Verstappen closes in on record-chasing Hamilton

 
• ALFA ROMEO-FERRARI
• [7] Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) | Entries 332 (329 starts) Poles 18 Wins 21 🏆
• [99] Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) | Entries 40 (40 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ Continuity is the word at ALFA ROMEO where the 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi have retained their places for a third season in a row in a team which has finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship for the last two years (or three years, if you count the final iteration of its predecessor Sauber with a different driver line-up). To be honest, Alfa Romeo could perhaps have done with a bit of a shake-up and it is difficult to see any better offering from the Swiss-based operation this time around, especially if Raikkonen winds down slowly towards his retirement. After all, Giovinazzi has only had a handful of points finishes from his 40 starts, although he did at least evenly split the eight points which the team earned last year.

• ALPHA TAURI-HONDA
• [10] Pierre Gasly (FRA) | Entries 64 (64 starts) Poles 0 Wins 1
• [22] Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) | Rookie

◾️ ALPHA TAURI provides one of the most fascinating line-ups of the season as rookie Yuki Tsunoda takes a seat alongside race winner Pierre Gasly who delighted his Italian team with a completely unexpected home victory at Monza after a crazy Italian Grand Prix in September. Gasly may have been the beneficiary of a well-timed pit-stop on that day - but the 25-year-old from Rouen in France also appears to have natural talent in abundance. Meanwhile, Tsunoda is a complete enigma for now - although it was plain to see that the first Japanese driver in a Formula One car since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014 was lightning quick in testing. Just how much raw pace Tsunoda has when the real stuff begins will determine the long-term prospects of the Honda-backed man.

• ALPINE-RENAULT
• [14] Fernando Alonso (ESP) | Entries 314 (311 starts) Poles 22 Wins 32 🏆🏆
• [31] Esteban Ocon (FRA) | Entries 67 (67 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ Renault has rebranded its Formula One team as ALPINE to promote its sports car brand - but, while the name on the grid is new, it is an old flame in Fernando Alonso which the French outfit welcomes back. The veteran Spaniard won back-to-back titles with the team in 2005 and 2006, and after more recently winning consecutive Le Mans 24 races in 2018 and 2019 - and racing in the Indy500 three times - he returns to the format which first put him in the spotlight. Alongside Alonso, Frenchman Esteban Ocon retains his seat hoping to build on his second place at the crazy 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix in what will be his fourth Formula One campaign. But any hopes are tempered by the feeling that the whole set-up of Alpine continues to give off the appearance of an archetypal mid-table team. 

• ASTON MARTIN-MERCEDES
• [5] Sebastian Vettel (GER) | Entries 258 (257 starts) Poles 57 Wins 53 🏆🏆🏆🏆
• [18] Lance Stroll (CAN) | Entries 79 (78 starts) Poles 1 Wins 0

◾️ ASTON MARTIN makes a long-awaited return to Formula One in 2021 with the marque appearing for the first time as a works team since 1960. The Silverstone-based outfit will retain its British Racing Green livery from 61 years ago and, like its immediate predecessor Racing Point, will be powered by a Mercedes engine. Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel arrives following a difficult time at Ferrari - but, now seven years on from his last title, it remains to be seen if this will be anything more than a three-year farewell tour for the German. Lance Stroll retains the other seat to the surprise of nobody at all, considering his own father is a part-owner of the team - and, amid infuriating inconsistency, the Canadian has struggled to shrug off the daddy's boy reputation. Simply put, Stroll needs to produce more regularly the performance-level which has brought him some occasional bright moments, most notably when he stepped on the podium in Monza and at the Sakhir Grand Prix.

• FERRARI
• [16] Charles Leclerc (MON) | Entries 59 (59 starts) Poles 7 Wins 2
• [55] Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) | Entries 119 (118 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ FERRARI begins the 2021 campaign with the simple aim of restoring respectability to its name after a horrendous and, at times, utterly humiliating 2020 season. The Prancing Horse looked more like a donkey, ambling around tracks all over the world without a threat and eventually finishing sixth in the Constructors' Championship for its worst result in 40 years. Nevertheless, a new year brings fresh hope with Monégasque youngster Charles Leclerc looking to reproduce the consistently excellent drives which brought him back-to-back Grand Prix wins in Spa and Monza in 2019 and several other podium visits. Although without a race win yet, team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr is certainly no stranger to the post-race ceremonials, only just missing out on the top step of the podium in Monza last year. Sainz also finished last season with McLaren on a strong run of seven successive points finishes - and so taking Ferrari back towards the big time looks well within the capabilities of this pair of Charlies.

• HAAS-FERRARI
• [9] Nikita Mazepin (RUS) | Rookie
• [47] Mick Schumacher (GER) | Rookie

◾️ All change at HAAS where a pair of rookies - Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher - replace the departing Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. Schumacher - the son of seven-time champion Michael - views this opportunity as the first step towards him emulating his legendary father. But, if anything, the announcement of Mazepin has caused more of a stir. The Russian, who is racing under a neutral flag in line with conditions set by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, was previously revealed to have uploaded a video to social media in which he filmed himself awkwardly groping a female passenger’s breast in a car. The hashtag #WeSayNoToMazepin has trended on several occasions in the close season - and it is fortunate for him that he seems to have joined a team with low expectations on and off the track.

