Twinned

Recently, twins Craig and Jamie Overton, were called up to the England ODI squad, and Adam and Simon Yates, are both going to ride the Tour de France.

I thought I'd have a look at these twins, and some other notable sporting twins.

Craig and Jamie Overton (Cricket)
The twins are both at Somerset, and were both recently called up for England's ODI squad against New Zealand.

Craig boasts better bowling and batting figures at this stage, but both are only 21, and have the speed and potential to play at international level.

At 21 their talent is still raw, Jamie has had to work hard to try and eradicate no-balls from his game, and is more of a work in progress than Craig.

The big concern for both brothers is if England's coaches alter with their natural game, as they did with Steven Finn, hopefully they will be able to progress and become future England test bowlers.

Adam and Simon Yates (Cycling)
These cycling twins are precociously talented, and smart as well, as they turned down Team Sky, to join Orica-Greenedge, so they were able to challenge for races from the start of their career, rather than ridign for others.

In his first year as a pro, Adam won the Tour of Turkey , as well as coming 5th in the Tour of California and 6th in Dauphine Libere (the French Tour de France warm-up race). He then finished his first grand tour at the Vuelta.

His 2015 has been disrupted somewhat by a broken finger in the Tour of Basque country in April.

Simon's neo-pro year was not as straight forward as Adam's, in the Tour of Turkey which Adam won, Simon broke his collarbone, which hampered his debut year. However, it did have the unexpected consequence of allowing him to ride the Tour de France, where he performed admirably, getting into 2 breaks, which in the Tour is no mean feat, before being withdrawn by his team, so as not to over exert him.

In 2015, Simon has been on an upward trajectory, finishing 6th in Tour of Romandie and 5th in the Dauphine, two impressive performances, which suggest he maybe able to ride with the front group in the mountains at the tour.

At present both riders are scheduled for the Tour de France, and both will be a force.
They won't be the first twins to ride the Tour, as most recently Peter & Martin Velits rode for Omega-Pharma Quick-Step in the 2012 Tour de France.

Bob and Mike Bryan (Tennis)
Men's doubles tennis has been dominated for the last decade, by these tennis twins.

Bob and Mike Bryan have won 16 grand slam men's doubles titles, while in mixed doubles they Bob has 7 titles and Mike has 4.

They are Olympic champions, won the 2007 Davis cup, have 4 world titles and over 100 tournament titles, in fact they have won every major title, and have not failed to win a grand slam title since 2004.

They are mirror twins, Bob is left handed and Mike is right handed, which helps them compliment each other in covering the court.

Football
The most famous current footballing twins, is probably Fabio and Rafael, the Brazilian full-backs, who were both at Manchester United. Fabio, has since left to join Cardiff City. The most famous incident involving Fabio and Rafael, was in 2009, where the referee Chris Foy, mistakenly booked the wrong brother, the decision was later reversed.

Further down the leagues, Adam and James Chambers play together at Walsall and both started their career in the West Midlands with West Brom.

The De Boer brothers, Ronald and Frank, were probably the most notable past footballing twins, they had a combined 179 caps for the Netherlands, Frank with 112 of them. They both started at Ajax, before playing for Barcelona, Rangers, Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal.

Englishmen in New York and elsewhere

Gerrard and Lampard are both moving across the Atlantic to play in the MLS

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are bidding the Premier League fair well, to move to the USA to play in MLS.

Following in the footsteps of the greats, such as Pele and Eusebio

Gerrard is moving to LA Galaxy and Frank Lampard is moving to New York City (a sister club of Man City). They are by no means the first to do so, in the 70s Bobby Moore, joined the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Eusebio, George Best and Johann Cruyff in joining the North American Soccer League (NASL), and more recently David Beckham starred for LA Galaxy and the legend that is Darren Huckerby.

Gerrard and Lampard will have a good deal of compatriots in the MLS, and I preview a few of them below.

