NEED TO CATCH up? TheScore.ie brings you a round-up of today’s sports news…
World Cup
- Lionel Messi and Ahmed Musa traded great goal for great goal before Marcos Rojo’s knee settled Argentina v Nigeria.
- The Luis Suarez ‘bite’ debate rumbled on, with damning camera angles, protests of innocence from team-mates, video games and an imminent FIFA decision on his future.
- England arrived back home after a drab World Cup campaign. Cameroon are heading home too but at least Samuel Eto’o showed some emotion.
- US midfielder Kyle Beckerman insisted Jürgen Klinsmann is all about apple pie and white picket fences ahead of the vital match with the manager’s homeland, Germany.
Home
- Cork’s Mark Ellis was revealed to be a major injury doubt for the Munster senior hurling final. Fermanagh’s Barry Owens, meanwhile, retired from inter-county football.
- Dan Parks, who played two seasons with Connacht and won 66 caps for Scotland, spoke with us about retirement and moving into coaching.
- The Second Captains lads are not going home for a while yet after The Irish Times offered them a contract extension.
Away
- Unfortunate news from Singapore, via the Cardiff Blues, as 22-year-old centre Owen Williams was confirmed to have sustained a “significant” injury to his spinal cord.
- The NFL has agreed to remove the $555m cap on concussion payments to retired players.
- A Wales U20 hooker won the respect of his New Zealand counterparts by performing a full-on, passionate haka.
On the record
“Not really – if I was being attacked and I’m in close an ear will get bitten… or a nose or something like that.”
– BBC Three Counties listener explains why biting is not a big deal.
The best thing we shared
A young Miami sports fan realised he was on the Jumbotron and got hilariously busy.
https://vine.co/v/MtZ2xhIjDPe
Where we were today
Our man in Brazil, Mikey Stafford, is in Recife and reported on those charming Colombians.
Not long after the jugglers had put their batons and lighter fluid away Rodriguez had laid two goals on a plate for Jackson Martinez, before the Monaco man himself completed the rout with a delightful jink and dink.”
The fixture list
Group E finished up this evening with France drawing 0-0 with Ecuador and Switzerland beating Honduras 3-0.
- Thursday sees Portugal face Ghana from 5pm and in need of a miracle. They will need the USA to lose to Germany [also at 5pm] while scoring early and often against a decent Ghanian side.
- Belgium have already qualified for the last 16 but will look to get at least a point against South Korea to top their group. The other 9pm kick-off in Group H is Algeria v Russia.
- Limerick take on Cork in the Munster minor hurling semi-final, at the Gaelic Grounds, from 7.30pm.
Showbiz, Baby
RTÉ commentator Marty Morrissey showed up on TV3′s Late Lunch Live this afternoon and almost broke ‘The Marty Meter’ by reading racy excerpts from Fifty Shades of Grey.
“Was it a former Lion that fell over in the bath-tub?”