Serbia drove through Nico Elvedi's own objective in first-half stoppage time and Aleksandar Mitrovic multiplied the benefit before Predrag Rajkovic saved a punishment from Swiss striker Breel Embolo. Serbia took a giant stride towards survival in the UEFA Nations League top-flight by securing a 2-0 victory over near rivals Switzerland - their first-ever head-to-head win. With Serbia and Switzerland essentially competing against each other to avoid relegation from Group A4, you’d have been forgiven for expecting a brighter start from two sides desperate to beat the other. It turned out to be quite the opposite though, as the only bright spot in an incredibly dull start came when Veljko Birmancevic ’s tame effort was easily gathered by Gregor Kobel . It took until just after the half-hour mark for the game's first big chance to arrive, but it was wasted by Breel Embolo who skewed wide after he was teed up by Silvan Widmer . That ...
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo said that he is honored to be chosen as one of the candidates for this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or award. The Portuguese international was amongst initial 23-man list, which was short-listed to three La Liga players on Thursday evening. The other two short-listed players included Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi. Ronaldo has scored 46 goals in 38 matches to help Real Madrid claim the La Liga title. He was delighted to be in the run for his second Ballon d'Or award when asked. "For me it is an honour to be a candidate for the Ballon d'Or and for Fifa's World 11, and I am very proud," he told Real Madrid's official website. "They are two very special awards and I think that being amongst the candidates is primarily the result of the hard work and support of my team mates, both at Real Madrid and Portugal." Coach Jose Mourinho was also short listed for FIFA’s Coach of the Year for the third ...