Sign In
son.You get a chance to play against Tom Brady and Bil | Forum
Deleted user
Nov 30 '16, 05:25AM
LONDON -- Whatever setbacks and humiliations Englands players have endured in recent years, they only have to look to neighbor Scotland to see how much worse it could be. Cheap Basketball Shoes Online .They are in the same World Cup qualifying group, but Saturdays games showed they are far from being rivals on the pitch.With its third different manager in as many matches, England experienced some frustration in only managing to beat Malta 2-0 at the start of Gareth Southgates interim reign.But Englands turmoil is eclipsed by Scotlands predicament as it chases its first finals since the 1998 World Cup. Scotland came close to being upset by Lithuania in Glasgow on Saturday, avoiding losing to a team ranked 73 places below them thanks only to a late goal salvaging a 1-1 draw.Scotland, which beat 10-man Malta 5-1 in its Group F opener last month, fell behind to Lithuania when captain Fedor Cernych held off Grant Hanley and played a one-two with Vykintas Slivka before striking into the net.But substitute James McArthur came to Scotlands rescue in the 89th minute, heading in the equalizer after connecting with a long throw-in.Only the top team qualifies for the finals in Russia, and Scotland already trails Group F leader England by two points. Slovenia is behind Scotland on goal difference in third after beating Slovakia 1-0.ENGLAND 2, MALTA 0Southgate enjoyed a straightforward but unchallenging introduction to senior international management as a second new England era in a month opened.Daniel Sturridges header from Jordan Hendersons cross, and Dele Allis strike in the first half sealed the win, with England lacking dynamism and urgency up front against the 176th-ranked visitors.We had chances for it to be more, so thats the one disappointment in the game -- that we didnt get more goals, Henderson said. I felt as though we got a little sloppy as the game went on.Regardless, this performance is unlikely to be a factor when the Football Association decides whether to entrust Southgate with the job as Sam Allardyces permanent successor.Southgate was rapidly promoted from the under-21s last week when Allardyce was dismissed over comments in a newspaper sting that left the FA doubting his integrity for its top job.Allardyce was in charge only 67 days, replacing Roy Hodgson after Englands miserable European Championship loss to Iceland.Allardyce won the first match on the road to the 2018 World Cup in Slovakia last month, but never got a chance to lead his team out at Englands national stadium as a result of his unguarded comments to undercover reporters. A British newspapers video showed Allardyce appearing to offer advice to fictitious businessmen on how to sidestep an outlawed player transfer practice, and also negotiating a 400,000 pound (about $500,000) public-speaking contract.Southgate, whose only previous senior managerial role ended seven years ago with Middlesbrough, is viewed as encouragingly less colorful than the brash Allardyce for such a prestigious, high-profile job.But he has only four games as interim manager, and judgment of Southgates credentials is to come. After traveling to Slovenia for the next qualifier on Tuesday, England hosts Scotland and Spain next month in north London. Cheap Basketball Shoes Sale . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Basketball Shoes . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. http://www.cheapbasketballshoesstore.net/ . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The defense held an opponents top back under 100 yards rushing for the first time since the opener, Colin Kaepernick and the offense delivered a few big plays and the San Francisco 49ers were competitive until the end.Despite clear signs of progress Sunday, that all added up to an eighth straight loss for the Niners when they lost 23-20 to the Arizona Cardinals on a last-second field goal.I dont think anybody is patting themselves on the back for being close with Arizona, coach Chip Kelly said Monday. Thats not what this deal is all about. Its about winning. At the end of the day we didnt make enough plays. We probably made one less play than they did and they ended up winning the game on the last play of the game. Thats what its all about.But after losing by an average of more than 17 points the previous seven games with the closest defeat being a seven-point loss to Dallas last month, having a chance to win late was a major step forward for the 49ers (1-8).The biggest difference for San Francisco came on the defensive end where David Johnson was held to 55 yards on 19 carries and Arizona finished with just 80 yards for the game on the ground.The Niners had allowed a 100-yard rusher for seven straight games -- the longest streak in NFL history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau -- and was on pace to give up the most yards rushing in a season in 36 years.Johnson had run for 157 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-21 win for the Cardinals last month in Santa Clara but struggled to get going at all against that defense in the rematch.First and foremost, I think we tackled better, Kelly said. That was the least amount of missed tackles that we had on the season in that game.The offense has also shown signs of improvement the more Kaepernick plays. After failing to complete even half his passes in his first two staarts in place of Blaine Gabbert, Kaepernick has been much more effective since the bye.ddddddddddddHe threw for 398 yards and two TDs on Nov. 6 against New Orleans and then went 17 for 30 for 210 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions against the Cardinals. He also ran for 55 yards, including the game-tying touchdown with 1:55 to play.I think our guys have an understanding and a feeling of how were moving forward offensively and starting to kind of understand how things work off of things, Kelly said. Theyre being able to answer some of the questions that are being presented to them. They kind of get a feel for where we are. So, were still a ways away, 20 points a game isnt enough in this league. We still need to score more than that and we need to capitalize.The Niners failed to take full advantage of the four turnovers the defense generated. Twice they started drives in Cardinals territory following turnovers only to punt.The most costly came late in the third quarter when San Francisco got to the Arizona 28 following an interception by Eric Reid. But a dropped pass by Chris Harper and two holding penalties took the Niners out of field position and they punted.The task doesnt get any easier for the Niners this week with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots set to visit fresh off a home loss to Seattle. San Francisco needs a win to avoid tying the longest losing streak in franchise history: a nine-gamer in 1978 that led to the hiring of Bill Walsh as coach the following season.You get a chance to play against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, Kelly said. If that doesnt get your blood boiling, then youre in the wrong sport.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
