Christian Eriksen could not hide his delight after scoring on his return to international football, despite Denmark's 4-2 loss away to the Netherlands on Saturday, saying he "felt like a footballer" again.
Following his cardiac arrest during Denmark's opening group game against Finland at Euro 2020, Eriksen found the net within two minutes of coming onto the pitch to joyfully end a 287-day absence.
He almost scored a second in his return match, rattling the frame of the goal from long distance.
Yet simply being on the pitch for Denmark provided satisfaction for Eriksen.
"I felt like a footballer again. I have been away internationally for so long," he told NOS.
"I'm just very happy to be back. To also score is that little bit extra, it gives a wonderful feeling. I was looking forward to it."
A warm reception for the former Tottenham and Inter man was inevitable, but playing in the city and stadium where he made his name – having spent five years at Ajax – made for a particularly special moment, Eriksen sharing an embrace with former Ajax team-mate Daley Blind, who continues to play with a heart defibrillator.
For Eriksen, rhe only thing that could have added to the occasion would have been a second goal.
"It's great that I scored, but I would rather have scored two. It's a shame the ball didn't go in," he said.
"I had wonderful years here and I remembered where the goal was here in the Arena."
Denmark will finish their international window when they host Serbia on Tuesday.
Luis Enrique promised Spain would not wait another 18 years before playing in Catalonia again after a noisy home crowd roared his team to a 2-1 win over Albania.
La Roja had not played in the region since February 2004, when they tackled Peru in a friendly at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium, so Saturday's game was significant from that perspective.
With many in Catalonia harbouring hopes of independence from Spain, Saturday's match at Espanyol's RCDE Stadium was a test of what loyalty there remained to the team.
Head coach Enrique was pleased it proved overwhelmingly positive, and late goals from Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo, either side of a freak equaliser, carried Spain to victory.
"The people deserved that joy," said the Spain boss. "Barcelona likes the national team and the national team likes to come to Barcelona.
"I have been here for many years, and they have always treated me with respect and affection. Catalonia always respects."
Luis Enrique – who previously played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, and coached the former from 2014 to 2017 – added: "It would have bothered me a lot not to win, because of the unique atmosphere that we have experienced.
"I don't remember a game, where I have played or coached, in which the fans have been so decisive. It is impossible that we will be another 18 years without coming here."
Spain remain a work in progress, and they struggled to convert possession into clear-cut chances for long stretches of this friendly fixture. They had 81.5 per cent of possession and played a startling 948 passes to 212 by Albania.
From this they attempted 13 shots, and their expected goals total – reflecting the quality of chances – was a modest 1.7 against a team ranked 65th in the world by FIFA.
Substitute Yeremi Pino created the 75th-minute opener by winning possession from dawdling defenders and threading an ideal ball that Barcelona forward Ferran Torres cracked beyond Etrit Berisha.
Pau Torres then headed a long ball against Albania's Myrto Uzuni and the ball squirted past goalkeeper David Raya to bring Albania level with five minutes remaining.
Olmo had the final say, however, with the RB Leipzig man curling a fine finish into the top-right corner.
"There is a lot of room [for improvement] because we are one of the youngest teams," said the coach. "We do a lot of things well, but we still have a way to go."
Luke Shaw appeared to suggest he finds greater enjoyment in his football when playing for England than Manchester United.
Shaw scored the Three Lions' equaliser in Saturday's 2-1 friendly win over Switzerland, which was secured by a second-half Harry Kane penalty.
That was Shaw's sixth goal involvement in his past eight matches for England, with the left-back seemingly established as first choice for Gareth Southgate.
He remains a reliable creative source at club level as well, with his five assists across all competitions in 2021-22 bettered by only Paul Pogba (nine) and Bruno Fernandes (13), while the latter (107) is also the only United player to create more chances than Shaw (47).
But much like club and international colleague Harry Maguire, Shaw's United form has been criticised at times this term, especially with regard to his defensive positioning in an extremely porous backline – only four teams have faced more shots on target in the Premier League this season than the Red Devils (143).
That would understandably be difficult to enjoy for a defender, but Shaw's frankness about the situation will likely raise eyebrows at Old Trafford.
