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Czech Republic have advanced into the quarterfinals of the Euro 2020 after beating Netherlands in their round of 16 clash at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on Sunday.

After a goalless first half, Netherlands, who had won all three games in the group stage, were reduced to 10 men early in the second half as Matthijs De Ligt was shown a red card on 55 minutes.

De Ligt saw red for handball following a VAR review which showed how the Juventus star denied Patrik Schick a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The Czech then made a good use of their numerical advantage to secure a 2-0 victory over the Dutch and zooming into the last eight.

Tomas Holes nodded in the opener for Czech in the 68 minute before turning provider for Schick as the Czechs doubled their lead on 80 minutes.

With the win, the Czech have set up a quarterfinal clash with Denmark, who defeated Wales 4-0 in another round of 16 tie on Saturday night.

Serena Williams has confirmed she will not be participating at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which is set to begin on July 23.

The 39-year-old American tennis star revealed this during a news conference at Wimbledon, where she will be gunning for a 24th Grand Slam singles title.

Williams had long hinted she would not want to travel to Tokyo because she could not take three-year-old daughter Olympia with her under Games restrictions.

But in her pre-Wimbledon media conference on Sunday, the four-time Olympic champion said there was a lot of reasons behind her decision but refused to elaborate.

“I’m actually not on the Olympic list – not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it,” she said.

“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision. I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry.”

Williams won gold in the singles and women’s doubles at London 2012, with her two other medals coming in the doubles at Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008.

She begins her bid for an eighth Wimbledon singles title and a record-equalling title against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.

D’Tigers head Coach, Mike Brown has stated that getting the best 12 players to represent Nigeria at the 2020 Olympics will not be an easy task.

Evaluating the players in camp since the commencement of training last week, Brown is impressed with the talents on display.

Setting his sight on a decent outing at the Olympics as well as the 2021 Afrobasket championship, the coach thinks the talents in camp are suitable to compete with the best around the world.

Focusing on Gideon George Omohkudu and Warith Alatishe, Brown described the duo as proto-typical NBA wings.

“They are long, athletic and energetic. They do a lot for you on both ends of the floor,” said Brown

Their abilities to get to the rim and finish above the defenses is second to none especially for young men their age, but more importantly, they defense they brought to the table so far this week, their ability to rebound, come up with 50/50 balls at a very high level is commendable.”

On the possibilities of making the final cut, the team’s Head Coach says nothing is cast in iron because there is a lot of quality competition for in the forward position but admitted that the duo have a huge role to play in the future.

Spain have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Euro 2020 after securing a thrilling victory over Croatia in the last 16.

The Luis Enrique side defeated the Croats 5-3 in and electrifying encounter that saw the teams battle for 120 minutes.

Spain led 3-1 until the 85th minute when Croatia pulled off an incredible comeback to level 3-3 by 90 minutes, forcing the game to go into extra time.

Croatia substitutes Mislav Orsic and Mario Pasalic scored the two late goals, but Spain rallied in extra time produced yet more drama.

Juventus striker, Alvaro Morata silenced his critics when he thumped in Spain’s fourth goal in the 100th minute.

Spain did not end there as Mikel Oyarzabal added a fifth goal three minutes later to finally see off Croatia, who had fought bravely all through the game.

The match is considered as the most entertaining match of the tournament so far.

Three-time champions Spain will now go on to face the winner of France and Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

Super Eagles defender, Tyronne Ebuehi will be plying his trade at Venezia FC in the coming season after joining the Serie A club on loan.

The 25-yeaf-old linked up with the Italian side on a one-year loan deal from Portuguese giants. Benfica.

The Lagunari, who earned promotion from Serie B via the play-offs, have the option to buy the versatile defender if they remain in Serie A for the 2022-23 campaign.

Ebuehi becomes the third major signing of Venezia this summer after LASK left-back, David Schnegg and Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder, Dor Peretz.

“Venezia FC is pleased to announce the signing of Nigerian international right-back Tyronne Ebuehi, 25, on loan from Benfica,“ reads a statement on the club website.

Ebuehi spent last season at Dutch club FC Twente, also on loan from Benfica, starting 33 of 34 matches during the campaign.

Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi has become the all-time most capped player in the Argentina national team history.

The 34-year-old bagged a brace to help his team thrash Bolivia 4-1 in their Copa America meeting early Tuesday.

It was his 148th international appearance for the South American giants, as he takes over Javier Mascherano’s record.

Messi set up Papu Gomez’s sixth-minute opener, before scoring a penalty and adding a second just before half-time to extend his record goals tally to 75.

Elsewhere, Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani scored a 21st-minute penalty as Uruguay beat Paraguay 1-0.

Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez also scored in Argentina’s win and the team are now unbeaten in their last 17 games.

They take on Ecuador in the quarter-finals on Sunday, while Uruguay play Colombia on Saturday.

Hosts Brazil play Chile, while Paraguay face Peru.

Kylian Mbappe has apologized to fans and his teammates after he missed the crucial spot-kick in France’s defeat to Switzerland in Euro 2020.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward had his penalty kick saved by Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer, as France were knocked out of the competition 5-4 on penalties.

The game, which had ended at 3-3 after 120 minutes, went into shootouts and saw nine successful kicks before Mbappe missed the 10th to hand the Swiss a quarterfinal ticket.

The French star then took to social media and wrote to his 53m followers: “Very difficult to turn the page. The sadness is immense after this elimination, we could not reach our goal.

“I’m sorry for this penalty miss. I wanted to help the team but failed. Getting to sleep will be difficult, but unfortunately, it is the ups and downs of this sport that I love so much.

“I know you fans have been disappointed, but I would still like to thank you for your support and for always believing in us.

“The most important thing will be to get up even stronger for the next challenges. Congratulations and good luck to Switzerland.”

The game is regarded as the biggest shock of the Euro 2020 so far, as world champions France had been tipped to win the rescheduled tournament even before the start.

Switzerland will face Spain in the quarterfinals.