Play-Offs - Rovers win promotion
Celtic complete double
Beckham recalled to England squad
International friendlies
Bristol Rovers won promotion to League One after six seasons in the basement division after beating Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in the League Two play-off final at Wembley. It’s only the fourth promotion in Rovers’ history.
Celtic complete the Double after they finally break the brave resistance of relegated Dunfermline Athletic at Hampden Park. The Glasgow giants celebrate the 40th anniversary of their famous European Cup Final win with their 34th Scottish FA Cup success courtesy of an 85th minute goal from Cameroonian Jean-Joel Perrier Doumbe. As he recovers from a recent hip operation, manager Gordon Strachan was cheered to receive his fourth domestic trophy out of a possible six in his two seasons at Celtic Park: “We’re a good side with a great squad of people. The second half was much better and we deserved to win. They worked hard but our goalie’s not had a save to make.”
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It seemed his international involvement was over after 94 caps when he limped out of last summer’s World Cup defeat against Portugal in Germany, but David Beckham’s England career is resurrected after he is included in Steve McClaren’s squad to face Brazil the first Three Lions’ first game at the new Wembley and the Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia. Although coach McClaren admitted the door would remain open when the former captain was omitted from his first selection in August, he added: “I told David I was looking to change things, looking to go in a different direction, and he wasn’t included within that.” After disappointing recent performances, it would now appear that the England boss has changed direction: “Everyone knows David’s attributes and he’s a big-game player who can help us win in Estonia. We’ve a very important game in Estonia, we need to win it and it is a squad that can win it.” The ex-Manchester United superstar had been dropped from the Real Madrid team when he decided to accept a move to LA Galaxy in January.
In today’s international friendly matches, Wales draw 2-2 with New Zealand at Wrexham with two goals from Craig Bellamy while the Republic of Ireland complete their two-game trip to the USA with a 1-1 draw against Bolivia in Boston. They also drew 1-1 with Ecuador in New York on Wednesday.
With Celtic’s win against Dunfermline Athletic today, Steven Pressley has become the first player to gain Scottish FA Cup winners’ medals with three different clubs. He also lifted the trophy with Rangers and Heart of Midlothian.
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