‘An injury to one player gives a chance to another’. It is a managerial cliché, rarely believed by anyone, but there could be a silver lining in England’s injury crisis in Rio de Janeiro tonight. With Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll injured, and Jermain Defoe carrying Achilles-heel damage, the opportunity arises to play Theo Walcott where the Arsenal youngster wants to play: at the head of the attack.

A frightening world of eruptive violence is recreated in this novel about the

At least five people have been killed in the Balkans after freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall caused travel chaos across the region.

Wembley among contenders to host games

Niko Kranjcar is set to leave Tottenham Hotspur and join Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kiev after Euro 2012, the Croatia midfielder has said.

Austria's Marcel Hirscher slid out of a World Cup slalom in Kitzbuehel yesterday and lost the overall championship lead, as rivals questioned his sportsmanship. Italy's Cristian Deville won the race and Croatia's Ivica Kostelic leapfrogged Hirscher as overall leader.

"What's wrong with this bloke?" The Streets' bare-chested Mike Skinner berates the burly, naked Croatian man he's cajoled on to the stage who is taking perverse pleasure in refusing to crowd surf during the heart-rending "Dry Your Eyes".

Up to 30,000 Croats took to the streets of the capital Zagreb over the weekend to protest against the jailing of two generals for war crimes in the Balkans wars on Friday.

General Ante Gotovina, who became a Croatian national hero for his role in the operation that marked the end of Croatia's war of independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1995, was branded a war criminal yesterday and jailed for 24 years.

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia completed his excellent week by winning the latest slalom round in the World Cup in Adelboden in Switzerland to move to the top of the overall standings.

Four VIP guests of Greek club PAOK were injured after their bus was attacked by Croatian football hooligans who threw stones and flares, smashing windows and setting the vehicle alight.

Milka Planinc, who died in Zagreb on 7 October aged 86, served as prime minister in the 1980s in the then communist Yugoslavia. She was a high-level communist official in Yugoslavia, a close associate of President Tito, and the first woman premier of a communist country. From 1982-86 she headed the country's federal Cabinet.