Blackburn defender Shane Duffy is desperate to win a place in Republic of Irelands Euro 2016 squad with an impressive display against Netherlands. Duffy hopes to collect a third senior cap for his country before Martin ONeill selects his final 23-man squad for the tournament in France.Should Duffy make the squad it would represent a remarkable turnaround after he suffered a lacerated liver during a practice match in 2010. Six years on, the experiences of those traumatic few days remain with him, but have given him a perspective on his life and career.I appreciate everything after it, to be honest, he said. Its been six years since it happened and to be back in the fold is obviously a big thing for me and my family.But its not just this. Its being back playing on the pitch and everything in my life, to be honest.I do lk at everything a bit differently after that, to be honest. It tk me a while to get going and I came back a bit early from it, but its one of those things.Derry-born Duffy was then an emerging player at Everton, but eventually had to take a step backwards before he could get his career heading in the right direction once again.Loan spells with Burnley, Scunthorpe and Yeovil handed him the regular ftball he craved before he got his chance at Ewd Park, securing a permanent move in September 2014, and he has not lked back since. Ciaran Clark (left) celebrates with Republic of Ireland defender Shane Duffy during their win over Switzerland His development has been such that he was worked his way into ONeills sights having been denied a debut under Giovanni Trapattoni by his injury back in 2010.Duffy finally got his chance in an end-of-season friendly against Costa Rica in Philadelphia in June 2014, but had to wait until the 1-0 friendly victory over Switzerland in March this year for his second appearance.I probably wasnt ready four years ago, he added. I sat there and I was obviously watching the lads, and you want to go out and represent your country if you are in the game.It was just, I want to try my best to try to get to the next one - and if I cant get to that one, Ill try my best to get to the next one after that.You have got to set it as a target and thats what I did, and hopefully I can be there. 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With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Custom Basketball Jerseys Throwback . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Day 3 of the ELeague Playoffs saw Astralis and OpTic Gaming punch their ticket to the Grand Finals, earning wins over SK Gaming and FaZe Clan, respectively.Astralis blank SK GamingThe first semifinal matchup of the day went rather well for Astralis as they managed to silence SK Gaming on arguably their two best maps. The series started out on Overpass, Astralis initial map pick, and on cue the team quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead. That seemed to evaporate all at once, however, as SK Gaming put together their own rally to keep the score close at halftime. Unfortunately for SK, Astralis had a great second half thanks to Andreas Xyp9x H?jsleth, who rallied his team to a map win 16-11. H?jsleth would put together an impressive 52/35 KD and 124.4 ADR in the two-game series.The second map of the best-of-three series may have been the most surprising result of the tournament as SK Gaming lost on Train for just the third time in the last 28 times theyve played on the map. Perhaps more surprising, Astralis put together a commanding 12-3 at halftime, annihilating SK on their supposed best map. A late rally fueled by Gabriel FalleN Toledos impressive movement and AWPing helped the Brazilians earn seven consecutive round wins on the defense to get back into the game. But that wouldnt last long as Astralis Markus Kjaerbye Kj?rbye and Nicolai device Reedtz had a huge hand in taking the last two rounds away from SK to cllaim the map 16-12 and the series 2-0.ddddddddddddOpTic upset FaZe Clan en route to finalThe second best-of-three series of the day also showcased a sweep, this time at the hands of the Green Wall, OpTic Gaming. If the first map was any indication, the North American team seemed to firing on all cylinders, as they cruised to a 16-3 Map 1 win on Train. Tarik tarik Celik led the team, accumulating a remarkable 25/9 KD followed by a shattering 125.1 ADR.The second map would get a bit more interesting as each team seemed to trade runs of momentum in the first half. Even in a 10-5 hole to start the second half of Map 2, FaZe Clan would simply not give up, earning five consecutive defensive round wins to nearly knot up the map. Luckily for OpTic, their economy was at full strength for a much-needed buy round, a brilliant strategic move that allowed them to earn two round wins, extending their slight lead. Once again, though, FaZe wouldnt back down as they rallied to win the next two rounds. That was the end of the road, however, as OpTics Will RUSH Wierzba came up big in the final three rounds to close out the map 16-12 and the series 2-0.With the win, OpTic Gaming will advance to face Astralis in the Grand Final on Saturday. The climactic battle will take place at 4:00 PM EST on TBS. ' ' '