Nigel Reo-Coker, never fufilled his early promise
with Wimbledon and Aston Villa

Nigel Reo-Coker - Montreal Impact
Reo-Coker was tipped for big things when he broke onto the scene with Wimbledon. He subsequently joined West Ham and then made a big money move to Aston Villa for £8.5m, but he never hit the heights his talent promised.

In 2013 he joined Vancouver Whitecaps and had a good season, but was traded to Chivas USA in 2014, the move unfortunately coincided with it being Chivas' last season in the MLS , as they dissolved at the end of the season. Reo-Coker has now joined Montreal Impact, who are relatively new to the competition and have yet to achieve an overall finish above 11th.

The Welsh wizard Earnshaw seems to be
ending his career on a bench in Canada

Robert Earnshaw - Vancouver Whitecaps
Earnshaw is now 34 and has had success at international level with 16 goals in 59 appearances, his career has fizzled out some what and he is now a bit part player with Vancouver Whitecaps.

Bexleyheath born Ridgewell has headed to the MLS,
but hasn't quite reached the Broadway heights yet

Liam Ridgewell - Portland Timbers
Ridgewell has played 11 seasons in the Premier League and is still only 30, but in 2014 after being released from West Brom, Ridgewell ran out of Birmingham clubs to play for, so decided to head to USA. Ridgewell had a good first season and the Bexleyheath born defender will be looking to stop Steven Gerrard when Portland play LA.

Kevin Doyle has already scored 2 goals
in his first 4 games for the Rapids

Kevin Doyle - Colorado Rapids
Doyle played for both Reading and Wolves in the Premier League, and most recently played 3 games on loan for Crystal Palace. He has now joined Colorado Rapids, after his Wolves contract expired, and will be hoping to pull the Rapids off of bottom spot in the Western Conference.

Wright-Phillips has recaptured his League 1
scoring form for NY Red Bulls

Bradley Wright-Phillips/Lloyd Sam - New York Red Bulls
Two former Charlton players feature for MLS side New York Red Bulls.
In the 2014 MLS season, Wright-Phillips finished as top goalscorer in the MLS with 27 goals, which included 3 hat-tricks, across his 32 games.   
Lloyd Sam provides energy and assists from out wide, contributing to Wright-Phillips' scoring. In 2014 Sam scored 4 goals across 32 matches, he has already matched that in his first 13 matches this season.

Other English players in the MLS
Tyrone Mears/Andy Rose - Seattle Sounders
Jordan Stewart - San jose Earthquakes
Luke Mulholland - Real Salt Lake
Dom Dwyer - Spoting Kansas City (Scored 22 goals in 2014)
Luke Boden/Lewis Neal/Seb Hines/Harrison Heath - Orlando City
Matt Watson - Chicago Fire
Steve Caldwell/ Luke Moore - Toronto FC

European Championship Qualifiers

Qualification, finishing first or second, gives you automatic qualification. The only other automatic qualifier is the best third place team. The other third place teams, will play-off for the right to qualify.

Please note, all the groups are taken from UEFA.com, and are correct at the time of publishing.

Group A

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Iceland	6	3	0	0	2	0	1	5	0	1	14	3	11	15
Czech Republic	6	2	1	0	2	0	1	4	1	1	12	8	4	13
Netherlands	6	2	1	0	1	0	2	3	1	2	13	6	7	10
Turkey	6	1	0	1	1	2	1	2	2	2	7	8	-1	8
Latvia	6	0	1	2	0	2	1	0	3	3	2	13	-11	3
Kazakhstan	6	0	1	3	0	0	2	0	1	5	4	14	-10	1

Although, there were no real surprises in this group at the weekend, the real surprise of the group is that the Netherlands are in 3rd place. It is undoubtedly one of the toughest groups, with Turkey, Czech Republic, Iceland, as well as relative minnows, Latvia and Kazakhstan, but neither are complete pushovers. 

Netherlands are 3rd because they have lost to Czech Republic and Iceland away and drew with Turkey at home. They will need to beat Czech Republic and Iceland at home, to give themselves a realistic chance of automatic qualification.

