SPORTS 101118

Football first – and in international friendlies played overnight – England lost at the new Wembley for the first time under Fabio Capello as a new-look France side won 2-1.
Laurent Blanc's men banished some of their World Cup ghosts with goals from Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena, before Peter Crouch netted a consolation.

In other friendlies elsewhere – Germany and Sweden drew 0-0; Italy escaped with a 1-all draw against Romania; Argentina’s Lionel Messi struck late to give Argentina a 1-0 win over Brazil; and Portugal gained a measure of revenge for their World Cup exit at the hands of Spain by inflicting a heavy 4-0 defeat over the World Champions.
****

Next in Motor-racing – the city of Melbourne may no longer host the Australian Grand Prix after the existing contract expires in 2014.

The race has been staged at a street circuit in the city's Albert Park since 1996, but has been incurring big losses for the last few years.

Now Victoria state Premier John Brumby has revealed he will give careful consideration as to whether the event remains a viable economic proposition.
****

In Golf – Rory McIlroy feels his stint on the US PGA Tour has made him stronger ahead of this week's UBS Hong Kong Open.

The Northern Irishman opted to take out a full US PGA Tour card 12 months ago and went on to claim his first victory on American soil at the Quail Hollow Championship in May.

McIlroy last week announced his intention to focus predominately on the European Tour from next season.
****

Finally an update on the 16th Asian Games in GuangZhou – despite clinching the silver for bowling – a shell-shocked Remy Ong walked listlessly around his bowling-lane area yesterday.

Remy then collapsed onto his seat and broke down in tears

When asked why – Remy said he and his men's doubles teammate Jason Yeong-Nathan had come agonisingly close to landing Singapore's first gold.

A quick look at the medal tally after 6 days of competition – China leads with 97 Gold, 39 Silver 36 Bronze; South Korea are in second place with 29 Gold, 22 Silver and 31 Bronze; Japan are third with 17 Gold, 41 Silver and 35 Bronze; Singapore have move up to 15th place with 4 Silver and 2 Bronze.
****