"The environment here that Gareth creates, you always enjoy it," Shaw told reporters at Wembley.
"When I come here it's about enjoyment and playing games with a smile on my face. We all love playing for our country and when we're here we're all focused on what's happening here."
Shaw was then asked if he had to be happy in order to find his best form, to which he replied: "I think everyone does.
"It's always important to feel like you're wanted and especially here I always feel that. I'm not saying I don't at United, but especially here, the way things are, I feel wanted and I enjoy my football.
"A big part of football is the enjoyment and, of course, it's hard to enjoy when we're losing and not playing well at club level. We have to face that.
"This season hasn't been good enough at all and it's hard to enjoy. We've got a lot to improve but right now we're here at England. My focus is on that."
The Miami Heat were without coach Erik Spoelstra for their game with the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.
Miami confirmed prior to tip-off that Spoelstra would not be in attendance at FTX Arena due to personal reasons.
Assistant coach Chris Quinn was handed the reins of the Heat, who sat top of the Eastern Conference with eight games to play.
Miami have lost their past three games, opening the door for the Philadelphia 76ers to displace them as the top seed in the closing stretch of the regular season.
The Nets sat eighth in the East and looked set to be heading for the play-in tournament.
Dustin Johnson got the best of Brooks Koepka in a heavyweight matchup to finish 2 up in their WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play quarter-final.
After Johnson got through Richard Bland and Koepka made it past Jon Rahm earlier on Saturday, the two former major champions went all 18 holes before Johnson won the last to turn 1 up into 2 up and avoid a playoff.
It was a great start for Koepka, winning two of the first three holes, but Johnson found his touch going into the seventh and went on to claim four holes and tie the rest from that point.
Scottie Scheffler passed his test against Seamus Power with flying colours, winning three and two with a strong back-nine.
Winning two holes apiece on the front nine, it was all Scheffler down the stretch, including winning the two par fives (holes 12 and 16) by two strokes to wrap things up with a couple holes to spare.
Sergio Perez expects to be even quicker in Sunday's race than he was during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Red Bull driver Perez took pole position for the first time in his career by going two hundredths of a second faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Q3.
Carlos Sainz was fastest in Q1, Q2 and after the first runs in the final session, but the Spaniard had to settle for third on the grid, ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Perez, who looked set for a podium in the season-opening race in Bahrain until technical issues forced him to retire on the final lap, suggested there is more to come from the Red Bull duo.
"We've been focusing more on race pace than qualifying," Perez told a news conference.
"We've felt that we've given away some qualifying performance to gain it in the race, but obviously we're going to see [on Sunday].
"I expect these two [Leclerc and Sainz] are going to be very strong, but I really hope that we can have a strong race."
Leclerc took the win in Bahrain ahead of Sainz, and he feels is in a good position to make it back-to-back victories at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
"I think it's very strange because we're actually quicker with the used tyres than the new tyres, and we need to understand that as a team, just to be a bit better prepared for the next race with these new tyres, and to put them in the right window," said Leclerc.
"But overall, I think for the race, I'm quite confident. I think we were quick this morning during the race simulation. So yeah, pretty confident."
Ferrari's Sainz was looking forward to going wheel-to-wheel with the Red Bulls, with the stage set for the drama to begin from lights out.
He said: "I expect an exciting start. Honestly, Checo [Perez] in front, Max behind, Red Bulls on the dirty side, us on the clean side but at the same time here in this tarmac, there's so much grip, clean or dirty side I don't think makes much of a difference.
"I think it's just going to be an exciting race. And I look forward to it. I think it's great for Formula One to have all four drivers just battling it out there. And I think we all have good respect for each other."
England were facing a crushing defeat in the decisive third Test against West Indies as Joshua Da Silva and Kyle Mayers made day three thoroughly miserable for Joe Root and the tourists.
Da Silva reached a first Test century and Mayers took 5-9 in 13 overs in a career-best bowling performance, with West Indies capitalising on a first-innings lead of 93 runs by reducing England to 103-8 at stumps.
Leading by 10 runs with just two second-innings wickets standing, the last sliver of hope for England was that they converted 90-8 in their first innings to 204 all out, but this time around they looked floored.
