and olly foster is in doha for us. how is this for the week before christmas?ch side here in doha. dozens of liverpool fans here and many more from brazil and flamengo around the city. let's get a little bit more on the match from andy heaton from the anfield rap. this is great, isn't it? a bit of a christmas warm up and liverpool can become world champions in the next 2a hours? a bit of warm weather training before the big week next week. no, it is fantastic. massive opportunity for liverpool to win theirfirst massive opportunity for liverpool to win their first world cup as it is known now. a little bit of revenge hopefully because flamengo famously beat liverpool and they are still singing about it now. you say they are still singing about it, they are literally still singing about it. they have a song about 1981, don't they? they do. but the sun is blazing and we're all having a good time. it isjust ramping up. people are trickling in. we have been here all week with the semifinal. you see more and you see more and more you see more and more familiar faces

hello and welcome to sportsday, i'm olly foster.ore day to go on england's tour to new zealand. it looks as though they are going to lose the test series but there is one big plus to take home with them — joe root‘s double century. just when the voices were getting louder about his form and his captaincy he responded with 226 runs. michael redford reports. block, scamper. .. a block, scamper... a desperate dive. the end result, the first double century forjoe root, his work in this test is far from done. he resumed day for "4, his job was to guide england to a big first innings total. things are always easier if you get to share the load, ollie pope playing his part, performance of patients in power and the first test half—century. from patients and power to panic, nearly run out as root ran through. an apology first from the england captain, followed by celebrations. they now aim to accelerate but they did not find top gear with pope caught for 75 and root caught in the very next over with the innings is now stalling before grindin

i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre.aptain, joe root, hit a double century in the second test against new zealand overnight, but it probably won't be enough to save the series. he hit 226, his highest score as skipper, as england reached a76 — a first—innings lead of 101. england's bowlers started well, taking two early wickets, but new zealand recovered to end the day on 96—2, just five runs behind. heavy rain is forecast for the final day, so there's liittle chance of an england victory that would level the series, but root‘s innings is a big positive to take away from the tour. it was an excellent innings and he really built on the 100 he scored the previous day and he carried on relentlessly, rotating the strike well and his footwork looked good. and the temperament, as well. he batted a long period of time. it was almost dues showing himself as well as others that he can bat with discipline and the low risk fashion and play a big discipline and the low risk fashion and playa big innings, more of discipline and the l

olly foster, bbc news, in doha.l christmas tree is one of the most important items to have at this time of year but, while they may look great for the big day, come twelfth night they tend to look a bit sorry for themselves. for the eco conscious, having to throw them away seems rather wasteful. now a business in the united kingdom has come up with an environmentally friendly way to have a real tree. joe campbell has more. for those who love a real christmas tree, it is the burning question — what to do with it once the festive season is over? remember to give your tre a mug of water. remember to give your tree a mug of water. well as long as customers take care of the trees from here, they can send them back in the new year. have a fabulous christmas and we will see you... and if you want, you can have it to stay again for christmas 2020. and 21, 22, 23... for me, the fact that you own a tree that goes back into the ground is amazing. they look after it for you for the entire year so, the fact that there is zero fr

olly foster, bbc news, in doha.tants when it goes to air with its latest series tomorrow. the steps singer ian "h" watkins is teaming up with professional dancer matt evers. our correspondent lizo mzimba reports. dancing on ice is one of tv‘s most popular shows, often producing memorable moments of all different kinds. ian "h" watkins and matt evers have been rehearsing for weeks and when the programme returns tomorrow night, they'll be the first same—sex couple seen competing on a prime—time british show like this. it's about time. if we had something like this when we were children, maybe i wouldn't have felt so isolated. i wouldn't have run away from home. you know, in everyday life we see gay couples and we see same—sex couples. so it should be no different with what we are trying to do. it something that has already been embraced in other countries on similar shows. israel's dancing with the stars featured a same—sex celebrity couple back in 2009 and was followed by austria, italy, and australia. last month's s