• MCLAREN-MERCEDES
• [44] Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) | Entries 188 (188 starts) Poles 3 Wins 7
• [77] Lando Norris (GBR) | Entries 38 (38 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ MCLAREN heads into 2021 at its most positive in years following its rather surprising third place in the Constructors' Championship last season. Although the impressive Carlos Sainz Jr has now moved to Ferrari, much of the positivity has stayed in the team and is down to prodigious British talent Lando Norris. The 21-year-old Bristolian marked his second season last year with two fastest laps, consistent points finishes, and a podium at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix - but the likeable lad is far from the finished article. McLaren has therefore made an eminently sensible move to bring in Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull - the Aussie already has three pole positions and seven Grand Prix wins to his name so will keep Norris honest. As such, despite the loss of Sainz, McLaren remains in decent shape to take the fight to the current top two.

• MERCEDES
• [44] Sir Lewis Hamilton (GBR) | Entries 266 (266 starts) Poles 98 Wins 95 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
• [77] Valtteri Bottas (FIN) | Entries 157 (156 starts) Poles 16 Wins 9

◾️ Dominant MERCEDES racked up a seventh consecutive Constructors' Championship in 2020 as Lewis Hamilton exhausted all of the superlatives by drawing level on seven World Drivers' Championships with Michael Schumacher. It was a truly special year for Hamilton as he went beyond the iconic German in regard to number of Grand Prix victories - chalking up a record 92nd race win at the Portuguese Grand Prix in October. In all, Hamilton won 11 of the 17 races contested in 2020, even taking the chequered flag with bald tyres at the Turkish Grand Prix. At times, Hamilton was simply untouchable with even team-mate Valtteri Bottas regularly blitzed by the Stevenage-born racer. The Finn did have his moments with victories in Austria and Russia - but generally he was just as caught up in Hamilton's tidal wave of success as anyone else. More record-breaking looked set to follow this year with the announcement that major regulation changes had been delayed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic - but, in something of a twist to the expected narrative, Red Bull has looked strong enough in the run-up to the new campaign for Mercedes to wheel out the mind-games ahead of lights out.

• RED BULL-HONDA
• [11] Sergio Pérez (MEX) | Entries 195 (191 starts) Poles 0 Wins 1
• [33] Max Verstappen (NED) | Entries 119 (119 starts) Poles 3 Wins 10

◾️ RED BULL finished its 2020 campaign on a high as Max Verstappen's victory in the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ensured the team maintained its record of achieving at least one race win in every season since 2016. That single, almost apologetically belated, success will have buoyed the Red Bull garage after a year in which the team will have yet again felt distinctly second-best behind Mercedes. Nevertheless, 2021 surely will be closer - race-winner Sergio Perez moves in to take a well-deserved seat alongside Verstappen having finally broken his duck at the Sakhir Grand Prix on his 190th start. Certainly, the Mexican should be of more assistance to Verstappen at the front of the grid than the underperforming Alex Albon - but, with Checo now on the wrong side of 30, Red Bull will be pinning its main hopes on its fiercely-determined young Dutchman.

• WILLIAMS-MERCEDES
• [6] Nicholas Latifi (CAN) | Entries 17 (17 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0
• [63] George Russell (GBR) | Entries 38 (38 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ George Russell got a taste of the high life when, as a Mercedes test driver, he stood in for Lewis Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix, led most of the race, set a fastest lap, and won his first points in Formula One. In fairness to Russell, he should have scored those maiden points earlier in the season for WILLIAMS at the Imola Grand Prix. However, the promising Norfolk-born driver made a critical error when warming his tyres behind the safety car while sitting in 10th - and so Williams was condemned to a first pointless season in its history. A blue-and-white livery for 2021 harks back to the team's halcyon days in the 1980s and 1990s - but even just a single point this year from Russell or his Canadian companion Nicholas Latifi will be considered progress and a cause for celebration at the team's base in Grove.

🏁

◾️ 2021 GRAND PRIX RACE CALENDAR ◾️

(1)	28-March	4pm	BAHRAIN	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
(2)	18-April	2pm	EMILIA ROMAGNA	Imola Circuit, Imola
(3)	02-May	3pm	PORTUGAL	Algarve International Circuit, Portimão
(4)	09-May	2pm	SPAIN	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
(5)	23-May	2pm	MONACO	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
(6)	06-June	1pm	AZERBAIJAN	Baku City Circuit, Baku
(7)	13-June	7pm	CANADA	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal
(8)	27-June	2pm	FRANCE	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
(9)	04-July	2pm	AUSTRIA	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
(10)	18-July	3pm	GREAT BRITAIN	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
(11)	01-August	2pm	HUNGARY	Hungaroring, Mogyoród
(12)	29-August	2pm	BELGIUM	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot
(13)	05-September	2pm	NETHERLANDS	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort
(14)	12-September	2pm	ITALY	Monza Circuit, Monza
(15)	26-September	1pm	RUSSIA	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi
(16)	03-October	1pm	SINGAPORE	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
(17)	10-October	6am	JAPAN	Suzuka International Course, Suzuka
(18)	24-October	8pm	UNITED STATES	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX
(19)	31-October	7pm	MEXICO	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City
(20)	07-November	5pm	BRAZIL	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo
(21)	21-November	6am	AUSTRALIA	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne
(22)	05-December	4pm	SAUDI ARABIA	Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia
(23)	12-December	1pm	ABU DHABI	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

🏁

Root seeks a jewel in the crown

TOUR OF SRI LANKA ▪️ ENGLAND WON THE SERIES 2-0

14-18 January	1 England 421 & 76-3 beat Sri Lanka 135 & 359 by seven wickets	Galle
22-25 January	2 England 344 & 164-4 beat Sri Lanka 381 & 126 by six wickets	Galle

💎

ENGLAND captain Joe Root could not have wished to be in better form ahead of a four-Test tour of India which will begin with him earning his 100th Test cap.