The England tail must wag spectacularly on Sunday at the Grenada National Stadium for this to become a contest again, with signs pointing to West Indies landing the series win after the first two Tests ended in draws.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan speculated this could prove to be Root's final match as captain, with the team, crushed in the Ashes before this series, looking increasingly rudderless.
West Indies had a strong morning as Da Silva went from 54 not out to finish unbeaten on 100, sharing in a 52-run partnership for the 10th wicket with Jayden Seales, who managed a gritty 13 and saw off 58 deliveries before Root removed him, caught and bowled.
From 232-8 at the start of play, having been 128-7 at one point on Friday, West Indies amassed 297 and England's jaws were already on the floor.
It got no better for the tourists after lunch as they plummeted to 39-4, still 54 short of making West Indies bat again. Zak Crawley flashed a catch to Jason Holder to give Seales an early wicket, before Mayers removed Root for the second time in the match.
Reaching for the ball outside off stump, Root got a hefty edge and gave John Campbell a comfortable take at first slip. After a duck in the first innings, to fall for five this time was a grim blow.
Mayers went on to bowl Dan Lawrence for a duck and prise out Ben Stokes for four. Opener Alex Lees had avoided being part of the early churn, obdurately defying the home attack in a go-slow innings, and began to lead a recovery alongside Jonny Bairstow. They put on 41 for the fifth wicket before Bairstow got a thin edge to give Alzarri Joseph a wicket.
Ben Foakes fell to a lamentable run out at the end of the same over, and Lees, who faced 132 balls, perished for 31 when Mayers tore out the left-hander's off stump. Mayers had his fifth wicket when Craig Overton edged to Holder, who juggled at third slip before clinging on. West Indies could not quite get over the line before the close, but victory is in sight.
Vaughan senses end of Root era
Taking into account all Tests where he has batted twice, this was Root's worst performance with the bat since making one and a duck against New Zealand in 2015 at Headingley. He has been terrific with the bat for England in recent times, but even he fell flat in this game.
Vaughan said on BT Sport: "I just feel that this could be his last Test match as captain. I can see in his face, I've been in that position. When it goes, and he's been captain for such a long period of time, it might be starting to come to an end for him."
Marvellous Mayers tortures tourists
Mayers, who in 10 previous Tests had achieved innings-best figures of 3-24, found himself with figures of 5-9 here, with England finding his medium-fast pace surprisingly too hot to handle.
Chris Woakes, Jack Leach and Saqib Mahmood delivered with the bat in England's first innings, scoring 115 runs between them, and they are the three batters remaining this time. Yet snowfall in Grenada on Sunday seems about as likely as another England rescue act. This team looks ready for home.
Marco Verratti and Jorginho were among a group of six players to leave the Italy camp after their failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne, Domenico Berardi and Gianluca Mancini also returned to their clubs ahead of schedule, with the latter two having sustained knocks.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini is expected to ring the changes in a friendly against Turkey on Tuesday following the Azzurri's shock defeat to North Macedonia in a World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final on Thursday.
The Euro 2020 champions' first ever home loss in World Cup qualifying meant they failed to reach successive finals for the first time in their history.
Instead of taking on Portugal in the play-off final, Italy will depart for Konya on Monday.
Gareth Southgate is not worried about the prospect of Harry Kane struggling with pressure as he closes on Wayne Rooney's England goals record.
Kane scored the winner as the Three Lions beat Switzerland 2-1 in Saturday's friendly at Wembley, converting a penalty 12 minutes from time.
It took him level with Bobby Charlton on 49 goals for England, meaning only Rooney on 53 is now ahead of the Tottenham star.
Rooney, who coincidentally broke Charlton's initial record with a penalty against Switzerland in 2015, was considered by many to have passed his peak when he reached 50 goals, as he only went on to score another three.
There was also a degree of obsession around the achievement in the lead up, with the idea that Rooney struggled somewhat with the pressure a common theory.
Whether that truly was the case, only Rooney knows, but Southgate is convinced Kane will not be impacted in such a way.
Asked if he wanted Kane to break the record before the World Cup so it does not become a distraction, Southgate jovially replied: "I'd like him to break it in the World Cup final!
"I think he's quite calm about it, confident he can get there because his goals per game record is phenomenally good.
