SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Did you know that Guus Hiddink's second stint as Netherlands manager lasted more days than he spent minutes leading football matches? The Dutch finished third at World Cup 2014 under Louis van Gaal, but in their ten matches since Hiddink was named as the successor to the current Manchester United boss, the Netherlands have been ahead in games for a grand total of 238 minutes. Some 84 of these minutes were also in a rare positive performance under Hiddink's guidance too, when beating Latvia 6-0 in a Euro 2016 qualifier. In his 334 days in charge, Oranje could only scrabble together ten points from six qualifiers, which has left them in third spot in Group A, three adrift of the Czech Republic and five behind unlikely leaders Iceland. The top two in each group and best third-placed team are guaranteed to qualify for Euro 2016 and the other eight "bronze medallists" contest play-offs to reach France, and the Dutch are far from assured a top-three finish at present, esp...

Twenty-four days on from the Champions League final, the 2015/16 edition begins in Yerevan. FC Pyunik (Armenia) v SS Folgore-Falciano (San Marino)  won't sound like the most natural successor to Juventus v Barcelona in the competition schedule, but both are domestic champions, albeit ones who must navigate four rounds of qualifiers to stand a chance of drawing either 2014/15 finalist. There are four first-round double headers in total.  Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps face Andorra's FC Santa Coloma  and  Northern Ireland's Crusaders oppose Estonia's Levadia Tallinn  also on Tuesday, followed up by  Faroese champions B36 Torshavn meeting Wales' The New Saints  on Wednesday. Since the current qualifying structure came into place in 2009/10, just one of the 11 first qualifying round victors survived the second (Luxembourg's Dudelange stunning Red Bull Salzburg in 2012/13) and they went out a round later. So no round-one starters have ever reached the ...

TWO goals from Manchester United's Angel Di Maria helped Argentina romp to victory over Paraguay and book their place in the Copa America final. Argentina now face Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez's Chile in the show-piece finale, after they put their opponents to the sword in a stunning second half display. United defender Marcos Rojo put them ahead after just 15 minutes, firing home Lionel Messi's free kick. PSG star Javier Pastore finished off a superb crisp counter to make it two but Lucas Barrios drew one back for Paraguay just before the break. But after half time, Argentina turned on the style and Di Maria netted twice in just six minutes to all but kill off the contest. Manchester City star Sergio Aguero and Napoli's Gonzalo Higuian scored late on to complete the rout and send the 1993 champions through.

Rickie Lambert days at Liverpool look numbered after reports in Star Sport say he’s emerged as a summer transfer target for fellow Barclays Premier League outfit West Brom. The 33-year-old joined the Reds last summer from Southampton alongside teammates Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren, but struggled to nail down a regular place in the starting XI under manager Brendan Rodgers. Lambert made just seven starts in the league last season and scored twice, although he doesn’t appear to have a future at Anfield ahead of the new campaign following the arrival of Danny Ings, while Rodgers is reportedly looking to bring in another forward during the transfer window. Aston Villa were keen on the England international during the January transfer window, but Lambert decided to stay and fight for his place on Merseyside. Now with a move to the Hawthorns a possibility, the lure of regular first-team football should be enough for Lambert to call it quits on his unsuccessful time with his boyhoo...

The Portuguese club have confirmed the striker will depart after Atletico agreed to pay his €35 million release clause Porto have confirmed Atletico Madrid have agreed to pay Jackson Martinez's €35 million release clause. The player's agent revealed last week that the 28-year-old would move to the Vicente Calderon after rejecting the chance to join AC Milan. A statement on Porto's website said: "Atletico Madrid agreed on Tuesday to pay Jackson Martinez's release clause to the sum of €35 million." The Colombia striker has spent three seasons with Porto and played 136 official matches, scoring 92 goals. He was the top scorer in the Portuguese league in those three campaigns, with 26 goals in 2012-13, 20 in 2013-14 and 21 in 2014-15.

Arturo Vidal’s agent, Fernando Felicevich, has stated the midfielder has never had talks with Arsenal, per his Twitter account. The Daily Mail reported on Sunday that Vidal was set to complete a move to the Emirates after a €29 million (£21m) fee was agreed between the two clubs. But Vidal’s agent has broken his silence confirming that such reports are well off the mark. Fernando Felicevich, Arturo Vidal agent: "I've never had talks with Arsenal" #AFC — Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 30, 2015

Argentina v Paraguay Wednesday, 00:30 Live on Betfair Live Video "They wrote us off as dead," said Paraguay coach  Ramón Díaz . And he is right. This Paraguayan side was supposed to struggle with their best players ageing and a manager that was a downgrade of those who have taken them to recent tournaments. But draws against Argentina and Uruguay as well as a win against whipping boys Jamaica was enough to nab them second in group B and they're looking at a  second successive Copa America final . In their way is the small matter of World Cup finalists Argentina, who despite results have still been the best side in the competition. Their best performance probably came in the win over Uruguay, and they'll feel very fortunate to have edged past Colombia on penalties. But there is little doubt that if they  play to their potential  they will blow away anyone they come up against, even the hosts, Chile, who await them in the final. The obvious way to look at ...

Champions League – Qualification Today Next 7 Days Next 30 Days All Tuesday, 30 June 2015 23:00 Pyunik v Folgore Wednesday, 1 July 2015 1:00 Lincoln Red Imps FC v FC Santa Coloma 1:45 Crusaders v Levadia Tallinn Thursday, 2 July 2015 1:00 B36 Torshavn v TNS Tuesday, 7 July 2015 23:00 Levadia Tallinn v Crusaders Wednesday, 8 July 2015 1:00 FC Santa Coloma v Lincoln Red Imps FC 1:00 TNS v B36 Torshavn 1:30 Folgore v Pyunik Wednesday, 15 July 2015 0:30 FC Midtjylland v Lincoln Red Imps FC/FC Santa Coloma 1:45 APOEL Nicosia v FK Vardar Skopje 1:45 BATE Borisov v Dundalk 1:45 CS Fola Esch v Dinamo Zagreb 1:45 Celtic v Stjarnan 1:45 FK Sarajevo v Lech Poznan 1:45 HJK v Ventspils 1:45 Hibernians v Maccabi Tel Aviv 1:45 Malmoe FF v Zalgiris Vilnius 1:45 Maribor v FC Astana 1:45 Molde v Pyunik/Folgore 1:45 PFC Ludogorets Razgrad v FC Milsami Orhei 1:45 Partizan Beograd v Dila Gori 1:45 Skenderbeu v Crusaders/Levadia Tallinn 1:45 TNS/B36 Tor...