O'Neill hopeful as O'Shea and Long resume training

The Republic of Ireland boss will assess the Sunderland defender and Southampton striker after the duo resumed training ahead of the Euro 2016 play-off

John O'Shea and Shane Long remain in contention for the second leg of Republic of Ireland's Euro 2016 play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina, manager Martin O'Neill has revealed.

O'Neill's side take a 1-1 scoreline back to Dublin for Monday's return match after Robbie Brady's 82nd-minute goal was cancelled out by Bosnia captain Edin Dzeko three minutes later.

It was an impressive performance from Ireland amid heavy fog in Zenica on Friday, and O'Neill will assess the prospects of experienced defender O'Shea and striker Long bolstering their number after the duo trained on Sunday.

O'Shea was suspended for the first game but has not played since suffering a hamstring injury in Sunderland's derby win over Newcastle United in the Premier League last month.

Long memorably fired in a shocked winner to sink world champions Germany 1-0 at the Aviva Stadium in Ireland's penultimate qualifier before sustaining an ankle injury next time out against Poland.

Cristiano Ronaldo: I want to retire with 'dignity', not in USA, Qatar or Dubai

Cristiano Ronaldo said Friday that he wants to end his career “with dignity” and not playing in “the United States, Qatar or Dubai”. The Real Madrid and Portugal star, the subject of a new documentary that premiered on Monday in London, said Thursday in an interview on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show that he expected to play six or seven more seasons and hoped to finish his career at the highest level. The remarks ostensibly referenced the recent wave of top players who have finished their careers outside of Europe’s top leagues, among them MLS imports Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, along with Xavi, the lifelong Barcelona midfielder who signed with Qatari club Al Sadd in May. “That does not mean it’s bad play in the leagues of the United States, Qatar or Dubai, but I do not see myself there,” Ronaldo said. Ronaldo, who turns 31 in February, became Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer last month and has th...

Young people to lose access to unemployment benefits as part of welfare reforms

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Battle to keep guns from former Queensland policeman with PTSD

IT’S been almost 10 years since Ben Alexander Ephraim Dyball left the Queensland police under a cloud of trauma and allegations of bizarre behaviour. He’s had a tough time letting go of the past. That was apparent when officers from Warwick Police — where Mr Dyball was once stationed — raided his Elbow Valley property and allegedly found a stash of old police uniforms, official police notepads, gun holsters (including one of the concealable variety), handgun and rifle ammunition, several police identification cards, two pairs of police handcuffs and 450g of marijuana. A weapons licence Mr Dyball had previously declared stolen and a number of rifle bolts were also seized. The officers had waited until the 49-year-old was at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in Toowoomba appealing the suspension of his weapons licence, to exercise their search warrant. The Queensland Weapons Licensing Unit revoked Mr Dyball’s licence in September 2015 following a bizarr...

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