"I don't know where that would compare to Jimmy Greaves, but I imagine he's the only other player who'd be close [to Greaves], so I think he knows there's always going to be speculation.
"If he doesn't break it before [the World Cup] then [the country] will be saying he's out of form and should he be in the team.
"One way or another, the focus will be on him – he's used to dealing with it and I'm sure he'll be very calm about it whichever way."
But in the eyes of Southgate, there is much more to Kane than just his goals, with the England manager delighted to have such a talent who also acts as an example with his attitude.
"I think the names he's amongst now are incredible, aren't they? He'll appreciate that history and it'll mean a lot to him to be in with those people," Southgate said of Kane pulling level with Charlton.
"You'd have to say he looks favourite to go and do that [break Rooney's record], I don't want to put any sort of curse on that and say any more, but he wants the team to do well.
"He has this dual drive. What's great is that means that whenever he turns up, because he also has the individual ambition, there's never a camp where he doesn't look like he wants to play, or doesn't want to be involved or at the forefront of things.
"That's the mentality that then spreads through the rest of the group, so I'm very pleased for him and I think in the second half especially we were just about value for the win."
England are in action again on Tuesday when they host Ivory Coast. Three days later they will find out their opponents at Qatar 2022 when the World Cup draw is made.
Mick Schumacher will not contest the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following his terrifying crash during qualifying on Saturday.
Haas driver Schumacher hit the concrete barrier at Turn 12 at 170mph during Q2, resulting in a red flag that halted the session for almost an hour.
The 23-year-old was removed from the car and deemed to have no injuries following an assessment at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit's medical centre, though he was transferred to King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital for precautionary checks.
Haas later confirmed Schumacher would not take part in the race on Sunday and the team would only run Kevin Magnussen's car.
"Hi everyone, I just wanted to say that I'm ok," Schumacher posted on Twitter.
"Thank you for the kind messages. The car felt great ... we'll come back stronger."
Team principal Gunther Steiner said: "The best thing is that Mick has apparently no injuries. He's in the hospital right now and being evaluated by the doctors, so he is in good hands at the moment.
"There is a possibility that he'll have to stay for observation overnight at the hospital. Based on these facts and where we are, we have decided not to field his car tomorrow."
Magnussen will start in 10th after reaching Q3 for the second successive race.
Germany made it eight wins on the spin as goals from Kai Havertz and Timo Werner sealed a 2-0 friendly win over Israel at the PreZero Arena on Saturday.
Die Mannschaft rounded off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-1 victory over Armenia in November, and they picked up where they left off against Gadi Brumer's side in Sinsheim.
Havertz gave them a 36th-minute lead with a smart near-post header, before Timo Werner's 22nd international goal on the stroke of half-time ensured they had a healthy advantage at the interval.
Hansi Flick's side were content to play out the second period at a more pedestrian pace, although there was late drama as Thomas Muller and Yonatan Cohen exchanged penalty misses.
Despite Germany's dominant start, they did not carve out a shot on target until the 29th minute when Ofir Marciano got down well to repel Havertz's effort, with Julian Draxler prodding the rebound into the side netting.
Ilkay Gundogan curled straight at Marciano from a promising position soon after, before the Israel goalkeeper raced off his line to deny a clean-through Havertz.
The Chelsea forward was not to be denied from David Raum's resulting corner, however, heading home his eighth international goal from inside the six-yard box.
The hosts doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time through an unmarked Werner steering in Gundogan's indirect free-kick at the near post.
Only a superb Marciano save denied Thilo Kehrer a third on the hour mark as Germany continued to dominate after the break.
Muller fluffed his lines from 12 yards in the 89th minute after Lukas Nmecha had been brought down inside the area, while Cohen saw his spot-kick saved by Kevin Trapp after he had been tripped by Nico Schlotterbeck.
What does it mean? Flick's men shaping up nicely for Qatar
Germany were utterly dominant throughout, yet Flick will not get carried away given Israel are a whopping 66 places beneath them in FIFA's world rankings.
Still, this was further proof that Die Mannschaft are in rude health and will be a force to be reckoned with at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
Havertz shines for hosts
He was less threatening after the interval, yet Havertz was comfortably Germany's brightest spark. The 22-year-old had a game-high five shots, while no player on the pitch made more key passes (four).