ollie foster, bbc news, doha. that‘s it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. gap at the top of the scottish premiership after an emphatic 3—0 win at hibs. and gloucester are up to third in rugby‘s premiership, after a comfortable win over rivals worcester. welcome to sportsday. it‘s been the worst kept secret in football. but finally, after almost a week of negotiations, mikel arteta is now oficially the new arsenal manager. he‘s been given a three—and—a—half—year contract, after working as an assistant coach at manchester city. arsenal are 10th in the league, 7 points off the top four. so there‘s lots of work to do. iam i am preparing for a few years for this challenge to come. i know the expectations. i know the level and i know the stature of this club and what it deserves, so for that challenge. i can‘t wait to start working with the players and everybody here at the club, but i‘m sensing a good energy today since i‘ve been a long, so it‘s giving me more energy. i feel so i‘ve been a long, so it‘s giving me more energy. ifeel so happy. it was a lwa ys more

olly foster, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's stav da naos. as it did this morning for england and wales with frost and fog around. it is going to beat cold to start this week thanks to high pressure and dry for many but all change by the end of the week to something more unsettled. high pressure is dominating

olly foster's been following the tournament in doha for us.r. it will be back here in qatar in 12 months. european clubs‘ domination of this tournament in recent years continues, liverpool were the winners, upgrading their european champions league title to a world title now. juergen klopp, speaking about how he didn't know how to feel about this tournament, but he now knows it is sensational, he said. it is outstanding. and they head back to the premier league winter now to see if they can stay in front of the chasing pack, ten points clear at the moment ahead of leicester city, and wouldn't they just love to add a premier league title, their first in the top division in england for almost three decades, to all those other titles that they have won this year? as for this tournament, it will stay with the six continents, the best from them, next year, before it expands hugely in china in 2021. 2a teams will be involved, many clubs and associations from around the world have their reservations about that as fifa try to expand their own interest

our reporter olly foster is in doha ahead of the semi—final.e certainly brought some very british weather with them here to the gulf state of qatar for the fifa club world cup. their semi—final against the concacaf, the north american and central american champions from mexico, monterey, thatis champions from mexico, monterey, that is on wednesday. it has been such a fantastic season for liverpool. we had at length from jurgen klopp about what this means to liverpool, to him, and to his players, coming straight in the middle of what has been a fantastic season middle of what has been a fantastic season for them so far —— heard. middle of what has been a fantastic season for them so far —— heardm you had asked me beforehand if i think there should be a club world cup in the middle of our season, they would say no, that is my honest opinion. but we speak about this co nsta ntly, opinion. but we speak about this constantly, this kind of fixture, we are here so it is the most important opposition in the world forests at this moment. so here we are.

sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster. the england all—rounder ben stokes is a doubt for the first test against south africa. his father ged, who is 64, was taken ill yesterday and is in a critical condition in a johannesburg hospital. the four test series starts on boxing day. i just want to throw all our support behind him and his family and just stress the importance of respecting their privacy at this time. but it is really sad news. we are all there for him. you have no idea if he is going to be able to play not on boxing day? no, i don't and it would be wrong to go into that now. it is important that he is there for his family, that comes first. and we will have to wait and see, but most importantly we are all there for ben and the rest of his family. he has been unable to practice here today. he stayed at his bedside to wait foran today. he stayed at his bedside to wait for an improvement in his condition but at the moment it remains serious and the england team have their fingers crossed and offering their support.

