Sports

1) Belgium (up 2)

Roberto Martínez made eight changes to the team that drew with the Czech Republic on Saturday – only the three-man defence stayed intact – and was rewarded with an effervescent display and an 8-0 victory against Belarus. There were good performances all over the pitch with the 18-year-old Jérémy Doku scoring his second international goal and Leandro Trossard his first two. “Tonight showed that you need more than 11 players to go to Euro 2020 and the tournaments beyond,” a pleased Martínez said.

2) Denmark (up 6)

Everything the national coach, Kasper Hjulmand, does at the moment seems to work. Against Austria in Vienna o…

Ben Chilwell is braced for confirmation that he has been ruled out of the World Cup with a torn hamstring, handing England another defensive headache before they name their squad for Qatar.

Chilwell pulled up injured during Chelsea’s victory against Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday and the left-back expects the results of a scan to confirm his worst fears.

‘There’s no respect’: England’s Beth Mead will not support Qatar World CupRead more

Although the severity of the injury is yet to be fully established, Chilwell is not expected to be available for England and there are fears he has sustained a ruptured tendon, which could rule him out for three months. Gareth Southgate is already sweating on the fitness of Reec…

Anyone who sniffily asserts that a meeting of Celtic and Rangers in a Scottish Cup final is about as remarkable as Thursday following Wednesday has not been paying attention. A Rangers victory via the odd goal in five from a Hampden epic in 2002 was the last time the Old Firm squared off in Scottish football’s showpiece occasion. The noisy neighbours will be belatedly reunited on Saturday.

Of more concern to Rangers than fixture quirks should be the list of triumphant finalists since they lifted this trophy in 2009. The Scottish Cup has been housed at Ibrox on one more occasion during the intervening years. St Johnstone have won it twice in this period. Celtic’s seven successes in 14 seasons emphasise a period of dominance but the ribbon…

Dave Canales was an expensive purchase, but owner David Tepper ain’t got time for hand-wringing in Charlotte. It’s an 0-2 start that has this conversation percolating around the Panthers, who benched 2023 No. 1 draft pick Bryce Young after tallying 12 punts and 13 points in the first two games of the 2024 regular season.Would Tepper pull the plug? Hell yes, he would. Check his records.Last season, Tepper fired Frank Reich and a chunk of the offensive coaching staff (Josh McCown, Duce Staley) after Carolina started 1-10.Canales could be forgiven for wondering what he’s walked into, but we credit Young for hammering the accountability track “every snap hit my hands, I didn’t do enough with it.” If Tepper thinks he can pull the plug on Young and Canales, we wish him luck findin…

We became familiar with Taima
earlier this year when she decided to go hang out with some fans. Today the Seahawks' live bird mascot "helped" CBS Sports reporter Dana Jacobson while she delivered a four-minute live shot from CenturyLink Field. The bird very early on tried to escape, but a handler restored the hawk back to Jacobson's arm. Let the bird fly, people! [CBS Sports Net] h/t to Alex …

Some people are fans of the San Francisco 49ers. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the San Francisco 49ers. This 2018 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here. Your team: San Francisco 49ers. Your 2017 record: 6-10, but oh my God you never heard people hype up a 6-10 record more than these fans. Those first nine straight losses still count, you assholes. You don’t get to burn those off the ledger just because you traded for Italian Clark Kent. Half the Niners’ wins last season came against the Giants, Bears, and Texans. But because San Francisco closed out the season winning six of seven with a new quarterback, people acted like this team deserved a wild card bid. Well, excuse me if I think your joyful optimism is obsce…

Some people are fans of the Denver Broncos. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Denver Broncos. This 2015 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here. Your team: the Denver Broncos. THE FIGHTIN’ HORSIES! Your 2014 record: 12-4. Cue the snuff film… Your coach: Gary Kubiak. Wait, really? WHY? Listen, man: If you’re gonna fire John Fox and his entire staff (It was a good staff!) in a fit of rage, you better have a plan. You better come back to everyone with a reasonable replacement. You can’t trot out Gary fucking Kubiak and tell people it’s an improvement. Fox’s career record was 118–89 when he got shitcanned. Kubiak’s? 61–64. This is a scandal. This is John Elway using Fox as a scapegoat for Peyton Manning…