Dabbur an isolated figure
Hoffenheim striker Munas Dabbur scarcely had a look in at the stadium where he plays his club football, with the isolated frontman substituted in the 74th minute having had just a single shot.
What's next?
Both sides are in friendly action again on Tuesday, with Germany travelling to Netherlands and Israel hosting Romania.
Christian Eriksen scored two minutes into his international comeback as Denmark fell to a 4-2 loss against the Netherlands in Saturday's friendly at Johan Cruijff ArenA.
The midfielder was back in Denmark's squad for the first time since suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 and made an instant impact after being brought on at half-time.
Eriksen's well-taken goal, coming at the ground where he made a name for himself with Ajax, got Denmark back into the game after the hosts opened up a 3-1 lead at the break.
Steven Bergwijn and Nathan Ake netted either side of Jannik Vestergaard's leveller before Memphis Depay converted a penalty, with Bergwijn rounding things off after Eriksen's strike.
The Netherlands had already tested Kasper Schmeichel three times before Bergwijn met Daley Blind's left-sided cross and headed in a 16th-minute opener.
Denmark's response was a swift one, with Joakim Maehle sending in a cross for Vestergaard to glance in a leveller four minutes later after Jesper Lindstrom's free-kick was blocked.
Ake restored the Netherlands' lead shortly before the half-hour mark with another headed goal, finishing from close range once picked out by a fine Steven Berghuis delivery.
Louis van Gaal's men had some breathing space before the interval thanks to a Depay penalty, which was awarded for Vestergaard's challenge on Berghuis.
Denmark lost Yussuf Poulsen and Thomas Delaney to injury but were given a lifeline when Eriksen converted fellow substitute Andreas Skov Olsen's pass with a first-time finish.
Bergwijn's curled effort with 20 minutes to go ended Denmark's hopes of claiming a draw, though there was still time for Eriksen to send a long-range shot off the post.
Harry Kane appreciated being alongside "amazing company" after joining Bobby Charlton on 49 goals for England with his penalty in a 2-1 win over Switzerland.
England fell behind to Breel Embolo's opener at Wembley on Saturday but Luke Shaw equalised on the stroke of half-time and Kane converted a winner from the spot after Steven Zuber was adjudged to have handled the ball following a VAR review.
The Tottenham striker now sits joint-second on the all-time goalscoring list for the Three Lions, with only Wayne Rooney (53) ahead of him.
Kane's penalty was his 14th in international football – five more than any other England player – and the 100th the country have scored in all competitions.
"It is amazing company to be with," Kane told Sky Sports of moving level with Charlton.
"[I'm] super proud to be doing that but we look forward to the next one. A big year ahead to get more caps and more goals. I will be ready for Tuesday [against Ivory Coast] but it is down to the manager."
He added: "You have to be ready for any chance at any moment. Penalties are a great way of getting on the scoresheet, I practice and work on them a lot."
Gareth Southgate handed debuts to Marc Guehi, Kyle Walker-Peters and Tyrick Mitchell and Kane was pleased to get the win with a number of less experienced players in the squad.
"Tough game. A big year ahead and a chance for us to try different systems and formations to see how we get on. I felt it was a good performance but room for improvement but a good win to start the year," he said.
"We rotated the squad, new faces getting debuts and these are the games you have to try stuff. There is not a lot of time between now and the World Cup.
"The new boys did great, really well. Marc Guehi got the penalty and good to see the young players coming on. You want to start your England career with a win and thankfully we did that."
Dani Olmo hit a late stunner to spare Spain's blushes and secure a 2-1 win over Albania in a friendly that began in drab fashion but ended in high drama.
Ferran Torres tucked away a pass from substitute Yeremi Pino in the 75th minute to make the breakthrough at Espanyol's RCDE Stadium.
Spain were then stunned when Pau Torres headed a hopeful long ball against Albania's Myrto Uzuni and the ball trickled past debutant goalkeeper David Raya for a freak equaliser.
Yet there was still time for a classy goal from Olmo in the 90th minute, as Spain earned a victory in their first match in Catalonia for 18 years.
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