Aussies make O’Connor Cup Hoops crew Cahill proud dream Sales miss finals

TIM Cahill saw nothing in the Socceroos’ first-up loss to Germany to suggest their Confederations Cup is over, backing Australia to still reach the semi- finals.

The Socceroos were 3-2 losers against the world champions in their first outing in Russia.

Next up is Cameroon on Friday in St Petersburg. Cahill – Australia’s alltime leading scorer – saw plenty of fight in the Socceroos’ side.

“I’m proud of the boys,” he said. “I thought we played really well.” TROUBLE-PRONE Gold Coast star James O’Connor appears to have given up on playing in the next World Cup after signing a three-year deal with English rugby club Sale.

The 26-year-old was keen to resume his career in Australia and press for a Wallabies berth ahead of the 2019 tournament in Japan but appears resigned to playing in Europe.

O’Connor had played with Toulon since 2015 but his involvement in a cocaine bust in Paris in February was another black mark against his name. THE Australian women’s three-onthree basketball team have failed to reach the quarter-finals at the World Cup of the Olympics’ newest event.

Australia were beaten 16-14 in over-time by the Netherlands in their final pool game in France to finish third in the group, with the top-two into the final eight.

The International Olympic Committee announced this month threeon-three basketball would make its Games debut at Tokyo in 2020, to be played on a half-court with one hoop.