Root comes into the series having hit 228 and 186 in the successive matches against Sri Lanka last month as England enjoyed a convincing 2-0 series win despite batting last on both occasions.

The victories extended England's run to four consecutive series successes since the drawn Ashes contest in 2019.

They also meant England are now unbeaten in their last 10 Tests under the captaincy of Root, which is by far his best sequence of results since he took over as skipper in February 2017.

Make no mistake - despite the horrendously disrupted calendar in the last 12 months, this England Test team have made some good progress during this period. 

But, while beating Sri Lanka is one thing, getting the better of India - in India - is a completely different matter.

More ominously still, the Indians head into this tussle on the back of one of their most famous series wins in their entire history last month when they completed a 2-1 victory away in Australia.

Remarkably, the marquee triumph began with India recording their lowest ever total in Test cricket after being bowled out for 36 in the first Test in Adelaide.

Captain Virat Kohli then departed on paternity leave - and welcomed the birth of a baby girl on 11 January - while the remaining tour party was ripped apart by illness and injury.

Such was the extent of the enforced absences that India used no fewer than 20 different players across the four matches - and yet still turned it around.

By the turn of the year, the series was level as stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane hit a century in Melbourne to help India begin their amazing recovery with an eight-wicket victory.

Then, the Indians batted out the whole of the final day of the match in Sydney to set up a decider in Brisbane at the Gabba, a venue at which Australia had not lost a single Test match since 1988.

By this time, India were without six first-choice bowlers, two middle-order batsmen and, of course, Kohli himself. 

Indeed, going into the game, the number of wickets taken by the bowlers of the two teams read 1033 to 13 in Australia's favour.

To top it all off, the Aussies won the toss - but then, somehow, this heavily patched-up India team spent four days grafting to stay in the match before achieving one of the greatest Test victories of all time.

Resuming the fifth and final day of the series on 4-0 and requiring 328, the Indians lost Rohit Sharma early - but still refused to fold against the menacing pace of Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

Instead, Shubman Gill (91) and later Rishabh Pant (89 not out) went on the attack against the bowlers while Cheteshwar Pujara (56) anchored the chase. 

Pant and Pujara took India beyond tea with the requirement tumbling steadily - and, by the time Australia took Pujara's wicket, and those of the three men who followed, India had clearly done enough. 

In fact, just two balls after Shardul Thakur was caught at square leg by Nathan Lyon, Pant hit the winning runs by smashing an off-drive to the boundary.

The fortress at the Gabba had finally been breached once more.

For India, the triumph demonstrated a frightening squad depth, particularly in the bowling department, which - at full strength - unusually features more threat from pace than spin.

England simply cannot afford to underestimate the quartet of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma with 60% of India's Test wickets taken by fast bowlers in the past four years. 

Spin will still be a factor on the subcontinent, of course - but, perhaps, not to the extent that it once was, in the first innings at least. 

However, as former England number three and current batting consultant Jonathan Trott has made clear, the first innings with the bat remains extremely important.

A little over four years ago, England twice scored 400 runs or more in the first knock, only then to lose both matches by an innings. 

Of course, in English conditions, a score of 400 is usually enough to stay in a match, and often enough to take control of it. 

But, in India, a team often needs to make 500 or 600 in the first innings while the pitch is pretty docile so that they have better control of their destiny in the second half of the game when the pitch breaks up and the match suddenly moves apace.

Worryingly, even in victory against Sri Lanka, England only made first innings totals of 421 and 344, and that was thanks mainly to the efforts of Root.

As a matter of fact, Root - as brilliant as he was - scored 426 of England's 1005 runs (42.4%) across the four innings last month, and was at one stage outscoring the contributions made from all of his team-mates put together.

Rather sensibly then, Root has been happy to play the role of the underdog ahead of his landmark appearance in Chennai.

Root said: "To get the opportunity to play India off the back of them beating Australia in Australia - what a scalp that would be for us. 

"There will be more pressure on them than us - they have an expectation to uphold that record they have in their conditions.

Nevertheless, England supporters have every right to feel confident that the tourists will be more competitive in India than in that last series in 2016.

Now especially would be a particularly good time for England to cause an upset - with the surprise news that Test cricket will be returning to terrestrial television for the first time since that seminal Ashes series in 2005.

Just like back then, Channel 4 has gained the broadcast rights, though only after a long, drawn-out process was concluded by an 11th-hour deal.

"It is brilliant for the game,” said Root. “We want to inspire a generation, the next generation.

“You look at the stuff Sky do and the reach they get, they do a wonderful job and they give great content for all the viewers. [But] this is a great opportunity to reach out to a new audience, to grow the game as we keep talking about and for it to be more accessible for everyone else."

One last thing to point out in this preview is the impact that this series will have on the much-affected inaugural World Test Championship. 

The number of postponements caused by the coronavirus has led to the league table being re-adjusted so that it is now based upon the percentage of points won in the matches which have actually been completed.