Group B

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Wales	6	2	1	0	2	1	0	4	2	0	8	2	6	14
Belgium	6	2	1	0	1	1	1	3	2	1	13	2	11	11
Israel	6	1	0	2	2	0	1	3	0	3	10	9	1	9
Cyprus	6	1	0	1	2	0	2	3	0	3	12	11	1	9
Bosnia and Herzegovina	6	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	8	7	1	8
Andorra	6	0	0	4	0	0	2	0	0	6	3	23	-20	0

Wales pulled off a fantastic result by beating Belgium, Gareth Bale capitalising on a defensive error to secure a 1-0 win and give themselves a 3 point lead at the top of the group.

Defeat is no disaster though for Belgium, as they are still in a strong position in 2nd place. The race for 3rd is a lot tighter in the group, with Bosnia's win over Israel, moving them to 8 points, within 1 point of Cyprus and Israel. Cyprus have now played Andorra twice, so you would expect them to drop away, leaving 3rd place a battle between Israel and Bosnia.

Group C

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Slovakia	6	3	0	0	3	0	0	6	0	0	13	3	10	18
Spain	6	3	0	0	2	0	1	5	0	1	15	3	12	15
Ukraine	6	2	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	2	9	2	7	12
Belarus	6	0	0	3	1	1	1	1	1	4	4	11	-7	4
FYR Macedonia	6	1	0	2	0	0	3	1	0	5	6	14	-8	3
Luxembourg	6	0	1	2	0	0	3	0	1	5	3	17	-14	1

Slovakia are the surprise of Group C, their 2-1 win over Spain in Zilinia in October 2014, came courtesy of a late Miroslav Stoch strike, this ended Spain's 8 year unbeaten run in qualifying.


It's hard to look past Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine as top 3, and it could be that all 3 qualify automatically, as Ukraine are currently the top 3rd placed team. 

Group D

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Poland	6	2	1	0	2	1	0	4	2	0	20	3	17	14
Germany	6	2	1	0	2	0	1	4	1	1	16	4	12	13
Scotland	6	3	0	0	0	2	1	3	2	1	12	6	6	11
Republic of Ireland	6	1	2	0	1	1	1	2	3	1	12	5	7	9
Georgia	6	0	0	3	1	0	2	1	0	5	4	13	-9	3
Gibraltar	6	0	0	3	0	0	3	0	0	6	1	34	-33	0

Poland top group D, after surprising Germany in a 2-0 win in Warsaw in October. They are also top scorers across all the groups with 20 goals, Robert Lewandowski, is also the top scorer in qualifying with 7 (including a 4 minute hat-trick against Georgia).

Germany are still favourites for the group, with September's game against Poland being crucial.

The race for 3rd is a hotly contested one between the 2 celtic nations of Scotland and Ireland, with Scotland currently edging it, but both teams have Germany and Poland still to play.

Group E

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
England	6	3	0	0	3	0	0	6	0	0	18	3	15	18
Switzerland	6	2	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	2	13	4	9	12
Slovenia	6	2	0	1	1	0	2	3	0	3	12	7	5	9
Estonia	6	2	0	1	0	1	2	2	1	3	3	5	-2	7
Lithuania	6	1	0	2	1	0	2	2	0	4	4	12	-8	6
San Marino	6	0	1	2	0	0	3	0	1	5	0	19	-19	1

England have dominated Group E, with an away win in Switzerland, being their most notable win. They are also 2nd top scorers in qualifying and wiht 4 games to play, automatic qualification, seems assured.

2nd place may well depend on the result between Switzerland and Slovenia in September, Slovenia won the tie in October, and with Switzerland still having to face England at Wembley, a draw or a win, could see Slovenia automatically qualify.

San Marino are the only team yet to score in qualifying.