hello there, you're wathcing bbc news, i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre.second test against south africa that starts on friday in cape town. batsman 0llie pope says he's "ready to go", having recovered from the illness which has affected most of the squad. he, along with chris woakes and jack leach, sat out the first test defeat, three of 11 players who've been hit by a sickness bug. could not have come at worse timing really, luckily feeling all right now and been feeling good for the last few days. i am on the mend and ready to go. i was a bit more feverish. for the first two days i stayed in bed really. i think i probably cut it off some of the guys who missed about a week of the warm up who missed about a week of the warm up games who missed about a week of the warm up games which was not ideal. it has swept through pretty much the whole camp so there is not much we could have done about it. gerwyn price has apologised for not shaking peter wright's hand after losing their pdc world darts championship semi—final. it was a heated contest, in which both

the champions of europe will play the champions of south america, flamengo, and our reporter olly fosterool are taking this seriously, aren't they? they have never won this before? they have never won this before? they are now, yes, because in the next few hours, they might be able to call themselves world champions. that is the title that goes with this club world cup. you go back to 1981, they lost to flamengo, the brazilian, south american champions. they still slip leek sing songs about that, that's what it means to theirfans. there about that, that's what it means to their fans. there will be 30—40,000 of them. not so many liverpool fans but they come in the hope that they can be crowned world champions to go with that european champions title. rewind to the beginning of the week when liverpool arrive, a mishmash of a team, when liverpool arrive, a mishmash of ateam, a when liverpool arrive, a mishmash of a team, a few injuries, jurgen klopp was honest with us and said, what are we doing here in december? the weather is very nice but this might distract us, might stop our winning mo

olly foster reports from doha. it is the national day in qatar.ally big deal, obviously a big deal as well because i have argued sleep the greatest clubside —— they have arguably the greatest clubside. that his arsenal. they are getting ready for their second semi finals against monterey. they stayed up late here. the youngsters are an average age of 19.5 years. jurgen klopp said he had no option, he had to bring a strong squad here. they are taking it very seriously. waiting for them in the finals... the saudi asian champions, their fa ns the saudi asian champions, their fans have been absolutely fantastic. about 30,000 of them. 1000 officially travelling from the uk. it is an internationally supported clu b it is an internationally supported club and there will be many thousands more. liverpool should get through to the final where they will be looking to become as well as european champions, world champions as well. and you can watch that match live on bbc2 and the iplayer from 5:15 this evening. let's stay with liverpool because the red bull s

our reporter, olly foster, was there.ampions have now gone global in what's been a remarkable year forjurgen klopp‘s side. it's nice to win another trophy, that's what we want to do, we want to keep going, win as many trophies as possible. and on to the next game, really, we've got another important game coming up next week. so, yeah, it's all go — recovery, get going again. they had questioned the timing of this tournament — would their push for the premier league be compromised by their week in the gulf? from the very first minute of the final, the gulf between the two sides looked very clear. roberto firmino should have scored. his charity towards his fellow brazilians continued in the second half. the skill was sublime — that was the easy bit. his time would come. flamengo‘s diego alves was the best keeper in brazil last season, just in casejordan henderson wanted to know. everyone wanted to know what var was looking at in injury time. penalty, no penalty? inside, outside the box? let's have extra time. and it was the

before the papers — sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster.morning. so nice to have a boxing match that he didn't have to stay up until the middle of the night for! it was night, i was on an early shift this morning but it was worth it! —— it was nice. anthonyjoshua is heavyweight champion of the world again after beating andy ruinunior on points. six months on from one of the biggest shocks in boxing history, joshua regained his three titles with a clinical victory in saudi arabia. our sports editor dan roan was there. it was a fight he simply dare not lose. as he strode to the ring here at the edge of the desert, anthonyjoshua knew his career and credibility were on the line. opponent andy ruinunior, intent on proving his shock victory in theirfirst meeting earlier this year was no fluke. but after cutting the mexican inside the first round, a slimmed down joshua never looked back. using his jab to expertly control the rounds and constant movement to keep his distance from his much heavier rival. it wasn't a classic. the fight never turning

