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Defoe hushes Capello critics

England went some way to ridding themselves of their World Cup 2010 hangover and also silencing manager Fabio Capello's critics as Jermain Defoe's hat-trick helped slay Bulgaria in the Three Lions' first Euro 2012 qualifier...

Murray Cruises Past Brown; Stakhovsky Saves 3 M.P.

Fourth seed Andy Murray kept alive his bid to win a first Grand Slam championship by knocking out Dustin Brown of Jamaica 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 on Friday for a place in the US Open third round. It was his 25th hard-court win of the season...

Harbinger sold to Japan

Harbinger, officially the highest rated racehorse in the world prior to suffering a career-ending injury, has been sold to take up stud duties in Japan...

Jimenez races three clear

Miguel Angel Jiménez produced the lowest round of his 27 year European Tour career in Switzerland...

(Live leaderboard Golf European right column)

Ponting excited about Australia's big season

Ricky Ponting said on Monday his Australian team were on the verge of "something special" over the next eight months packed with an Ashes series, a tour to India and next year's World Cup...

Preview: South Africa v Australia

Australia get a second bite at the cherry in ending their Highveld hoodoo when they tackle South Africa in Bloemfontein on Saturday, with the tournament wooden spoon still very much on the line...

ICC1 'Wrong to suspend players'

Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan has accused the International Cricket Council of "trying to play to the public gallery" by suspending the three players allegedly involved in a spot-fixing scam...

Nadal Leads Spanish Charge In New York

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal completed an impressive showing for the Spanish contingent on Friday at the US Open...

Fahey solves ROI's frustration

Keith Fahey's first competitive international goal solved Republic of Ireland's frustration by securing a 1-0 win in Armenia in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier...

Montenegro 1-0 Wales

Wales began their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a disappointing loss away to supposed Group G minnows Montenegro...

Threesome goes low and reaps rewards

Ryan Palmer called it a "wild" day while Jason Day happily branded it "really weird." And they weren't talking about the uncertain and surprisingly tentative approach of Hurricane Earl, either...

(Live leaderboard Golf USA right column)

Saturday's gossip column - transfers and rumours

Arsenal's attempts to sign PSV Eindhoven winger Ibrahim Afellay could be scuppered by Fiorentina. The Netherlands international is top of the Italian club's most-wanted list..