It was heartbreak for the Republic of Ireland last night, as they were beaten 2-1 at the death by Portugal on the Algarve. Just days after his return to Manchester United was confirmed, Cristiano Ronaldo was writing headlines again as his two late headers condemned Ireland to a cruel defeat and saw him become the top international goalscorer of all time. It was a galling loss for Stephen Kenny's side, who had delivered arguably the best performance of his tenure to stand minutes away from a famous victory. Ireland had taken an unlikely lead through a John Egan header on the stroke of half-time. And a brave, organised defensive effort lasted until the 89th minute as Ronaldo - who saw a first-half penalty brilliantly saved by Gavin Bazunu - stooped above Shane Duffy to equalise and notch up a record 110th international goal. His 111th followed in the 96th minute - another header punched past 19-year-old Bazunu. "How does he do it?" Ken Early asks this morning, "Being better with his head than most players are with their feet is a big part of it, sure. But even more than the physical and technical quality, it's the mental strength: the concentration and the movement - the relentless little movements looking for the chance."
It has been a quiet day in Tokyo for Team Ireland, with just three athletes in action on the ninth day of the Paralympics. In the pool, Barry McClements was competing in his fourth event and brought his Games to a close with a 10th place finish in the heats of the S9 100m butterfly. Patrick Flanagan meanwhile was making his Paralympics bow, and also missed out in the heats of the S6 400m freestyle. Patrick O'Leary rounded off Ireland's interest today by qualifying for two canoe sprint semi-finals - you can find out all the latest from Tokyo HERE.
Rory McIlroy is set to make an improbable bid to win a third FedEx Cup title as the Tour Championship gets underway at East Lake later today. With starting positions weighted to reflect each player's standing in the FedEx Cup rankings, McIlroy will start his opening round eight shots behind leader Patrick Cantlay - he tees off at 5.50pm Irish time. And McIlroy has spoken out about the criticism Bryson DeChambeau has received from fans, which has led the PGA Tour to warn spectators they will be ejected from venues should they disrespect the Californian. McIlroy said: "I'm not saying that he's completely blameless in this. But at the same time I think he has been getting a pretty rough go of it of late and it's actually pretty sad to see because he, deep down, I think, is a nice person. All he wants to do is try to be the best golfer he can be."
In his column this morning Ciaran Murphy has responded to calls for neutral GAA pundits, after Seán Cavanagh and Pat Spillane served up some studio entertainment during Tyrone's narrow win over Kerry. But he believes it wouldn't work because local knowledge is key: "Analysts from the counties involved are important because they will always know more than someone from outside their county ever could."
The World Cup qualifier action continues tonight, with Northern Ireland facing a must-win trip to play Lithuania (7.45pm). England are also in action for the first time since their Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy - they take on Hungary in Budapest (7.45pm).
And the fourth Test between England and India gets underway at The Oval today - the series is currently level at 1-1.
