Olivier Giroud has made history by winning 100 caps for France while playing under coach Didier Deschamps.

No other player for Les Bleus has ever recorded a century of senior international appearances with the same man in charge.

The Chelsea striker, who made his France debut back in November 2011, won his first eight caps under Laurent Blanc, who resigned following the Euro 2012 finals.

Deschamps took over in July 2012 and has since made Giroud a mainstay of his plans. The 34-year-old s 100th game under the former midfielder came in Saturday s Euro 2020 clash with Hungary.

The closest players to Giroud s tally under Deschamps are Antoine Griezmann (93 appearances), Hugo Lloris (90), Paul Pogba (82) and Blaise Matuidi (80).

Giroud scored 45 goal…

Brazil goalkeeper Barbara leapt to the defence of Sweden following Hope Solo s cowards comments, despite the host nation s defeat in the semi-finals.

United States shot-stopper Solo labelled Sweden s approach as cowardly after they knocked the defending Olympic champions out of the women s football tournament on penalties in Rio last week. 

Sweden then managed to eliminate Brazil in the semi-finals of the competition on Tuesday, sending the hosts out after another tense shoot-out. 

While Brazil had the better of the opportunities throughout, they were unable to break down a resolute Sweden defence, and Barbara had no issues with the way the Scandinavians set out to play. 

She said:  Sweden stayed back and played defence with all 11 players in the …

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo is the hottest player at this year s European football championship and not just because of his dribbling skills, according to a Europe-wide women s survey.

The Manchester United striker was voted most beautiful player of the tournament, in a poll of 12,000 women carried out by electronics company LG.

French forward Thierry Henry came in second, ahead of injured Italian skipper Fabio Cannavaro and Freddie Ljungberg of Sweden who drew for third place.

Talent and his Latin good looks won Ronaldo the title, according to the survey.

His biggest fans were apparently Italian, German and Swedish women.

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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi s storied rivalry provided another chapter as Real Madrid and Barcelona battled again for LaLiga supremacy in 2016-17.

For the first time since 2012, it was Ronaldo s Madrid that lifted the league title as the Portuguese scored in a 2-0 win at Malaga to leave Zinedine Zidane with a LaLiga winners medal after his first full season as head coach, while Los Blancos also have a Champions League final on the horizon.

But it was Messi that came out on top individually as he took home the coveted Pichichi award for finishing as the league s top scorer the fourth time he has done so compared to Ronaldo s three, although the Argentina star made five more league appearances.

Using Opta stats, we take a look at how Messi and Ronaldo com…

Mexico have won the Gold Cup for the fifth time following a very convincing 5-0 win over the United States in the final. All goals were scored in the second half.

The first half at East Rutherford s Giants Stadium wasn t quite as eventful but the second half more than made up for it, as the Mexicans completely stunned their arch rivals.

The opening goal came in the 56th minute when Heaps pulled down Giovanni dos Santos in de penalty area, for captain Gerardo Torrado to score from the penalty spot.

Six minutes later, Dos Santos himself made it 2-0. Sabah first had an effort saved by keeper Perkins but the Ipswich youngster then netted on the rebound.

Another five minutes had been played when Carlos Vela chipped Perkins after receiving a pass from Dos Sant…

Week 16 will kick off with the surging San Francisco 49ers visiting the Tennessee Titans who are clinging to their AFC South division lead.

Can George Kittle and the San Francisco offense keep rolling? Will the Titans be able to generate anything through the air with Julio Jones out and A.J. Brown questionable? Find out in our free props and predictions for 49ers vs. Titans.

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The NFL returns to Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Monday night, as the San Francisco 49ers battle the Arizona Cardinals. 

The 49ers appear to be in prime position to take advantage of a Cardinals team in disarray, as Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins are both listed as questionable with hamstring injuries. This figures to put a burden on Arizona’sf shaky defense. 

San Francisco’s offense is as healthy as it’s been all year, and that includes quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who’s been the starter since Week 3. With an eye on a potentially strong performance, here are my three favorite Jimmy Garoppolo prop picks for Monday Night Football.

You can also read our 49ers vs. Cardinals picks and predictions in addition to our bes…

What a difference a day makes.

Last Saturday, I went 3-0 to start my Week 15 prop picks… then it all came crashing down on Sunday as I went 0-3, losing some NFL player props in games where the respective player’s teams scored a combined 73 points.

Welcome to betting on NFL odds, where sometimes it just doesn’t make sense; but I’ll try to make sense of the Week 16 odds to get to good juju flowing once again.

We’ve again got games on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but I’m in a weekend kinda mood this week — so my NFL picks tackle a new No. 2 WR and a white-hot running back in action on Saturday, followed by an MVP candidate slinging it all over the field, a struggling RB with a very good matchup, and more!.

Let’s get ready to roll …

The 2024 NFL season is almost here, and I’ve got a handful of futures bets to lock in before the action starts. Coaching and quarterback play go hand-in-hand with winning, and there are a number of teams showing value in the win total markets.

Here are my top NFL picks for the season, led by three NFC West predictions.

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The 2014 World Cup may be some seven months away, but with the draw having been made, the time has come to make some early predictions. Online bookmakers have already started quoting prices on what is likely to be the most heavily bet sporting event in recent years, and we have in turn selected a total of eight ante-post markets we feel provide the best value for money. Given that the odds are going to change as the market moves, it may be a good idea to get them while they re hot.

Disclaimer. All odds listed for each market are based on the price when the article was written. The odds may have changed since.

1.) To Win Outright

Best Bet: Germany @ 5/1

While many people will be backing tournament hosts Brazil, I feel the combination of the huge pressure from t…