World champions Germany and perennial also-rans Albania do not share much in common in football but both were united in joy on Sunday when they qualified for Euro 2016 in France along with Romania and Poland.
Ireland stunned world champions Germany 1-0 thanks to Shane Long's 70th-minute strike on Thursday to throw Euro 2016 qualifying Group D game.
India's Viswanathan Anand regained the sole lead with a sparkling victory over former challenger Veselin Topalov from Bulgaria in the ninth round of Candidates Chess tournament in Khanty Mansiysk on Sunday.
Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 on Saturday to launch their season with a bang on coach Thomas Tuchel's Bundesliga debut with the club.
Anand went down to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in what was his second straight loss following a defeat against Alexander Grischuk in the previous round.
Viswanathan Anand made another strong comeback, defeating Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the fourth round of the Zurich Chess Classic on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive victory continues. The five-time World champion failed to break the solid defences of Wesley So of the United States in the seventh round of Sinquefield Cup, which is part of the Grand Chess tour, in St Louis, and settled for his fifth draw in the last five games.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive victory continued as he was held to a draw by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France .
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand came up with a fine performance to be placed tied second in the blitz tournament of the Altibox Norway chess tournament, in Stavanger.
Diplomatic channels activated to keep India eligible for soft loans from World Bank affiliate, though rules show it's probably time we made way for the needier others.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand on Saturday gave jitters to his fans before signing an early draw with top seed Levon Aronian of Armenia in the eighth round of Candidates chess tournament.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand played out a draw with Vladimir Kramnik in the fourth round but remained in sole lead to stay in contention in the Candidates chess tournament in Khanty Mansiysk.
Following the draw, Anand inched up to 4.5 points out of a possible seven and can now look up to his final white game in the tournament, slated against the lowest-ranked player, Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway.
Viswanathan Anand's hunt for the elusive victory continued as he was again held to a draw by Alexander Grischuk.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand ended the World Rapid Championship on a positive note, scoring four points out of five games on the final day, but the Indian ace could only finish 25th in the final standings.
Modi has been relentless in building his brand regardless of banks having a problem of fraudulent and unauthorised transactions with his companies.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand struggled with his form for the second consecutive day as he suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the second round of Zurich Chess Challenge.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand won two, lost two and drew one for a joint third place finish at the blitz tournament of Zurich Chess Classic.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand played out a draw with table-topper Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the third round to open his account in the Sinquefield Cup -- a part of the Grand Chess tour.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand suffered his second defeat in as many games losing to Alexander Grischuk of Russia in the second round of Sinquefield Cup, a part of the Grand Chess tour.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, with a double black, suffered a surprising first round loss at the hands of Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the Sinquefield Cup, in St Louis, the United States.
The world champions now have 19 points while Poland, 8-1 winners over Gibraltar, are on 17.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand scored a thumping victory over French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to jump to joint-second after the end of the sixth round in the Norway Chess tournament, which is a part of the Grand Chess Tour.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand defeated reigning World champion Magnus Carlsen to jump to the joint third spot after the end of the fourth round of Norway Chess tournament, in Stavanger.
Viswanathan Anand's woes in the Grenke Chess Classic continued as the five times world champion blundered yet again and went down to Levon Aornian of Armenia in the fifth round that concluded in Baden-Baden in Germany.
Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand lost to World champion Magnus Carlsen from a winning position to finish fifth in the blitz event that acts as a curtain raiser for the Norway Chess tournament which begins in Stavanger, on Tuesday.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand continued to struggle against nemesis Magnus Carlsen of Norway and lost after a blunder in the fourth round of Grenke Chess Classic now underway in Baden-Baden, Germany.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand will find himself in the unfamiliar position of starting as the lowest-ranked player when he takes on a tough field in his first Classical tournament since losing the world title, in the Zurich Challenge in Zurich at the Savoy.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Rediff.com recaptures these and other exciting sporting moments from the week gone by....
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw with Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the fifth and final round to win the Classical section of Zurich Chess Classic on Thursday.
The five-time World champion played out his third draw on the trot as he signed peace with Etienne Bacrot of France in the third round of Grenke Chess Classic.
Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against world No 2 Fabiano Caurana of Italy in the first round of Grenke Chess Classic in Baden-Baden, Germany. Playing his first tournament after winning the London Classic, the five-times world champion was pleasantly surprised as Caruana went for the Italian opening with white that does not find many followers in top level chess.
Five-times world champion Viswanathan Anand proved all his critics wrong and won the Candidates Chess tournament after settling for a draw with Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the 13th and penultimate round in Khanty Mansiysk (Russia) on Saturday.
Viswanathan Anand played out a quick draw with eventual champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria to finish second in the Norway chess tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour.