Second is best England!

despite falling to a 1-0 defeat against already-eliminated Poland. JAN Bednarek fired the only goal in the 59th minute but the scoreline in the other Group H game between Colombia and Senegal meant the Japanese were still set to go through by virtue of a better fair play record than the latter. THE final 20 minutes of the match was played out by Japanese defenders stroking uncontested passes, with Poland clearly content to head home with their first and only victory in the bag. THE scenes brought back memories of West Germany’s controversial 1-0 win over Austria in the 1982 World Cup, although that had been contrived to eliminate Algeria and send both teams through. THE final whistle brought an end to a bizarre afternoon which began with Japan coach Akira Nishino making six changes despite knowing his side’s qualification was far from certain. BUT it soon became apparent that Poland had little desire to come out fighting after their two opening defeats which had left them without hope.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s buy-out clause at Real Madrid has been reduced from 1billion euros (£884million) to 120m euros (£106m), according to a report from Spain.

OK Diario has reported that the reduction, initially down to 400m euros (£354m) and then 120m euros, was agreed between Real and Ronaldo earlier this year to facilitate a possible summer sale.

According to OK Diario, the massively reduced buy-out clause does not apply to Barcelona or any other clubs in Spain, or Paris St Germain.

The report also says that since the reduction, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan have informed the superstar forward’s agent they would be ready to negotiate a deal in relation to the 120m euros figure.