Pos		Series Won	Tests Won	Tests Drawn	Tests Lost	Points | Played	Points %	Runs per Wicket
(1)	INDIA	4	9	1	3	430 | 600	71.7	1.619
(Q)	NEW ZEALAND	3	7	0	4	420 | 600	70.0	1.281
(3)	AUSTRALIA	2	8	2	4	332 | 480	69.2	1.392
(4)	ENGLAND	4	10	3	4	412 | 600	68.7	1.251
(5)	PAKISTAN	1	3	3	5	226 | 600	37.7	0.785
(6)	SOUTH AFRICA	1	3	0	7	144 | 420	34.3	0.677
(7)	SRI LANKA	0	1	1	6	80 | 480	16.7	0.586
(8)	WEST INDIES	0	1	0	6	40 | 360	11.1	0.493
(9)	BANGLADESH	0	0	0	3	0 | 180	0.0	0.351

Earlier this week, Australia pulled out of their proposed trip to South Africa due to the ongoing concerns surrounding the new strain of the virus - and that was enough to send the world number one-ranked team, New Zealand, through to the Final at Lord's. 

The Black Caps' opponents will be determined by the result of the India v England series, with the Aussies still retaining a chance to progress:

▪️ India will qualify for the Final with a series win by the score of 2-1, 2-0, 3-1, 3-0 or 4-0.

▪️ England will qualify for the Final with a 3-1, 3-0 or a 4-0 series win.

▪️ Australia will qualify for the Final if there is a drawn series, if India only win 1-0, or if England win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1.

For now, though, it is time to sit back, relax and dust off that old CD with Mambo No 5 on it. Cricket on Channel 4 is back.

Index 2020

FOOTBALL
Coronavirus
21.03  Match postponed
18.06  Return of the match
2019/20 season
26.06  Patient Liverpool end 30-year title wait
23.07  Liverpool lift trophy as Villa hunt down "crazy" Hornets
24.08  The longest season
2020/21 season
12.09  Premier League preview: Know your place
15.11  Euro 2020+1: Scotland end long finals wait to set up Wembley clash

OTHER
Cricket
28.01  Youthful England rejuvenate Test prospects
26.08  Anderson and Broad reach landmark totals in rainy summer
Snooker
31.07  Trump takes on the Crucible Curse
16.08  Rocket races to sixth world title
Formula One
05.07  Champion Hamilton chases down Schumacher record
US Politics
08.11  Biden rebuilds Blue Wall as Trump cries foul play
Index
31.12  Index 2020

Scotland end long finals wait to set up Wembley clash

EURO 2020 PLAYOFFS

[A]	SF1	ICELAND	2-1	ROMANIA	Reykjavik
		Sigurdsson 16, 34		Maxim 63(p)
	SF2	BULGARIA	1-3	HUNGARY	Sofia
		Yomov 89		Orban 17, Kalmar 47 Nikolic 75
	FINAL	HUNGARY	2-1	ICELAND	Budpaest
		Nego 88, Szoboszlai 90+2		Sigurdsson 11

(Q) HUNGARY qualified for Euro 2020+1

[B]	SF1	BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA	1-1	NORTHERN IRELAND	Sarajevo
		Krunic 14	3-4 pens	McGinn 53
	SF2	SLOVAKIA	0-0	IRELAND	Bratislava
			4-2 pens
	FINAL	NORTHERN IRELAND	1-2	SLOVAKIA	Belfast
		Skriniar 87 (og)		Kucka 17, Duris 110

(Q) SLOVAKIA qualified for Euro 2020+1

[C]	SF1	SCOTLAND	0-0	ISRAEL	Glasgow
			5-3 pens
	SF2	NORWAY	1-2	SERBIA	Oslo
		Normann 88	aet	Milinkovic 82, 102
	FINAL	SERBIA	1-1	SCOTLAND	Belgrade
		Jovic 90	4-5 pens	Christie 52

(Q) SCOTLAND qualified for Euro 2020+1

[D]	SF1	GEORGIA	1-0	BELARUS	Tblisi
		Okriashvili 7(p)
	SF2	NORTH MACEDONIA	2-1	KOSOVO	Skopje
		Kololli 16 (og), Velkovski 33		Hadergjonaj 29
	FINAL	GEORGIA	0-1	NORTH MACEDONIA	Tblisi
				Pandev 56

(Q) NORTH MACEDONIA qualified for Euro 2020+1


SCOTLAND qualified for their first major tournament appearance this century after beating Serbia on penalties in Belgrade.

Derby County goalkeeper David Marshall was the Scottish hero after he saved the decisive spot-kick from Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic.

And so, following so many false dawns and a few embarrassments down the years, Scotland have finally made it to their first major championship finals since Morocco dumped Craig Brown's side out of the World Cup on 23 June 1998.

Even taking this qualifying campaign in isolation, though, Scotland have taken a rather torturous, circuitous route to Euro 2020+1.

Steve Clarke's men missed out in the regular qualifiers to Belgium and Russia but gave themselves a second chance by winning their inaugural Nations League group against Israel and Albania.

The oddities of the decision by UEFA to combine the European qualifiers with the Nations League resulted in the Scots being quickly reunited with Israel in a one-off semi final at Hampden Park last month.

And, in a sign of things to come, the Scotland players collectively held their nerve, firing in five perfect penalties after a tense 0-0 draw.

Meanwhile, Serbia themselves had surprisingly removed the big threat posed by Norway and Borussia Dortmund hotshot Erling Haaland in their own semi final.

The final was played in skiddy conditions - and in a quiet first half, Sasa Lukic had the best Serbian chance, striking narrowly wide, before John McGinn called Predrag Rajkovic into action for just about the first time.

Scotland were much brighter after the interval and really should have taken the lead when Lyndon Dykes squared the ball to skipper Andy Robertson, only for the Liverpool full-back to blaze wildly over the bar. 

No matter. From their very next attack, Scotland did go 1-0 up after Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie turned and hit a low shot in-off the post from the edge of the box.

