston Villa striker Milan Baros is still suffering from a foot injury and is uncertain when he will be available to play for the Czech Republic in the World Cup.

France coach Raymond Domenech has confirmed the starting line-up that will face Switzerland tomorow in a World Cup match.

Poland goalkeeper Artur Boruc has blamed over-confidence for the disastrous World Cup defeat by Ecuador.

England striker Michael Owen accepts he could be left out of the starting line-up for the final World Cup group game against Sweden.

Serbia and Montenegro’s disappointing end to their World Cup campaign has been further marred by the news defender Mladen Krstajic broke his arm in the 3-2 defeat against the Ivory Coast tonight.

England’s Michael Owen insists he can adjust his game to accommodate whichever strike partner is selected alongside him at the World Cup.

England team doctor Leif Sward believes Wayne Rooney will know before the World Cup starts just how significant a part he can play.

The Irish Women's Hockey team secured a vital win over hosts Italy (2-1) at the World Cup Qualifying tournament in Rome this afternoon (3pm Irish time).

Michael Owen’s World Cup hopes have been boosted by an x-ray this morning which revealed there is no fresh damage to the foot injury that sidelined him for four months.

Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek thought it was a “joke” when he first found out he had been left out of Poland’s World Cup squad.