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Cristiano Ronaldo named Best FIFA Men's Player for second year running
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Lionel Messi and Neymar to win The Best FIFA Men's Player award for the
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Monday, October 23, 2017
Cristiano Ronaldo named Best FIFA Men's Player for second year running
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Lionel Messi and Neymar to win The Best FIFA Men's Player award for the
Quiz: Best Fifa Football Awards 2017 - who picked who?
BBC Sport - Football
Quiz: Best Fifa Football Awards 2017 - who picked who?
Try our quiz to see if you can guess who picked who at the Best Fifa awards and test your knowledge on the other facts and figures.
Muguruza keen to press on after seeing off Ostapenko
Garbine Muguruza made a winning start to her third consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Jelena Ostapenko on Sunday but the Spaniard will continue to push herself through the group stage knowing anything can happen.
At her first appearance in Singapore, the world number two won all three round-robin matches before losing a tight semi-final to an inspired Agnieszka Radwanska, while last year she was eliminated early after losing two of her three ties.
On both occasions, the eventual champion (Radwanska in 2015 and Dominika Cibulkova last year) sneaked into the knockout stage with losing 1-2 records in pool play.
"Well, I think it's very important to start with a win," the Wimbledon champion told reporters.
"What I learned from the past is that every game counts, every set, because at the end only two (players per group) are going to pass. And previous winners had lost twice and they have won, which is incredible," she added.
"I take it as a final, honestly, every point, every game, every set."
Mata urges United unity after Huddersfield embarrassment
Juan Mata has urged Manchester United to stick together in the wake of their stunning Premier League defeat to Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
The Terriers, promoted to the top flight via the play-offs last season, claimed a first win over United in 65 years with a 2-1 victory.
Goals from Aaron Mooy and Laurent Depoitre condemned United to a first league defeat of the season despite Marcus Rashford pulling one back for Jose Mourinho's men.
They are now five points adrift of neighbours and league leaders Manchester City, with a furious Mourinho conceding United deserved to be punished for their lacklustre performance.
But midfielder Mata, taken off at half-time, has preached unity in response to the setback ahead of an EFL Cup tie with Swansea City and the visit of Tottenham in the Premier League.
Verstappen podium demotion stirs up a storm
Max Verstappen accused Formula One stewards of killing the sport and suggested fans could stay away in protest after he was stripped of a podium place at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.
With Red Bull boss Christian Horner and past champions joining in the outcry, the 20-year-old Dutch driver vented his feelings.
"The engine penalty is what it is," said Verstappen, who started 16th after being demoted for power unit changes. "We had a great race but with those stupid decisions you kill the sport.
"I hope the fans do not like this decision and next year they do not come."
Verstappen had thrilled the crowd with a last lap overtaking move on Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to take third place and was voted driver of the day by fans.
He was then demoted to fourth, while waiting with race winner Lewis Hamilton and second-placed Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel in the pre-podium room, for exceeding the track limits to gain an advantage.
As the driver headed back down the stairs, team principal Horner let rip at what he saw as inconsistent behaviour by the stewards who had not punished others for similar offences during the race.
"It is an appalling decision. They have robbed all of the fans here. It was a great grand prix and they have screwed it up," he said.
"We could pull out five or six different incidents today of cars going off track," he said. "Where do you gain an advantage and not gain an advantage?"
It was the second time that Verstappen has been demoted from the podium by stewards post-race, with the youngster also missing out in Mexico last year for cutting a corner.
Verstappen's father Jos was scathing of the decision on social media, with a series of comments on Twitter suggesting Ferrari favouritism.
"Shame on you FIA," he said referring to the sport's governing body. "Obviously F1 don't know what racing is."
Mercedes celebrate toughest title yet
Mercedes joined a select group of teams to have won the Formula One constructors' championship for four years in a row on Sunday and recognised it as their toughest title yet.
With an unassailable lead of 147 points with 129 remaining from the final three races, Mercedes joined Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull who racked up similar streaks during their years of dominance.
Unlike their rivals, Mercedes have managed to stay on top despite major rule changes at the end of last year that introduced wider tyres and revised aerodynamics to make the cars faster and harder to handle.
And this season they have been fighting a resurgent and determined Ferrari rather than just waging an internal battle between team mates.
"This for us was the most difficult one because Ferrari was competitive and we still made it," the team's non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, himself a triple world champion, told reporters at the U.S. Grand Prix.
Mercedes have dominated since the start of the 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrid era in 2014, and are set to win both titles again this year.
They have won 11 of 17 races so far this season and 62 of 76 since the start of 2014.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton, who won at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday for the fifth time in six years, has won nine times this year and is a fingertip away from his own fourth championship.
His title looks sure to come in Mexico next weekend, barring misfortune.
It would have been five had now-retired team mate Nico Rosberg not beaten him last year in a season where car reliability played a major part in the eventual outcome.
Mercedes have also qualified on pole position for 69 of the last 76 races and Hamilton, who holds the sport's all-time career record of 72, has taken 11 of them this season alone.