Group F

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Romania	6	2	1	0	2	1	0	4	2	0	7	1	6	14
Northern Ireland	6	2	1	0	2	0	1	4	1	1	8	4	4	13
Hungary	6	1	1	1	2	1	0	3	2	1	5	3	2	11
Faroe Islands	6	1	0	2	1	0	2	2	0	4	4	8	-4	6
Finland	6	0	1	2	1	0	2	1	1	4	5	8	-3	4
Greece	6	0	0	3	0	2	1	0	2	4	2	7	-5	2

This is one of the tightest groups, with no real clear favourite. Romania lead the way, and face Hungary next at home. Northern Ireland are closer to qualification than they have been in a long time. Their two fixtures in September could be key, away to Faroe Islands and then at home to Hungary, 6 points would almost guarantee qualification.

The big surprise is the Faroe Islands, normally considered whipping boys, they have pulled off a double win over the Greeks, who look a shadow of the side that won the Euros in 2004. Read more about them here.

Group G

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Austria	6	2	1	0	3	0	0	5	1	0	11	2	9	16
Sweden	6	2	1	0	1	2	0	3	3	0	10	4	6	12
Russia	6	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	9	4	5	8
Montenegro	6	1	1	1	0	1	2	1	2	3	4	8	-4	5
Liechtenstein	6	0	2	1	1	0	2	1	2	3	2	12	-10	5
Moldova	6	0	0	3	0	2	1	0	2	4	3	9	-6	2

Russia were the favourites for Group G but find themselves 8 points adrift of Austria, after a dreadful start to the group. They have lost to Austria twice, and drawn with Moldova. There are now even fans trying to crowd fund to remove Fabio Capello.

Austria have been the team of the group so far, winning all their games except for a draw with Sweden. Austria and Sweden are favourites for automatic qualification, but Russia face Sweden in Moscow in the next round of games, and that could be crucial to Russia's automatic qualification chances.

Licehtenstein have had a great qualification campaign, beating Moldova, and then drawing with Moldova and Montenegro, who have had a poor qualification campaign, and will hope Jovetic can stay fit.

Group H

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Croatia	6	3	1	0	1	1	0	4	2	0	16	3	13	14
Italy	6	1	1	0	2	2	0	3	3	0	9	5	4	12
Norway	6	1	1	1	2	0	1	3	1	2	7	8	-1	10
Bulgaria	6	0	2	1	2	0	1	2	2	2	7	7	0	8
Azerbaijan	6	1	0	2	0	1	2	1	1	4	4	11	-7	4
Malta	6	0	0	3	0	1	2	0	1	5	1	10	-9	1

Group H is one of the most contested, with 4th placed Bulgaria only 6 points behind leaders Croatia. 

Italy have struggled for goals, especially against the likes of Azerbaijan and Malta, recording 2-1 and 1-0 wins respectively. 

Croatia and Italy have played each other twice now, both games 1-1 draws, and that should mean both will qualify automatically, especially after Norway's 5-1 defeat against Croatia and 0-0 draw with Azerbaijan.

Group I

Home			Away			Total
Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
Portugal	5	2	0	1	2	0	0	4	0	1	7	4	3	12
Denmark	5	2	0	1	1	1	0	3	1	1	8	4	4	10
Albania	4	1	1	0	1	0	1	2	1	1	4	5	-1	7
Serbia *	5	1	0	1	0	1	2	1	1	3	6	8	-2	1
Armenia	5	0	1	1	0	0	3	0	1	4	5	9	-4	1

Group I has had its fair share of controversy, the Serbia v Albania match was abandoned after violent scenes and geographic politics marred the game. Serbia were simultaneously awarded the win and deducted 3 points, which leaves them with 1 point, despite having a win to their name.

Serbia's campaign hasn't been helped by that, as they have lost to Denmark twice, and Portugal once, and they only managed a draw with Armenia. It is a very poor performance, from a side with the likes of Ivanovic, Kolarov, Nastasic, Matic, Markovic, Tadic, Ljajic, and Dordevic. 

Albania have a game in hand and have already beaten Portugal, so can't be ruled out from challenging the top 2. The Denmark v Albania game in Copenhagen, could be crucial in deciding who gets the 2nd automatic qualification place.