SPORTS

Portugal not just about me – Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo said he is not obsessed by breaking records and believes Portugal have reached the Euro 2016 final thanks to a team effort after they beat Wales in the last four on Wednesday. Ronaldo, Portugal’s all-time leading scorer and most-capped international, equalled Frenchman Michel Platini’s record of nine goals in European Championship finals after scoring his teams’s first in ...

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Wales ‘devastated but proud’ after defeat

Wales fans danced and partied with pride into the night despite a heartbreaking Euro 2016 semifinal defeat in the nation’s biggest football match ever. Some 27 000 impassioned fans who watched the 2-0 loss to Portugal on giant screens in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Wednesday swallowed their devastation and streamed out voicing unabashed delight at how far Wales had come. “If ...

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Messi handed jail term for tax fraud

Argentina and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud. His father, Jorge Messi, was also given a jail term for defrauding Spain of €4.1m (£3.5m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009. They also face millions of euros in fines for using tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights. ...

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Santos in gruff mood ahead of semi

Portugal coach Fernando Santos was in typically gruff mood ahead of their Euro 2016 semifinal, saying he did not want to think about anything other than Wednesday’s game against Wales. Almost every question at his pre-match news conference was dismissed with a variation on the theme that “we’re concentrating on the game tomorrow”. Asked what he thought about forward Nani’s ...

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Venus back in Wimbledon semi-final

Five-time champion Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time since 2009 with victory over Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova. Eighth seed Williams – at 36 the oldest Grand Slam semi-finalist for 22 years – beat unseeded Shvedova 7-6 (7-5) 6-3. An all-Williams final remains possible after top seed Serena beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4. In Thursday’s semis, Serena ...

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Barcelona buy back midfielder Suarez

Spanish champions Barcelona have exercised the buy-back clause to re-sign midfielder Denis Suarez from Villarreal, the Catalan club announced on Monday.The 22-year-old has signed a four-year contract with an option of extending it for a further year after Barcelona agreed to pay €3.25 million to re-sign Suarez, whose buy-out clause has been set at 50 million euros. The attacking midfielder ...

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Leicester poised to sign Ahmed Musa

Nigerian striker Ahmed Musa is set to complete a move to Premier League champions Leicester City from Russian club CSKA Moscow subject to a medical, according to the player’s agent. The 23-year-old, who scored 13 league goals in 29 league appearances last season as the club won the Russian title, was linked by British media to Leicester City in January ...

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It’s Wales v Portugal, not Bale v Ronaldo, says Bale

Portugal v Wales Date: Wednesday, 6 July Venue: Stade de Lyon, Lyon Kick-off: 20:00 BST Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and text commentary online & on BBC Sport app Gareth Bale has played down the significance of his duel with Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Wales’ Euro 2016 semi-final against ...

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Bale has ruthless Ronaldo in his sights

The two most expensive players in football go head-to-head on Wednesday when Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal against club teammate Gareth Bale and Wales in a Euro 2016 semifinal which could lead one to unprecendented glory. Bale is junior partner when the two line up for Real Madrid, despite winning two Champions Leagues in three years since arriving in Spain for ...

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Giroud wins over France supporters

Forward Olivier Giroud, jeered by France supporters barely a month ago, won them over on Sunday with what he described as his best performance for his country in a major tournament, scoring twice in the 5-2 win over Iceland at Euro 2016. The 29-year-old did not want to dwell for too long on his own display and said that the ...

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