sport, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster. good afternoon.vyweight belts to andy ruinunior. he won them back with a clinical victory against the mexican american in saudi arabia. joshua was stopped in the seventh round back injune, but he was far more cautious in the rematch. using his jab to great effect, though, it wasn't as dramatic as the first fight between the two and went the full 12 rounds. the judges were unanimous in awarding the bout tojoshua. there was times that i looked in andy's eyes and i wanted to put my fist through his head, but then i thought to myself, this is boxing, you know,i need to win for myself, i need to show people that this is the sweet science of the sport as well. so i had to box my game plan. and my coaches, they devised a great strategy and i trusted in them and ifollowed it through. i don't want to say that the three months of partying that i had, celebrating it affected me, but to tell the truth it kind of did. what can i say? just learn from this mistake. i'm glad that i learned. and now that i am still y

sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s olly foster.lier i spoke to the boxing brighter and broadcaster steve bunce. i asked him what is at sta ke for steve bunce. i asked him what is at stake forjoshua if he leaves again. it might very well be all over for joshuaif it might very well be all over for joshua if there is any repeat of the mayhem, the violence and the lunacy and the unexpected craziness of that glorious night, during the first at madison square garden. cool me a full, i see a differentjoshua this time. he is £10 lighter but his head is packed with revenge. his head is packed with tactics. he will box differently and hopefully the british boxing and josh were the result will be different. steve bunce is going to be alongside mike costello. commentary on five live. all the commentary from eight o‘clock. the ring walks scheduled for 8:45pm. five premier league matches this afternoon but one of them is the manchester derby. city are looking to eat into liverpool‘s 11 point lead at the top of the table. manchester united had a

olly foster has been following the tournament in doha for us.be back in qatar in 12 months. the european clubs' domination of recent years continues. liverpool worthy winners, upgrading their european champions league title to a world title now. juergen klopp speaking about how he didn't really know how to feel about this tournament but he now knows that it's sensational, he said. absolutely outstanding. they head back to the premier league winter now to see if they can stay in front of the chasing pack. ten points clear at the moment ahead of leicester city and wouldn't they just love to add a premier league title? their first in the top division in england for almost three decades. to all those other titles they won this year. as for this tournament, well, it will stay with the six continents, the best from them, next year, before it expands hugely in china in 2021. 24 teams will be involved. many clubs and associations from around the world have their reservations about that, as fifa try to expand their own interests into the club game around

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster.dy ruinr this evening, and they are fighting again after anthonyjoshua lost to him injune. earlieri again after anthonyjoshua lost to him injune. earlier i spoke to the boxing writer and broadcaster steve bunce about what is at stake for joshuaif bunce about what is at stake for joshua if he loses again. it might very well be all over forjoshua if there is any repeat of the mayhem, violence and lunacy and unexpected craziness of that glorious night, during the first at madison square garden. call me a fool, call me something, i see a differentjoshua, he is lighter, but his head is packed with revenge, packed with tactics. he will box differently and hopefully for british boxing and joshi were the result will be different. steve bunce will be alongside mike castello and commentary on radio 5 live. just the five premier league matches this afternoon but one of them is the the manchester derby, pep guardiola's city are looking to eat into liverpool's11—point lead at the top of the table,

now let's get the latest from the bbc sport centre with olly foster.ng day. the england all—rounder missed training today to be with his father ged, who was taken taken seriously ill yesterday. he is in a critical condition in a johannesburg hospital. i just want to throw all our support behind him and his family and just stress the importance of respecting their privacy at this time. but it is really sad news. we are all there for him. you have no idea if he is going to be able to play on boxing day? no, and it would be wrong to go into that now. it is important that he is there for his family, that comes first. and we will have to wait and see, but most importantly we are all there for ben and the rest of his family. england's preparations have been far from perfect for the four test series, illness has swept through the squad, chris woakes is the latest to be laid low. from centurion, here's our cricket correspondent, jonathan agnew. well, this again is another concern for england. they thought they were through the worst of this bug that's been cut