That might have been the cue for Scotland to hold on to what they had - but, instead, Clarke's men continued to play positively as chances came and went for Scott McTominay and Callum McGregor.

However, the second goal was not forthcoming and, inevitably, the tide eventually turned in the Serbs' favour as the regulation 90 minutes drew to a close. 

Still, even then, it looked like Scotland might have done enough when Luka Jovic's header sailed inches wide from Filip Mladenovic's cross.

But, as the the match headed towards stoppage time, danger man Jovic found himself completely unmarked and just six yards out.

He simply could not fail to score and his downward header duly forced the match into extra time - with Serbia suddenly carrying all of the momentum.

Despite this, the hosts fashioned only one major scare for Scotland when Marshall was forced to tip Nemanja Gudelj's viscous shot around the post.

And so, for only the second time ever, came a penalty shootout for Scotland.

Of course, their first occasion had come just a month prior - and, as mentioned, the Scots scored a perfect five out of five to beat Israel and reach this final.

Remarkably, they repeated the feat against Serbia as Leigh Griffiths, McGregor, McTominay, Oli McBurnie and Kenny McLean all converted and left Marshall to do the rest.

Sadly, the Home Nations joy from Scotland in Belgrade was not matched by similar scenes in Belfast, at least not from Northern Ireland who were beaten by Slovakia.

Ian Baraclough's men were looking to make it to back-to-back European Championships and made it to their final in a similar style to Scotland by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties.

In the final, though, the Northern Irish made a poor start in front of the 1,060 fans who had been allowed to attend Windsor Park - and Juraj Kucka gave a lead to the visitors after just 14 minutes following a bad giveaway by George Saville.

Deficits are nothing new for Northern Ireland in recent times - and, having come back from 1-0 down to get a draw against Bosnia in the semi, Baraclough's side set about producing a repeat performance.

Rather worryingly, it looked as if the Northern Irish might be leaving it too late - but, with three minutes left, Paddy McNair sent a low cross into the box and Milan Skriniar could only slice into his own net.

Incredibly, Northern Ireland might have won the tie inside the 90 minutes as substitute Kyle Lafferty went close.

However, the Reggina man's shot clipped the outside of the post and the action moved into extra time as the tension ratcheted up another notch.

By this point, both teams had weary legs and the match appeared to be meandering towards a penalty shoot-out.

But suddenly, with 10 minutes left, Slovakia regained the lead after Michal Duris beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell at his near post.

It was a heartbreaking blow for Northern Ireland and one from which they ultimately failed to recover - but there was, of course, still one more chance for the hosts in the final seconds.

Peacock-Farrell pumped the ball forwards and a cross from the right found Jonny Evans, entirely free and just six yards out.

For once, though, there was to be no late drama and no penalty shoot-out as the Leicester City centre-back headed straight into the grateful arms of Slovakian goalkeeper Marek Rodak.

Elsewhere in the playoffs, Hungary also left it late as they ended Icelandic hopes of a third successive major finals appearance.

Gylfi Sigurdsson's early goal from an awful goalkeeping error by Peter Gulacsi looked like it might be enough for Iceland as the clock ticked into the 88th minute.

But France-born Loic Nego then equalised for Hungary from close range and an extra 30 minutes at the Puskas Arena in Budapest beckoned.

The brightest star of this young Magyar team, Dominik Szoboszlai, had other ideas, though - and he ended the contest in stoppage time with a sweet strike in-off the post from 25 yards.

Now, of course, whatever happened in Playoff Path D was bound to be a piece of football history, as Georgia, Belarus, Kosovo and North Macedonia all began with the same ambition of reaching a first ever major finals.

The campaign ended with celebrations in Skopje as the North Macedonians beat Georgia in the final in Tbilisi after Genoa veteran Goran Pandev finished off a beautifully-worked move for the only goal of the game.

North Macedonia went on to spurn several opportunities to kill off the tie completely but, as the Georgians struggled to mount any sort of response, the single goal from Pandev always looked like it would be enough.

The draw for Euro 2020+1 has eventually been completed then.

Scotland slot into Group D alongside Croatia, Czech Republic and England with the mouthwatering clash against the Three Lions scheduled for a potentially sultry Friday night at Wembley on 18 June at 8pm.

North Macedonia will make their major finals debut in Group C against Austria - and also take on Ukraine and Netherlands - while, in Group E, Slovakia face neighbours Poland as well as Spain and Sweden.

Finally, in Group F, Hungary's reward for beating Iceland will be three titanic matches against defending champions Portugal, current world champions France, and recent world champions Germany.

In Group A, Wales meet Switzerland, Turkey and Italy - while the last of the 24-team line-up to be mentioned here are Belgium, Russia, Denmark and debutants Finland in Group B.

Currently scheduled to take place from 11 June to 11 July next year, UEFA still intends for the 60th anniversary edition of the tournament to be hosted by 12 venues across the continent.

Unfortunately, it remains a worrying possibility that the coronavirus pandemic may yet still force a change of plans.

