England, and in particular manager Steve McClaren, face a make-or-break test against Estonia in Tallinn on Wednesday. Victories for their three main Euro 2008 qualification rivals on Saturday left England fourth in group E and trailing leaders Croatia by five points.

France top the European Championships qualification group B after a 2-0 win over Ukraine in Paris on Saturday but Italy are hot on their heels following a 2-1 win over the Faroe Islands. While France’s second half performance, in which goals from Frank Ribery and Nicolas Anelka earned them a deserved three points, exuded panache, world champions Italy were a shadow of their normal selves.

In one month’s time Russia will contest the Davis Cup final against Argentina in Moscow, but Marat Safin would rather be anywhere else. Safin is expected to take a leading role in the final from December 1 to 3, just as he did in September’s semifinal victory over the United States.

It’s make-up time for two of Europe’s big guns as the latest round of Euro 2008 qualifiers get under way on Wednesday. England and France have it all to do to erase the memory of severely disappointing results on Saturday. Having limped to a feeble 0-0 draw at home to the anything but mighty Macedonia, England travel to Croatia for a considerably more testing examination.

France gained a small measure of revenge for their World Cup final defeat by toppling Italy 3-1 in Paris in the heavyweight clash of the Euro 2008 qualifiers on Wednesday. But it was Germany who made most heads turn, recording the biggest victory on their travels with a 13-0 demolition of hapless San Marino.

It was a mixed night for former European Cup winners as Liverpool, AC Milan, Hamburg and Benfica progressed to the Champions League group stages but Red Star Belgrade bit the dust. The 1991 champions will have to settle for Uefa Cup football this season after they went down 2-1 at home to Milan, to lose 3-1 on aggregate.

World number one Roger Federer and number two Rafael Nadal set up a dream finish to the French Open on Friday by advancing to the final. Federer (24) made his first Roland Garros title match as Argentina’s David Nalbandian retired injured while the Swiss player was leading 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semifinal tie.

World number one Roger Federer advanced to the final of the French Open for the first time on Friday when Argentina’s David Nalbandian retired injured while the Swiss player was leading 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semifinal tie. Federer (24) will play either defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain or Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic in Sunday’s final.