Victory all that matters, says Van der Vaart

Market: Over 1.5 goals

Odds: 4/11 @

In what could be an enjoyable affair at Ferrycarrig Park on Friday night, Cork City will make the trip to Wexford when this weekend s First Division fixtures get underway.

Starting with the hosts, while Wexford might have found themselves in the midst of an extended rut back in May, the youths have really come roaring back. Last seen earlier in the month putting in a stellar display as they picked up a 3-1 victory away at Waterford, Ian Ryan s men now sit within touching distance of breaking into the play-off places. With it appearing that the mood around Ferrycarrig Park is at the highest it has been since opening the 2022 campaign, Wexford are now unbeaten in their last seven First Division matchups. Likewise, along with col…

Germany advanced to the semi-finals of the Women s Euros with a 2-0 win over Austria, as Alexandra Popp became the first woman to score in four successive games at one tournament at the climax of an end-to-end affair.

Lina Magull s tidy 25th-minute finish and Popp s late second kept Germany s bid for a ninth European title alive, though Martina Voss-Tecklenburg s team were pushed all the way by a lively Austria side.

Germany began nervously at the Brentford Community Stadium, and survived a significant early scare when Marina Georgieva headed a 13th-minute corner against Merle Frohms right-hand post.

After withstanding a period of Austrian pressure, Germany hit the front when Magull diverted Klara Buhl s neat left-wing cut-back into the bottom-right corner, netti…

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola suggested Kevin De Bruyne could miss the rest of the season after suffering an injury in Saturday s 1-0 win over Tottenham.

De Bruyne s campaign has been ravaged by injuries, with successive knee ligament problems forcing him to miss most of the first half of the season.

The Belgian was also absent for the majority of March due to a thigh issue, before hitting a strong run of form upon his return, particularly standing out with three assists in Wednesday s 4-3 Champions League win over Spurs – though that was not enough to send City into the semi-finals.

De Bruyne was bright again in the first half on Saturday, but he appeared to strain something around his left knee while taking a shot just before the break, and Guardiola …

Mats Hummels is optimistic his ankle blow will not mean a lengthy injury lay-off as Borussia Dortmund reel from losing his team-mate Erling Haaland until the new year.

Star defender Hummels appears to have avoided what could have been serious damage during Wednesday s Champions League draw with Lazio.

While striker Haaland has been ruled out of action until January with a torn hamstring, Hummels hopes to be playing again for Lucien Favre s team within days.

Hummels took a heavy knock to his left ankle late in the game, needing attention at the side of the pitch, and he was checked out at hospital after the game amid concerns.

Fresh checks were planned for Thursday, but Hummels left hospital in a positive mood.

In a video posted to Instagram, he …

Christian Benteke hopes to remain at Liverpool but will seek to leave Anfield if he is unable to earn regular first-team football.

The Belgium international has endured a disappointing first season on Merseyside, having been signed by Brendan Rodgers only to see the manager sacked in October.

Rodgers successor, Jurgen Klopp, has used the centre-forward sparingly, with Benteke who also suffered separate thigh and knee injuries last term managing only 14 Premier League starts in 2015-16 following his move from Aston Villa.

The striker is part of the Belgium squad set to take on Italy, Sweden and Republic of Ireland at Euro 2016 and, ahead of his team s opening game against the Azzurri in Lyon on Monday, has spoken of his need to secure a place in the first XI for h…

Real Madrid s Welsh wizard Gareth Bale says Manchester City have earned the right to be considered part of the Champions League elite, but expects his side to triumph in their semi-final second leg.

Bale said Madrid s maturity and experience at this level of the competition makes them confident of progression, after the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in Manchester on Tuesday.

I was impressed by City, said Bale.

You can see they are a very good team and they have some great players, we know a lot about them and we watch them all the time in Spain.

Obviously, I ve also played against them before and they are a really strong team, but so are we. The semi-final is really nicely poised for the second leg.

They definitely belong among the European …

England manager Roy Hodgson has backed Ashley Young to fill the void left by Wayne Rooney in his side s opening two Euro 2012 outings.

Young will play the part as England s number 10 in the suspended Rooney s absence, following the Manchester United goalscorer s red card in the qualifier against Montenegro last October.

Hodgson is confident former Aston Villa star Young can provide his side with the creative spark they need.

It s important for me to work out the best team and which players can do the most damage to our opponents and make sure they play in the positions which suit them, Hodgson said.

Ashley Young has got in good positions, as we wanted him to do. We feel that, like with Wayne Rooney, Ashley is at his best when he gets behind the midfi…

Having failed to land any of their top transfer targets this winter, Ligue 1 side Bordeaux are said to have turned to former Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner as a solution up front according to .

The Girondins have been linked with the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Diafra Sakho and Martin Braithwaite but failed in their attempts to land any of the aforementioned players.

The new boss Gustavo Poyet has encouraged the Bordeaux board to sanction a move for Nicklas Bendtner who’s under contract with Rosenborg until December 2019.

Bendtner has enjoyed a successful spell with Norway giants, having scored 19 goals in 29 Elitserien games in 2017.

He finished the season as top scorer and is now determined to move to a brighter stage in order to boost his chance…

David Beckham conceded Real Madrid face a tough task against in-form Paris Saint-Germain but he believes the blockbuster Champions League last-16 tie is the Spanish team s time to shine.

Madrid became the first side to retain the Champions League title last season, while they also won LaLiga as Cristiano Ronaldo spearheaded the double but Zinedine Zidane s men have endured a campaign to forget in 2017-18.

The Spanish champions are fourth and a staggering 19 points adrift of bitter-rivals Barcelona as they prepare to face Ligue 1 leaders PSG on February 14.

While acknowledging the challenge of PSG, former winger Beckham said via Marca: It is going to be difficult with PSG on top form at the moment.

This is the moment for Los Blancos as they love this comp…

The agent of Spain international David de Gea, Jorge Mendes, has confirmed he has entered contract talks with Manchester United over a new deal for the in-form goalkeeper.

De Gea, 24, has been the subject of reported interest from Spanish giants Real Madrid in recent times.

Some reports have suggested De Gea, United s Player of the Year in 2013/14, has already agreed a deal to join Los Blancos in the summer, but Mendes has rubbished such speculation.

I am negotiating with Manchester United about De Gea s renewal, Mendes told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

It is not true that De Gea has found a deal with Real Madrid. I m negotiating with Manchester United his extension.

De Gea, whose current contract at Old Trafford is set to expi…