EURO 2020+1 FINALS DRAW

11 June 2021 - 11 July 2021
 

	GROUP A  Rome Baku		GROUP B Copenhagen St Petersburg		GROUP C  Amsterdam Bucharest		GROUP D London Glasgow
[A1]	TURKEY	[B1]	DENMARK	[C1]	NETHERLANDS	[D1]	ENGLAND
[A2]	ITALY	[B2]	FINLAND	[C2]	UKRAINE	[D2]	CROATIA
[A3]	WALES	[B3]	BELGIUM	[C3]	AUSTRIA	[D3]	SCOTLAND
[A4]	SWITZERLAND	[B4]	RUSSIA	[C4]	N MACEDONIA	[D4]	CZECH REP
			GROUP E  Bilbao Dublin		GROUP F Munich Budapest
		[E1]	SPAIN	[F1]	HUNGARY
		[E2]	SWEDEN	[F2]	PORTUGAL
		[E3]	POLAND	[F3]	FRANCE
		[E4]	SLOVAKIA	[F4]	GERMANY

GROUP A

11-June	(8pm)	TURKEY v ITALY	Rome
12-June	(2pm)	WALES v SWITZERLAND	Baku
16-June	(5pm)	TURKEY v WALES	Baku
16-June	(8pm)	ITALY v SWITZERLAND	Rome
20-June	(5pm)	SWITZERLAND v TURKEY	Baku
20-June	(5pm)	ITALY v WALES	Rome

GROUP B

12-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v FINLAND	Copenhagen
12-June	(8pm)	BELGIUM v RUSSIA	Saint Petersburg
16-June	(2pm)	FINLAND v RUSSIA	Saint Petersburg
17-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v BELGIUM	Copenhagen
21-June	(8pm)	RUSSIA v DENMARK	Copenhagen
21-June	(8pm)	FINLAND v BELGIUM	Saint Petersburg

GROUP C

13-June	(5pm)	AUSTRIA v N MACEDONIA	Bucharest
13-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v UKRAINE	Amsterdam
17-June	(2pm)	UKRAINE v N MACEDONIA	Bucharest
17-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIA	Amsterdam
21-June	(5pm)	N MACEDONIA v NETHERLANDS	Amsterdam
21-June	(5pm)	UKRAINE v AUSTRIA	Bucharest

GROUP D

13-June	(2pm)	ENGLAND v CROATIA	London
14-June	(2pm)	SCOTLAND v CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
18-June	(5pm)	CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
18-June	(8pm)	ENGLAND v SCOTLAND	London
22-June	(8pm)	CROATIA v SCOTLAND	Glasgow
22-June	(8pm)	CZECH REPUBLIC v ENGLAND	London

GROUP E

14-June	(5pm)	POLAND v SLOVAKIA	Dublin
14-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v SWEDEN	Bilbao
18-June	(2pm)	SWEDEN v SLOVAKIA	Dublin
19-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v POLAND	Bilbao
23-June	(5pm)	SLOVAKIA v SPAIN	Bilbao
23-June	(5pm)	SWEDEN v POLAND	Dublin

GROUP F

15-June	(5pm)	HUNGARY v PORTUGAL	Budapest
15-June	(8pm)	FRANCE v GERMANY	Munich
19-June	(2pm)	HUNGARY v FRANCE	Budapest
19-June	(5pm)	PORTUGAL v GERMANY	Munich
23-June	(8pm)	PORTUGAL v FRANCE	Budapest
23-June	(8pm)	GERMANY v HUNGARY	Munich

LAST 16

26-June	(5pm)	[38]  RUNNER-UP A v RUNNER-UP B	Amsterdam
26-June	(8pm)	[37]  WINNER A v RUNNER-UP C	London
27-June	(5pm)	[40]  WINNER C v THIRD D/E/F	Budapest
27-June	(8pm)	[39]  WINNER B v THIRD A/D/E/F	Bilbao
28-June	(5pm)	[42]  RUNNER-UP D v RUNNER-UP E	Copenhagen
28-June	(8pm)	[41]  WINNER F v THIRD A/B/C	Bucharest
29-June	(5pm)	[44]  WINNER D v RUNNER-UP F	Dublin
29-June	(8pm)	[43]  WINNER E v THIRD A/B/C/D	Glasgow

QUARTER FINALS

02-July	(5pm)	(45)  WINNER [41] v WINNER [42]	Saint Petersburg
02-July	(8pm)	(46)  WINNER [39] v WINNER [37]	Munich
03-July	(5pm)	(47)  WINNER [40] v WINNER [38]	Baku
03-July	(8pm)	(48)  WINNER [43] v WINNER [44]	Rome

SEMI FINALS

06-July	(8pm)	WINNER (46) v WINNER (45)	London
07-July	(8pm)	WINNER (48) v WINNER (47)	London