our reporter olly foster is in doha for us. it is the european champions, then, who go through to saturdaywinners, i‘m going to extra time, but yet again liverpool found a way to win. craig templeton reports. two matches in less than 24 hours for liverpool, one in birmingham, the other 3000 miles away injoe hart. the reason— being able to call yourself well champions —— doha. but to get to saturday‘s final they needed to first beat the concacaf champions league winners, monterey concacaf champions league winners, m o nte rey of concacaf champions league winners, monterey of mexico. a task that looked easier after salah found naby keita, who found the opening goal. if that was supposed to break the mexican spirit, it didn‘t. they responded in a matter of minutes. the twin brother of the former everton player, rogelio funes mori, with the equaliser. and if it wasn‘t for a string of saves from allison, monterey would have taken the lead. liverpool were still creating more champions of their own —— chances of their own, but marcella‘s office opposite number was in fine form. there was nothing

olly foster was there. we want to win as many trophies as possible. we have another important game coming up next week so, yes, it is all go, recovery and get going again. they question the timing of the tournament with their wish in the premier league. from the very first minute of the final, the gulf between the two sides looked very clear. roberto firmino should have scored. his heritage was his fellow brazilians continued in the second half. that was the easy big. —— bit. diego alves was the best goalkeeper in brazilfor the season. everyone was wondering what var was looking at in injury time. penalty, no penalty, inside, outside the box? let‘s have extra time. and it was there that liverpool found a way again. the winning groove is difficult to get out of, no matter what the continent or the competition. that‘s two winners in a week for firmino. room for another trophy tattoo. flamengo had time to fluff an opportunity to equalise. it‘s a long flight to rio to wonder what might have been. so, liverpool

sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s olly foster. good afternoon.e. the bout‘s taking place in saudi arabia. earlier, i spoke to the boxing writer and broadcaster steve bunce about what‘s at stake forjoshua if he loses again. it might very well be over for joshuaif it might very well be over for joshua if there is any repeat of the mayhem, violence and lunacy and the unexpected craziness of that glorious night, june one, at madison square garden. call me a full, to call me something, i see a different gesture where this time. his head is packed with prevention tactics. he will fight differently, bucks differently and, hopefully the result will be different. steve bunce will be alongside mike costello, commentary of five live, all the build up from 8pm, the ring walks scheduled for around 8.45pm. the fight at 9pm. the early kick off is at goodsion park. everton, who sacked their manager marco silva former toffees striker duncan ferguson, who‘s been on the coaching staff for 5 years, has been put in temporary charge. the club sacked marco silva on thu

olly foster is in qatar for us. how is this for the week before christmas?eat, isn't it? a bit of a christmas warm up and liverpool can become world champions in the next 24 hours? a bit of warm weather training before the big week next week. no, it is fantastic. a little bit of revenge hopefully because flamengo famously beat liverpool and they are still singing about it now. you say they are still singing about it, they are literally still singing about it they have a song about 1981, don't they? they do. but the sun is blazing and we're all having a good time. it isjust ramping up. people are trickling in. we have been here all week with the semifinal. we are sailing more and more familiarfaces. semifinal. we are sailing more and more familiar faces. walking through the hotel lobby is like walking through the centre of liverpool. british clubs in the past have been accused of not taking this tournament seriously. calling itself world champion sounds special.m 2005 we narrowly missed out with rafa benitez. i'm not saying the referee was bad but let's just

sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s olly foster. might they say they might take further steps. police are looking to identify any individuals involved after chelsea‘s antonio rudiger claimed that he was targeted with abuse during their win at tottenham yesterday. the professional footballer‘s association has called for a governement enquiry into racism and hate crime in the game. facing the media today ahead of the boxing day fixtures, some premier league managers have been asked about the issue. do we need help? yes, but society needs help. we need to eradicate any form of discrimination, and in this case we are speaking about racism. and yes, football needs help, but society needs help. it's not about one club, one person, it is more vision, because every game, every week, every day, and a lot of action helps. it is a battle we have to fight every day, in schools, especially in families at home, to do better in the future, the new generation. green like i always thought it was society, but if you are sitting next to someone doing