"When we set our objectives at the beginning of the year it was to win both championships and be the first team to do that through a regulation change like this," said team boss Toto Wolff.
"Having achieved that here in Austin with three races to go, it feels really unbelievable. It's just the reward for so many people that have been hard working," added the Austrian, his briefing interrupted by Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene entering to congratulate him with a hug.
"You always try to identify silver bullets that make the difference but the fact is that we have a really great dynamic within the team and we enjoy doing what we do, pulling it all together. Bringing it home feels just super."
Del Potro Surges Into London Contention, Mover Of The Week
No. 14 Juan Martin del Potro, +4
A convincing straight-sets triumph over top seed Grigor Dimitrov in the final of the Intrum Stockholm Openlifted Juan Martin del Potro into contention for a return to the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 12-19 November at The O2 in London. Del Potro secured his 20th ATP World Tour title and jumped four spots to No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Race to London by retaining his Stockholm crown. Read Report.
The Argentine has 2,135 points in the Race, 470 points behind eight-placed Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. The 29-year-old is looking to secure his first Nitto ATP Finals berth since 2013 as one of the top eight players to qualify for the season finale. He is fourth seed at the Swiss Indoors Basel this week.
No. 5 Grigor Dimitrov, +1
The Bulgarian, who is next in line to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, improved his chances with a run to his third Stockholm final. It was his first defeat in four ATP World Tour finals this season.
The 26 year old rose one spot above Marin Cilic to No. in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 3,560 points, just 25 points ahead of the Croatian. He could seal his debut berth at the Nitto ATP Finals this week when he the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna.
Federer's Homecoming; Race To London Heats Up In Basel, Vienna
Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem have already qualified for the prestigious event, to be held 12-19 November at The O2 in London.
But four other places remain, with Grigor Dimitrov, Pablo Carreno Busta, Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson looking to boost their chances at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna. Marin Cilic, David Goffinand Juan Martin del Potro will hope to do the same at the Swiss Indoors Basel.
Dimitrov might not have to wait until the new tournaments start on Monday; he could clinch his London debut on Sunday. The Bulgarian faces del Potro in the Intrum Stockholm Open final. With his second Stockholm title, the 26-year-old Dimitrov will book his place in London.
Trending: Liverpool players not to blame for Spurs defeat - Jurgen Klopp
ESPN FC News
Trending: Liverpool players not to blame for Spurs defeat - Jurgen Klopp
Monday's latest stories from the world of football in ESPN FC's What's Trending ...
<img align="left" height="50"Inter Milan vs Sampdoria
Inter Milan will be keen to get three points against Sampdoria after earning a priceless point against league leaders Napoli on the weekend.
Luciano Spalletti bagged a tactical victory on Saturday by holding the free scoring Napoli to a goal-less draw at their own backyard. Inter remain unbeaten after 9 games in the season, whereas they just ended Partenopei’s 100 per cent winning run in the Serie A.
Sampdoria are coming on the back of a 5-0 home win against Crotone which maintained their 100 per cent winning start at home. They are Inter Milan are the only two teams in the league yet to drop a point in home games this season.
Best Bet – Inter to win first half for 1.87
Value is in backing HT/FT – Inter/Inter for 2.04 odd
To Score any-time: Mauro Icardi.
Manchester City vs Wolves
Manchester City is the team to beat in Europe this season. Since stuttering in the 1-1 draw at home against Everton on matchday 2, the Skyblues won their 11 matches in all competitions. They scored an incredible 39 goals in the process with 24 of those coming from 6 matches at the Etihad.
Wolves on the other hand are having a steady run in the Championship. They are at the top of the standings with 9 wins and 2 draws from their 13 matches. However, they have a slender 2 points lead against the second placed Cardiff, also four teams behind them are at 7 point gap.
Both teams to Score and Man City to win for 2.30 odds.
Value is in backing Wolves on a +1.5 Asian Handicap for 3.50 odds.
Deportivo La Coruna - Girona ( 1 )
Only 2 points separate Deportivo La Coruna from Girona, two teams with the same objective of remaining in La Liga one more season.
Though Girona made their debut this season in La Liga, they have met Deportivo on 4 occasions in
La Liga 2, with Girona winning 2, losing 1, and drawing 1.
The situation is critical for Girona. They’re 1 position above the relegation zone and they have failed to win any of their last 6 matches.Their last win came on August 28.
Girona commit more fouls than most teams (128) in La Liga and have the most yellow cards (28) in the division.
Real Sociedad - Espanyol ( 1 )
After missing 7 of the first 8 matches, key defender Iñigo MartÃnez is back in Real Sociedad’s squad.
Espanyol sit 13th in the table and haven’t scored in the last 2 games. The last two times Espanyol visited Real Sociedad, they got a draw and a win.
After 3 straight losses, Real Sociedad inverted the dynamic with a crazy 4-4 draw against Betis and a 2-0 win last weekend vs. Alavés.
Espanyol have not won an away match so far this season, though the 4 games were against tough teams: 2 draws (Sevilla and Villarreal) and 2 losses (Real Madrid and Barcelona).
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