NATIONS LEAGUE

A1 (Q) Italy (R) Bosnia-Herzegovina Italy 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina Netherlands 1-0 Poland Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-2 Poland Netherlands 0-1 Italy Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-0 Netherlands  Poland 0-0 Italy  Italy 1-1 Netherlands Poland 3-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina Netherlands 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina Italy 1-0 Poland Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-2 Italy Poland 1-2 Netherlands	A2 (Q) Belgium (R) Iceland Iceland 0-1 England Denmark 0-2 Belgium Belgium 5-1 Iceland Denmark 0-0 England England 2-1 Belgium Iceland 0-3 Denmark England 0-1 Denmark Iceland 1-2 Belgium Belgium 2-0 England Denmark 2-1 Iceland Belgium 4-2 Denmark England 4-0 Iceland	A3 (Q) France (R) Sweden Portugal 4-1 Croatia Sweden 0-1 France France 4-2 Croatia Sweden 0-2 Portugal Croatia 2-1 Sweden France 0-0 Portugal Croatia 1-2 France Portugal 3-0 Sweden Portugal 0-1 France Sweden 2-1 Croatia Croatia 2-3 Portugal France 4-2 Sweden
A4 (Q) Spain (R) Ukraine Germany 1-1 Spain Ukraine 2-1 Switzerland Spain 4-0 Ukraine Switzerland 1-1 Germany Spain 1-0 Switzerland Ukraine 1-2 Germany Germany 3-3 Switzerland Ukraine 1-0 Spain Germany 3-1 Ukraine Switzerland 1-1 Spain Spain 6-0 Germany Switzerland 3-0* Ukraine	B1 (P) Austria (R) Northern Ireland Norway 1-2 Austria Romania 1-1 Northern Ireland   Austria 2-3 Romania Northern Ireland 1-5 Norway Norway 4-0 Romania Northern Ireland 0-1 Austria Norway 1-0 Northern Ireland Romania 0-1 Austria Austria 2-1 Northern Ireland Romania 3-0* Norway Austria 1-1 Norway Northern Ireland 1-1 Romania	B2 (P) Czech Republic (R) Slovakia Scotland 1-1 Israel Slovakia 1-3 Czech Republic Czech Rep 1-2 Scotland Israel 1-1 Slovakia Israel 1-2 Czech Republic Scotland 1-0 Slovakia Scotland 1-0 Czech Rep Slovakia 2-3 Israel Slovakia 1-0 Scotland Czech Republic 1-0 Israel Czech Republic 2-0 Slovakia Israel 1-0 Scotland
B3 (P) Hungary (R) Turkey Russia 3-1 Serbia Turkey 0-1 Hungary Hungary 2-3 Russia Serbia 0-0 Turkey Russia 1-1 Turkey Serbia 0-1 Hungary Russia 0-0 Hungary Turkey 2-2 Serbia Turkey 3-2 Russia Hungary 1-1 Serbia Hungary 2-0 Turkey Serbia 5-0 Russia	B4 (P) Wales (R) Bulgaria Bulgaria 1-1 Ireland Finland 0-1 Wales Wales 1-0 Bulgaria Ireland 0-1 Finland Ireland 0-0 Wales Finland 2-0 Bulgaria Finland 1-0 Ireland Bulgaria 0-1 Wales Bulgaria 1-2 Finland Wales 1-0 Ireland Ireland 0-0 Bulgaria Wales 3-1 Finland	C1 (P) Montenegro (R-playoff) Cyprus Azerbaijan 1-2 Luxembourg Cyprus 0-2 Montenegro Cyprus 0-1 Azerbaijan Luxemb'rg 0-1 Montenegro Luxembourg 2-0 Cyprus Montenegro 2-0 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan 0-0 Cyprus Montenegro 1-2 Luxemb'rg Azerbaijan 0-0 Montenegro Cyprus 2-1 Luxembourg Luxembourg 0-0 Azerbaijan Montenegro 4-0 Cyprus
C2 (P) Armenia (R-playoff) Estonia North Macedonia 2-1 Armenia Estonia 0-1 Georgia Armena 2-0 Estonia Georgia 1-1 North Macedonia Armenia 2-2 Georgia Estonia 3-3 North Macedonia Estonia 1-1 Armenia North Macedonia 1-1 Georgia North Macedonia 2-1 Estonia Georgia 1-2 Armenia Armenia 1-0 North Macedonia Georgia 0-0 Estonia	C3 (P) Slovenia (R-playoff) Moldova Moldova 1-1 Kosovo Slovenia 0-0 Greece Slovenia 1-0 Moldova Kosovo 1-2 Greece Greece 2-0 Moldova Kosovo 0-1 Slovenia Greece 0-0 Kosovo Moldova 0-4 Slovenia Moldova 0-2 Greece Slovenia 2-1 Kosovo Greece 0-0 Slovenia Kosovo 1-0 Moldova	C4 (P) Albania (R-playoff) Kazakhstan Lithuania 0-2 Kazakhstan Belarus 0-2 Albania Kazakhstan 1-2 Belarus Albania 0-1 Lithuania Kazakhstan 0-0 Albania Lithuania 2-2 Belarus Lithuania 0-0 Albania Belarus 2-0 Kazakhstan Albania 3-1 Kazakhstan Belarus 2-0 Lithuania Albania 3-2 Belarus Kazakhstan 1-2 Lithuania
D1 (P) Faroe Islands Latvia 0-0 Andorra Faroe Islands 3-2 Malta Andorra 0-1 Faroe Islands Malta 1-1 Latvia Faroe Islands 1-1 Latvia Andorra 0-0 Malta Latvia 0-1 Malta Faroe Islands 2-0 Andorra Malta 3-1 Andorra Latvia 1-1 Faroe Islands Andorra 0-5 Latvia Malta 1-1 Faroe Islands	D2 (P) Gibraltar Gibraltar 1-0 San Marino San Marino 0-2 Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 0-1 Gibraltar Liechtenstein 0-0 San Marino San Marino 0-0 Gibraltar Gibraltar 1-1 Liechtenstein

*Romania v Norway was awarded as a 3–0 win to Romania after being cancelled as Norway could not travel to the match due to a member of the squad testing positive for COVID-19
*Switzerland v Ukraine was awarded as a 3–0 win to Switzerland after being cancelled as Ukraine were placed in quarantine prior to the match due to positive COVID-19 tests in the team

Biden rebuilds Blue Wall as Trump cries foul play

Credit: Vasco Gargalo @vascogargalo

11	Indiana	9	South Carolina	6	Mississippi	3	Montana
7	Oklahoma	9	Alabama	4	Idaho	1	Maine-2
8	Kentucky	6	Utah	18	Ohio	3	Alaska
11	Tennessee	8	Louisiana	29	Florida	15	North Carolina
5	West Virginia	2	Nebraska-state	6	Iowa
6	Arkansas	10	Missouri	38	Texas
3	South Dakota	6	Kansas	1	Nebraska-1
3	North Dakota	3	Wyoming	1	Nebraska-3

