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England beat Germany at last; Serena Williams slips out of Wimbledon

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Former Irish players Jack Grealish and Declan Rice celebrate reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 with England. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Former Irish players Jack Grealish and Declan Rice celebrate reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 with England. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Wed Jun 30 2021 - 07:28

England beat Germany in front of more than 40,000 fans at Wembley to set-up a Euro 2020 quarter-final clash against Ukraine yesterday afternoon. Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane scored in the 2-0 last-16 win, as England finally got the better of Germany in the knockout stages of a major tournament. It was their first time to so since 1966. The Ukraine edged 10-man Sweden with Artem Dovbyk netting in stoppage time at the end of extra time at Hampden Park. Ken Early writes that England's brave manager Gareth Southgate has the courage of his convictions: "he stood in front of a bench packed with pouting, brooding genius and watched as, for once, it didn't go wrong. For once it all went gloriously right."

A slippery Centre Court surface saw Serena Williams's quest for history end in tears last night as she was forced to quit early in her Wimbledon first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus because of a leg injury. The fit-again Roger Federer reached the second round after Adrian Mannarino was forced to retire following a bad slip with the match finely poised at two sets apiece, the scoreline 6-4, 6-7 (3), 3-6, 6-2.

In his column this morning Sean Moran explains why the GAA has a big decision to make on championship reform. The choice will essentially be – rejig the provinces or bring the league into the summer. Darragh Ó Sé (Subscriber Only) is writing about veteran managers Jack O'Connor and John Maughan ahead of Sunday's clash between Offaly and Kildare - two old soldiers for the hard road: "Offaly know they're well below that level but there were only four points between these teams last year. So they'll make sure Kildare know they're in a game. The two men on the sideline have seen it all before. They're brave men to still be at it after all these years."

Meanwhile, Mark English broke the 26 year-old Irish 800m record last night with a 1:44.71 in Castellón, Spain. The second place finish was also well inside the 1:45.20 automatic qualifying time for Tokyo, booking his place in the upcoming Olympics with hours to spare.