Hero O'Shea the toast of world's elite

In a week of international football which boasted drama, goals and even a brawl, John O’Shea’s stoppage-time leveller against Germany in his 100th appearance for the Republic of Ireland was a fitting finale.

The Sunderland centre-back, having defended resolutely for much of the encounter in Gelsenkirchen, expertly guided the ball beyond Manuel Neuer to salvage a 1-1 draw and heap more misery on the World Cup winners.

O’Shea was not the only player to enjoy a stellar Tuesday, with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging a last-minute winner against Denmark, Lionel Messi striking twice in Hong Kong and Neymar claiming four (yes, four) goals against Japan.

Ronaldo also celebrated reaching a 100 million fans on facebook.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014 12:30

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Ronaldo & Messi have Raul in their sights

The conclusion of the international break means Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi can get back to domestic duty, and both will have Raul’s Champions League record at the top of their agenda.

The Real Madrid and Barcelona stars have 70 and 69 goals respectively in Europe’s premier club competition, just short of Los Blancos and Spain legend Raul who notched an incredible 71 times in his storied career.

Ronaldo, who has already claimed a La Liga record for hat-tricks recently, faces a tough double header against last season’s Premier League runners-up Liverpool, while Messi has a more favourable tie against Ajax. Who will break the record first?

Friday, October 17, 2014 12:00

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Dutch blown away by Icelandic volcano

Iceland pulled off one of the shocks of this week’s round of Euro 2016 qualifiers as a Gylfi Sigurdsson double inspired the Norse side to a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands.

The Swansea City playmaker opened the scoring from the spot on Monday night before doubling his tally midway through the first half with a brilliant, instinctive volley that the dour Dutch were unable to recover from.

The result leaves the Oranje in third place in Group A, behind both leaders Iceland and second-place Czech Republic, while the pressure is ramping up on Guus Hiddink, who has suffered defeat in three of his four matches since taking over from Louis van Gaal.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014 12:00

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Big bad wolf Costa FINALLY blows the house down

While his form for Chelsea has been exceptional, Diego Costa's start to life on the international stage has been somewhat ponderous.

Yet finally, after 515 minutes of football and five shots on target in his six games for Spain, Costa notched his first international goal in the 4-0 win over Luxembourg.

Monday, October 13, 2014 13:16

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Neymar’s Brazil see off Messi and Di Maria

Brazil and Argentina met in Beijing on Saturday for an international friendly with Dunga’s men beating the World Cup finalists 2-0.

Diego Tardelli was the surprise hero for the Selecao scoring twice, his first international goals, to seal victory at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Lionel Messi had a rare day to forget, at 1-0 down in the first half the Barcelona star had the chance to pull his side level but saw his penalty saved by Jefferson.

Sunday, October 12, 2014 11:47

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Challandes' soup

Here is my first cartoon to Armenian sport website Totalfootball.am which provide news on Armenian football.

This cartoon talks about Bernard Challandes Armenia football manager which he said before Armenia match against Serbia in the Euro 2016 qualifications that he is preparing a good soup as depicting how Armenia will have a strong performance.

Armenia scored first till the end of the game when Serbian Zoran Tosic equalized to Serbia.

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Chiellini scores an awkward Hat-trick

Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini  helped his national side to win the game against Azerbijan in the Euro 2016 qualifications. Italy have won 2-1 with Chiellini who had scored two goals for Italy and one own goal on his team.

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Blackbeard Roy Keane takes no prisoners

Former Manchester United legend Roy Keane continued to plug his latest autobiography, The Second Half, this week and sustained his onslaught on the countless footballers and managers he has crossed during his time in the game.

The current Aston Villa and Ireland assistant claimed he cancelled a deal to sign Robbie Savage based on the player-turned-pundit's voicemail message, though he left no prisoners when it came to Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.

Keane said he may never be able to forgive Sir Alex for the "lies" that were concocted about him as he was forced out of Old Trafford, while 'The Special One' was labelled a "disgrace" for his handshake snub, with the Irishman suggesting he would have been knocked out in a Sunday League match.  

Saturday, October 11, 2014 14:00

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Casillas hurting Spain's Euro 2016 hopes

Slovakia shocked Spain on Thursday night as they picked up an incredible 2-1 victory against La Roja, a match in which Iker Casillas's place in the side was once again called into question.

Vicente del Bosque stuck with the veteran shot-stopper at the World Cup despite losing his undisputed No.1 status at Real Madrid, but his poor form in Brazil continued in Zilina as the 33-year-old allowed a routine free kick to fly past him down the centre of the goal.

Casillas's performance against Slovakia could be the final straw for a player who has captained his country to World and European glory, with David de Gea - who was so magnificent against Everton at the weekend - waiting in the wings.

Friday, October 10, 2014 14:00

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Morrissey tribute

"If I die, I die ... Right now I feel good "

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