England v Australia, Canelo v Plant and top 10-pin bowling styles
1) England meet Albania for only the sixth time on Friday, at Wembley. Their first encounter, in Tirana in 1989 shortly before the fall of Albania’s particularly hardline Stalinist government, attracted a good deal of curiosity. Here are Barry Davies and Des Lynam providing a little bit of background to tee up the BBC’s live coverage of England’s 2-0 victory. The return fixture, a routine 5-0 England win, was notable for Paul Gascoigne’s first international goal. Elsewhere this weekend, the Republic of Ireland, long out of the World Cup qualification running, face another tough test against Portugal, so here’s a reminder of their 1-0 Euro 96 qualifying win over the Portuguese in April 1995, the closing stages of Jack Charlton’s reign.
2) England and Australia lock horns at Twickenham on Saturday, the 28th time the two rivals have met in TW2. Here’s silent footage of the first, an 18-11 England win in 1928, though strictly speaking Australia were represented by the New South Wales Waratahs, and Australia’s first win at the ground, in 1948. The rivals have met rather more regularly in the modern era, treating us to classics such as England’s hard-fought 22-19 victory in 2000, their famous 32-31 comeback win in 2002, and Australia’s most famous Twickenham triumph, in the 1991 World Cup final. Meanwhile Ireland and New Zealand meet for the first time since the All Blacks romped to victory in the 2019 World Cup quarter-finals, though the Irish were famously victorious the last time they hosted them. The first two times they did, in 1905 and 1924, Ireland didn’t manage a point at Lansdowne Road.
3) Last Saturday in Las Vegas, the unstoppable Canelo Álvarez defeated Caleb Plant to become the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world. Here are the two fighters having a nice little chat during the bout: “You’re pretty good … I respect your skills …”
For good measure, here’s a ringside view of the 11th-round stoppage that unified the belts at 168lb. “As ferocious as it was clinical,” Donald McRae wrote of the fight’s finish.
4) Comedy own goals always offer easy pickings, but even so, the force with which this is struck is worth
admiring. Pick that one out. Meanwhile, the Bulgarian league avoids the sublime altogether, and sticks determinedly with the ridiculous.
5) There was an unhelpful midmatch firework display as Shamrock Rovers faced Waterford in Ireland on Friday.
6) Connor McDavid, of the Edmonton Oilers, slaloms through the New York Rangers defence before tucking away a finish for one of the more memorable ice hockey goals we’ve seen.
Our favourites from below the line last week
1) Ten out of 10 for these unorthodox 10-pin bowling styles.
2) Miss of the week? Wolfsburg’s Jill Roord will be disappointed with this.
3) A young Arnold Schwarzenegger has a go at track and field, in 1969 flick Hercules in New York.
4) Revel in 10 of Francesco Totti’s best.
5) The story of how Landon Donavan stoked the US’s rivalry with Mexico.
Spotters’ badges: whobroughtoranges, Graham Clayton, ELGwero, denothemeno, germit
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