The war of words surrounding Newcastle escalated on Saturday with Kevin Keegan reasserting his position in response to an earlier statement from the Magpies.

Amir Khan admitted facing unbeaten Colombian Breidis Prescott had been "a massive gamble" after a stunning 54-second knockout defeat left his world title dreams in tatters.

Joe Cole - the player Fabio Capello is reluctant to include in his starting line-up - again spared his blushes as England finally overcame the minnows of Andorra 2-0 in their opening World Cup qualifier in Barcelona's Olympic Stadium.

Scotland suffered a disappointing start to their World Cup qualifying campaign when they slumped to 1-0 defeat against Macedonia in their opening match.

Glenn Whelan's rise to prominence gathered pace in Germany as his first senior international goal helped get the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign off to the perfect start.

Teenage substitute Sam Vokes scored his first international goal to give Wales a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan and allow manager John Toshack to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Andy Murray's electrifying start to his first grand slam semi-final was halted by rain in New York on Saturday with the British number one leading US Open top seed Rafael Nadal two sets to love.

Roger Federer remains on course for a fifth successive US Open crown after battling past Novak Djokovic in four sets in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton cruised to the 11th pole position of his 30-race Formula One career ahead of Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

Warrington missed out on a home tie in the engage Super League play-offs after crashing to a surprise 38-20 home defeat to a Huddersfield side who belied their lowly league position.

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