a good night for steven gerrard as rangers win in croatia on a busy night of europa league qualifyinghaving committed solely to limited—overs cricket, adil rashid is selected in england's squad for the first test with india next week, and not everyone is happy about it. hello and welcome to sportsday. welsh cycling fans must be biting their nails as the end of this year's tour de france draws nearer and nearer. after yesterday's gruelling climb, some respite of sorts for the riders with today's 18th stage — a rather flat 171 kilometres into the city of pau. geraint thomas held onto the leader's yellowjersey, and stays a minute and 59 seconds clear of second—placed tom dumoulin after a stage won by home favourite arnaud demarre, as nick parrott reports. after a ha rd after a hard mountain stage yesterday, this was a chance for tour leader geraint thomas to c0 nse rve tour leader geraint thomas to conserve his energy ahead of another big challenge tomorrow. the flat 106 mile stage to pau should have been trouble—free for the main contenders. while the lance kick didn't pose a challenge,

steven gerrard's side hold a 2—0 advantage over macedonians fc shupki from the first leg at ibrox lastleg — not much in the way of chances but gerrard's men won't mind as as it stands they're heading through to the next round. england under—19s have begun the defence of their european title with a 3—2 win over turkey in finland. and they've done it without a number of star players, with the tournament clashing with clubs‘ pre—season tours. england fell behind thanks to a second—minute opener from turkey 5 guven yalcin. bbut after tottenham defender japhet tanganga levelled, nottingham forest striker ben brereton slotted home to give england the lead just before half time. and how about this for a goal — sunderland midfielder elliot embleton curling past the turkey keeper to put his side 3—1 up. england will face ukraine and france later in group b, with the top two nations from each group progressing to the semi—finals. there are two days to go now before the 1a7th 0pen golf championship gets under way at carnoustie. the course on the east coast of scotland is renowned as one of the to

good news for rangers and steven gerrard, who have the lead after scoring a way in croatia.who are actually from gibraltar. former manchester united manager alex ferguson says he wouldn't be here without the care of hospital staff after his surgery for a brain haemorrhage in may. he has spoken public for the first time since going home from hospital on social media. he thanked all his well—wishers. social media. he thanked all his well-wishers. just a quick message to thank the medical staff at macclesfield, salford royal, without that care a would not be sitting here today. thank you from me and my family. thank you very much. it has made me feel so humble, as all the m essa 9 es made me feel so humble, as all the messages have had from all over the world, wishing me the best, and the good wishes resonate very strongly with me. so, thank you for that support you've given me. and lastly, i will be back late in the season to watch the team. in the meantime, all the best to jose and watch the team. in the meantime, all the best tojose and the players. thank you very much. it i

steven gerrard takes charge of rangers for the first time in a competitive match tonight when macedonianhe first leg of their europa league first qualifying round tie. gerrard has said his team talk for tonight was done 12 months ago — a reference to rangers' shock defeat at this stage of the same competition when they lost to progres niederkorn and were dumped out of europe. hibs also join rangers plus sides from wales and northern ireland at this stage, and they need to get through four rounds and eight games just to reach the group stage. aberdeen and burnley come in at the next round and face each other over two legs while arsenal and chelsea go straight through to the group stage itself. crystal palace ladies will play in the women's championship after doncaster rovers belles joined sheffield fc in withdrawing from the league. 0ur women's football reporter, jo currie, joins me. how much of this move is down to money? this is very much down to finances. under the new criteria, to be in the women's championship, clubs have to provide players with a minimum of contact hours a week plus

these great plays a steven gerrard's in a friendly and positive way really is no doubt this squad on paper was one of our strongest ever but it didn't really perform and whether that was because of pressure or rule or. being a team of individuals and auti what we have now seems much more like that you know i think we've got managing to me included a lot of people were skeptical as to whether he was going to have the experience of the know how to get over them we've begun but most importantly he's the right kind of character that we need to do right now and he's found a way of making these young players joe an easy young team is one of the youngest teams ever one of the youngest things at this world cup as well so we don't go into the expectations often that's one of the key reasons for doing well and we had a good group the group frustrate belgium was tough but we had two teams in panama no disrespect to them. that we were able to get wins against and i guess and so. no question stuff that i was for the parts almost for the fans a little bit see both boys. who are. tough was. the fue

