The Decathlon: Ronaldo shines, Neymar is crocked and Sterling fumes

1. Ronaldo on fire

Portugal are through to the final of the Uefa Nations League thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Switzerland last night.

The Juventus striker has now scored 53 trebles in his illustrious career, and for his country he now has 88 goals in 157 appearances.

After their 3-1 win over the Swiss, Portugal will play the Netherlands or England in Sunday’s Nations League final.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

2. FA slam England fans

The Football Association (FA) has labelled some England fans as an “embarrassment to the team” after clashes with police in Porto last night. “The FA strongly condemns the scenes witnessed in Porto overnight,” the FA said in a statement. “Anyone responsible for these disturbances cannot be seen as true England supporters and are not welcome in football. They are an embarrassment to the team and the thousands of well-behaved fans who follow England in the right way.”

3. Sterling to skipper the Three Lions

England face the Netherlands in the Uefa Nations League semi-final tonight and head coach Gareth Southgate has some big decisions to make over his team selection. Southgate will “gamble” by resting captain and star striker Harry Kane. That means Raheem Sterling could skipper the Three Lions in Guimaraes. Manchester City forward Sterling was left “fuming” yesterday after his management company sent out a press release saying he would be given the England armband on what will be his 50th cap.

Today’s back pages: Sterling set to captain England as Southgate gambles on Kane

4. Neymar out of the Copa

Brazil forward Neymar has been ruled out of the 2019 Copa America after injuring his ankle. The Samba star ruptured a ligament playing in a friendly match against Qatar and will now miss the tournament being held in his home country.

5. Van Dijk wants new deal

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk wants a new contract and he could be joined at Anfield by Dutch team-mate Matthijs de Ligt. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Real Madrid have reportedly agreed a €100m (£88.5m) fee for Eden Hazard.

See more Premier League and Liverpool transfer news

6. Djokovic motivated for French title

World No.1 Novak Djokovic takes on Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals of the French Open today. Speaking ahead of the last-eight clash Djokovic said: “I’m really pleased with every aspect of my game. So everything is coming together beautifully. I’m motivated to fight for the trophy, yes. I mean, that’s why I’m here. But it’s still a long way to go.”

7. Wolff expects challenging weekend

Mercedes head to the Canadian Grand Prix having dominated the opening six races of the 2019 Formula 1 season but team principal Toto Wolff is expecting a challenging weekend in Montreal. He said: “In the past six races, we were very strong in the corners but lost time on the straights. This will make Canada a huge challenge for us as the track characteristics could favour our opponents - there are many long straights, and fewer corners in which to make up lap time.”

F1 Canadian GP: preview, race guide and predictions

8. Swann sticks his neck out

Former England spinner Graeme Swann believes the host nation are still on course to win the Cricket World Cup despite their shocking performance against Pakistan. “There’s absolutely no need to panic as I don’t think we will see a performance like that again from the World Cup favourites,” he told Betfair. “The good news is that the defeat came early. It’s a wake-up call and a kick up the backside and they will use this as a positive rather than a negative, and I’m certainly still backing them to go on for World Cup glory this summer.” England play Bangladesh in Cardiff on Saturday.

9. Folau takes action

Australian rugby union player Israel Folau has launched legal action after being sacked by Rugby Australia for posting on social media that “hell awaits” gay people. Folau said: “No Australian of any faith should be fired for practising their religion.” The 30-year-old is seeking “substantial remedies”.

10. Raptors win game three

Toronto Raptors have taken a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals after a 123-109 victory over the injury-hit Golden State Warriors. Game four of the finals takes place on Saturday 8 June (2am, live on Sky Sports Arena).