Democratic Joe BIDEN [306] [232] Donald TRUMP Republican

FINAL RESULT
NOTE: highlighted states/districts have changed hands compared to 2016

3	Vermont	9	Colorado	1	Nebraska-2	20	Pennsylvania
11	Massachusetts	5	New Mexico	4	Rhode Island	6	Nevada
10	Maryland	4	New Hampshire	10	Minnesota	11	Arizona
3	Delaware	20	Illinois	4	Hawaii	16	Georgia
3	Washington DC	55	California	2	Maine
29	New York	7	Oregon	1	Maine-1
14	New Jersey	12	Washington	16	Michigan
7	Connecticut	13	Virginia	10	Wisconsin

DESPERATE Donald Trump ordered in the lawyers in an attempt to cling to power despite Joe Biden finally reaching the required 270 Electoral College votes in the Presidential election.

At 16.25 GMT (11.25 ET) yesterday, more than 92 exhausting hours after its polls closed, Scranton-born Mr Biden's home state of Pennsylvania was projected for him by NBC and other networks. 

This was enough to push Mr Biden over the top to 273 votes against the 214 for Mr Trump - but, in this extraordinary election, it seems as if that alone will not be enough to secure the presidency. 

Instead, it now feels inevitable that this contest will be concluded in the courts.

Holed up in the White House in Washington DC, Mr Trump filed lawsuits earlier this week in an attempt to stop and investigate the counts in Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.

The incumbent President has suggested there have been multiple instances of electoral fraud in those states but has failed yet to provide any evidence to substantiate his claims.

Unsurprisingly, so far, Mr Trump has not got anywhere in his bellicose litigation with judges baffled by the cases brought before them.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden felt confident enough to make his first address to the United States as President-elect last night at 1am GMT (8pm ET) in Wilmington, Delaware.

"Let's give each other a chance," Biden said. "It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again. Stop treating our opponents as enemies.

"I will work as hard for those who didn't vote for me as for those who did."

Nevertheless, Mr Trump remains adamant, for now, that his defeat has come as a result of illegitimate means.

His latest unhinged rant on Twitter, written all in capital letters, reads: "The observers were not allowed into the counting rooms. I won the election, got 71 million legal votes.

"Bad things happened which our observers were not allowed to see. Millions of mail-in ballots were sent to people who never asked for them!" 

Even a basic analysis of the election results rather debunks Mr Trump's pathetic howls of an injustice, though - and Republican officials have confirmed they have been able to observe the counts.

After all, any genuine attempts at widespread fraud by the Democrats presumably did not exactly go as planned. 

For a start, Mr Trump himself did not actually have a particularly bad election - he outperformed the polls and won the perennial swing states of Ohio and Florida on election night itself. 

The New Yorker media mogul and failed businessman received more than 70 million votes, the most ever by a sitting US President and over seven million more votes than he received in 2016.

Additionally, in the down-ballot races, the Republicans made some wholly unexpected gains in the House of Representatives - and, while the Democrats still retained their majority in the lower chamber, they do not appear likely to match that feat in the Senate. 

Mr Biden may have rebuilt the Blue Wall in the Mid West with victories in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania but this was certainly not a Blue Wave election. 

Under the terms of American politics, this means Mr Biden will be forced to negotiate and make deals with his political opponents in Congress. 

This was something with which recent Democrat President Barack Obama struggled at times but Mr Biden has already signalled his intention to end what he referred to as a "grim era of demonisation" in political discourse. 

Hopefully, on that front, Mr Biden's 36-year tenure in the upper house, and his strong professional relationship with sometimes obstinate Senate majority leader - Republican Mitch McConnell - will serve him well. 

Following yet another divisive election campaign, American politics could well do with a bipartisan effort to heal the open wounds which threaten still to rip apart the country.

And, in line with this, Mr Trump and his supporters will soon simply have to accept he has become the first one-term President since George HW Bush in 1992, and only the second since Jimmy Carter in 1980. 

Rather than fade into obscurity, though, it would be a surprise if, even outside of the office of the presidency, Mr Trump did not curate some sort of mythical legacy for his supporters to lap up.

He will undoubtedly remain active on his Twitter account, which has 88.8 million followers - and, recently, Donald Trump Jr. has been extremely vocal in support of his father on his own social media profile. 

Mr Trump Jr favours his father's aggressive style and, by readily spreading various disparate conspiracy theories, operates from exactly the same playbook as the outgoing President by intentionally confusing fact with fiction.

President Trump may have been defeated by Mr Biden in this election but Trumpism has not been defeated - and, for now, the fabric of American society remains torn asunder. 

Mr Biden's presidency will be judged on how well he repairs it, if indeed he can at all.

 CONGRESS

Democrats [222] House [213] Republicans

Democrat gains (-12)

GA-07 NC-02 NC-06

CA-21 CA-25 CA-39 CA-48 FL-26 FL-27 IA-01 IA-02 MI-03 MN-07 NM-02 NY-11 NY-22 OK-05 SC-01 UT-04

Republican gains (+13)

218 required for a majority. MI-03 was a Republican gain from Libertarian
 
Democrats [50] Senate [50] Republicans

Democrat gains   (+3)

AZ CO GA GA(s)

AL

Republican gains (-3)

In the case of a 50-50 tie, Vice President Kamala Harris (Democrat) casts the deciding vote
NOTE: GA(s) = Georgia special election. Democrats total includes two indepedents in ME and VT