joe cole, with steven gerrard on the far side.en twice in their last ten games. it was a 2—2 draw when they last faced each other in the world cup. england's swedish manager then knows better than most the pressure southgate is under. he's clearly a fan. elegant, calm. seems to be in total control of everything. i hope he and the team can go on like this. well, against sweden, i'm not sure. but anyhow, he's doing a greatjob. england looked relaxed in training today. their first world cup semifinal in 28 years is the prize at stake. it's hard not to get carried away. england have swapped the reign of repino for the son of samara. but they know how tricky sweden will be. organised, stubborn, they keep clean sheets and always seem to play well against england. but when they take to this pitch tomorrow, it's against england. but when they take to this pitch tomorrow, its three hours ahead here, and they will know a side ranked 12 places lower than them is all that stands between them and a semifinal place. at 3pm england will come to

steven gerrard's first competitive match as rangers manager started with a win over macedonian side ind qualifier. jamie murphy's opener came in the 23rd minute, reward for an impressive first half display. a little more subdued after the break, rangers got the crucial second courtesy of a late penalty. the second leg is next tuesday. also a europa league first qualifying win for hibs. derry city, clifto nville qualifying win for hibs. derry city, cliftonville and connors kebe were all beaten. coleraine picked up a draw. england's cricketers have lost their opening odi against india with a heavy eight wicket defeat at trent bridge. put into bat first, england could only get 268 thanks largely to brilliant bowling by yadav. he took six wickets. the indian batsmen had no problem passing that total thanks to sharma's unbeaten 137. india are now 1—0 to sharma's unbeaten 137. india are now1—0 up in to sharma's unbeaten 137. india are now 1—0 up in the three match series. that is all your sport for now. in japan, at least 200 people are now reported to have been killed in the worst flooding

and in 2006, frank lampard and steven gerrard mr penalties against portugal, so it has been a long—standingpainfor has been a long—standing history of pain for england fans. 2006 was the last time england won and knockout match in a major tournament. but this england team is very new, marcus ratchford was eight last time they won an england match in 2006. —— last time they won and knockout match. you can see today they are very chilled ahead of this game, and they spoke about writing their own history, leaving those failures behind. let's have a look at the stadium. 43,000 seats. 3000 england fa ns stadium. 43,000 seats. 3000 england fans here tonight officially, but with up to 6000 expected in moscow, and they will find themselves outnumbered by the very loud colombian fans who are hoping to get to their second consecutive quarterfinal at the world cup. natalie, thank you forjoining us. from moscow. here are today's fixtures. sweden will play switzerland and the other last 16 tie, then england against colombia at 7pm, with full commentary on five live. both british number one's are wimbled

these great players the steven gerrard's the front man part of the way really is no doubt this discord on paper was one of our strongest ever but it didn't really perform and whether that was because of pressure or all of us being a team of individuals and naughty what we have now seems much more like that you know i think we've got managing our southgate who me included a lot of people were skeptical of at first as to whether he was going to have the experience of the know how to get us further than we've begun but most importantly he's the right kind of character that we need to do right now and he's found a way of making these young players joe an easy young team is one of the youngest teams ever world cup one of the youngest things at this world cup as well so we didn't go into of expectations often that's one of the key reasons for doing well and we had a good group group for us and it was tough but we had two teams into the teacher in panama no disrespect to them that we were able to get wins against and asking us momentum. you know world big partisan movie lot and conspiracy it'

ijust beckham and steven gerrard wandering to the supermarket? i just can't.ering to the supermarket? ijust can'tm is so different. what they don't have that they need to nip to the supermarket for, i am intrigued! have that they need to nip to the supermarket for, iam intrigued! as if that was not enough, manic monday at wimbledon. it is, not the bangles song, if anybody remembers that, but all the action and attention in london at wimbledon, west london, the last 16 in the singles ties, one of the most exciting days in the tennis calendar, i think, and of the most exciting days in the tennis calendar, ithink, and i wonder if there are any more shocks in store. first up, defending men's champion roger federer, looking for his ninth title. he always says it is wonderful to work out to such an iconic arena, hasn't had much of a struggle so far, the plays adrian mannarino, although federer is expecting him to be a tricky opponent as a left—hander. and what about serena williams, the favourite for the women's title now after the draw has opened up? she had a brut

