Every morning, TheScore.ie brings you the sport stories you need to know with your morning coffee.
1. #IRELAND It’s a year to the day since the controversial World Cup play-off in Paris. Grim.
Last night, Ireland were beaten by Norway on a night when a typically-conservative Giovanni Trapattoni learned little.
2. #FERGIE Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson made it clear yesterday that he intends to stick around at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future. Speaking in Doha, he also admitted modern players cry when he turns on the famous ‘hairdryer’.
3. RORY Ireland’s Rory McIlroy got his bid for a second European Tour win off to a good start after firing a seven-under-par 63 to take the clubhouse lead in the first round of the Hong Kong Open overnight.
4. #INTERNATIONAL England were also beaten 2-1 last night, by France at Wembley. Steven Gerrard left the pitch injured late on with Liverpool officials later branding the FA ‘amateurish’ and a ‘disgrace’. Man City striker Mario Balotelli, elsewhere, suffered racist abuse from his own Italian fans.
5. #MEDALS Cork legend Gerald McCarthy will make the All-Ireland medals for the GAA this year, Colm O’Connor writes in the Irish Examiner.
6. #COURT Ronan O’Gara is facing a possible bill for tens of thousands of euro over a contentious property deal. The Irish international was yesterday given six weeks to deliver his defence in a case taken by a major developer, according to the Irish Independent.
7. DÉISE Davy Fitzgerald says that Tony Browne will make no decision on his intercounty career until after the start of Waterford’s league campaign next year.
8. #NOVEMBER INTERNATIONALS There might be some debate at lunchtime today when Declan Kidney names his side to face the All Blacks on Saturday. Eoin Reddan is set for a surprising recall, according to Gerry Thornley in the Irish Times. The management will revert to the Leinster half-back pairing of Reddan and Jonathan Sexton, reportedly.
9. DUBS Eoghan O’Gara wants a major improvement from Dublin next year, says the Irish Daily Mirror.