steven gerrard's glasgow rangers have taken a 2—0 lead into the second leg of their europa league qualifierne closest for rangers so far. commentary on radio scotland and the bbc sport website. england are currently in action against turkey in the european under—19 championship in finland. turkey took the lead within two minutes — but goals from tottenham's japhet tanganga and nottingham forests ben brereton have put england into the lead at half time. team sky's geraint thomas and chris froome remain in contention for the tour de france after the first stage in the mountains this afternoon. belgium's gregg van avermaet retained the leaders yellow jersey after a great ride, and extended his lead over the likes of thomas and froome by nearly two minutes. but their main rivals for the title this year finished alongside them in the peleton. thomas remains second the stage was won by frenchman julien alaphillippe. the netherlands annemiek van vleuten has stolen victory in la course — the one day event that runs beside the tour de france. she was a long way behind going into the last kilometre,

steven gerrard's side won the first leg 2—0 and and didn't have to sweat too much in the second — thed of £62 million to buy the brazilian keeper allison from roma. if the deal goes through it would be a world record fee for a goalkeeper. and arsene wenger says he might have made a mistake by staying at arsenal for too long. the frenchman left at the end of last season after 22 years in north london. he told the french broadcaster rtl that he "neglected a lot of people", and became a "prisoner of his own challenge". chris froome and geraint thomas are still right in the mix at the tour de france ahead of the first mountain top finish of this year's race. they finished stage 10 yesterday alongside their main rivals — on what was the first day in the alps. frenchman julien alaphillipe took the stage victory. the action on the road was actually almost upstaged by a biker in the air. this is a mountain biker jumping over the pellet in yesterday. looks impressive from that angle. what a landing! making it look easy. there was a dramatic finish to the women's race — la course. annemiek van

them thus far, although that will change now, our stars like david beckham and frank lampard and steven gerrardthe team. what i am referring to there, people like dan ashworth at the fa, director of elite performance. he has been in the post for six to eight years and he deserves a lot of credit for the mission he has put forward. paper grange has been brought in as team psychologist. they have all had a contribution to the ethics of supporting the england team. how do you feel about this fly? conflicted. mostly scared. these five weeks watching the england team, it is the first time i can see england team, it is the first time i can see somebody holding an england flag and i don't want to walk on the other direction. it has various connotations to certain organisations that would not like someone who looks like me and would not want me to be in this country. to see the england flag draped around somebody like raheem sterling who was born in the shadow of wembley stadium and has that tattoo on him, and talking very proudly wearing the shirt, it makes me feel wanted or accepted. that is massive!

first, frank lampard, then steven gerrard, two of the players who must.with us and what we have seen, notjust with us but over a number of years in players that have taken more in certain matches than others, so we are prepared, but there is a lot of football before that point. there has been so much abated and speculation about what will happen tonight. let us try to get some sense from the former england winger chris waddle. it's going to be interesting to say, do we play a little more cautious against colombia because it is a knockout stage, and people get nervous? colombia are erratic, they can be undisciplined, they have talented players, they can hurt you, they have been good so far, so we don't know which colombian side will turn up, will it be the side who beat borland or the one who has struggled? —— who beat poland. it could be a game of set pieces. we don't really know how good this side is. they have played two easy games, and they made changes against belgium, so we don't know if this is a strong team are not. now we will find out. they are n

steven gerrard led rangers to a 2—0 victory over macedonian side fk shkupi in his first game in chargeher again on saturday. and it was a great day for irish cycling at the tour de france, as dan martin held off race leader greg van avermaet and team sky's geraint thomas to claim his first stage win for five years. thomas is up to second place overall, whilst fellow sky rider chris froome sits in 1ath, after finishing further back. we will get a full view of centre court in one—hour, before i come back with carol. we will be talking to tim henman about the prospects for the day, reflecting on serena williams's amazing comeback here.|j bet that are asked to do with a bit of rain. a few drops. they have kept it really well, we were talking about it yesterday. there is certainly some rain in the air. carol will tell us more about that later. a treatment for the rare cancer neuroblastoma will be made available on the nhs, after a discounted price was agreed with the manufacturer. the drug had previously been deemed too expensive, as alison freeman now reports. normality had been a luxury f