Fabio Capello described David Beckham's man-of-the-match award as like American president Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize after the midfielder made a 30-minute cameo in a 3-0 defeat of Belarus on Wednesday. Beckham, sporting a bushy beard, said he is taking nothing for granted but insisted he would fight for his place in what would be a fourth World Cup finals with England.
Manchester Untied striker Michael Owen is set for three weeks on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of a groin problem in the 2-1 Champions League victory over VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday.
World number one Dinara Safina continued to bulldoze her way through the French Open draw when she flattened France's Aravane Rezai 6-1 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday.
'Washington senses that the anchor sheet of India's strategic autonomy lies in its longstanding partnership with Russia, which remains firm and immutable despite the changes in world politics in the post-Cold War era,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.<
Victoria Azarenka suffered a stunning meltdown and blew three match points against world number one Serena Williams before losing 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1) in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Russia won their third successive Olympic rhythmic gymnastics group gold with two dynamic and intricately choreographed routines on Sunday. Their flawless exhibition of agility and dexterity earned them 35.550 points, 0.325 more than surprise silver medallists China. Belarus took the bronze.
Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza notched up a rare double for India at the US Open by advancing to the second round of the season's last Grand Slam with contrasting opening wins at the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.
Since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, Russian military hardware has not been stationed on the border of the European Union. The development indicates the growing diplomatic tussle between Russia and the US over the deployment of the missile defence system in Europe.
A thrilling draw away to Salzburg enabled Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade to reach the Champions League group stage for the first time where they will be joined by Portugal's Benfica and Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. Red Star, who won the European Cup in 1991, came back from two goals down in an electrifying second leg in Austria to draw 2-2 and go through on away goals.
A pumped up Maria Sharapova overcame Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the LA Championships on Wednesday.
Victoria Azarenka, the 19-year-old from Belarus, thrashed injury-hampered world number one Serena Williams 6-3m 6-1 to win the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday. The victory, the first top-tier triumph for Azarenka, stopped the American claiming a record sixth title at Key Biscayne.
Mark Cavendish strengthened his grip on the Tour de France sprints when he won the 11th stage Wednesday to equal Barry Hoban's British record of eight victories in the world's greatest race.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said striker Diego Costa will start against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday despite being left out of the Spain squad for this month's international matches because of persistent injuries.
European champions Spain beat Belgium 2-1 while England overcame Belarus 3-1 to maintain their undefeated record in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Michael Owen was overlooked again on Sunday when England coach Fabio Capello named his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus. Portsmouth forward Peter Crouch and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips return to the squad for the Group Six fixtures after good form for their clubs.
It was mixed fortunes for Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna in the men's doubles at the Wimbledon on Monday.
A tortured and tormented Venus Williams whimpered out of the French Open on Friday while a Portuguese teenage upstart made a very noisy departure. Four-times champion Nadal barely broke into a sweat as he overcame potential banana skin Lleyton Hewitt to extend his Paris record to 31-0.
Holder Ana Ivanovic underlined her credentials for a second French Open title with a 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Czech Iveta Benesova in the third round on Friday. The Serbian eighth seed needed just over an hour to set up a meeting with either ninth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus or Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, seeded 22nd.
Sania Mirza and her partner Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei have upset second seeded Spanish pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual to enter the women's doubles quarterfinal of the Madrid Open event.
India will fight it out with South Africa to re-claim a berth in the Davis Cup World Group in an away play-off tie in September. India advanced to the play-off stage after Australia forfeited the Asia/Oceania Group I tie, to be held in Chennai, due to security concerns.
Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Vikash Malik (60kg) fought through intense bouts to enter the pre-quarterfinals but Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after a stiff second-round contest on a mixed day for India in the World Boxing Championships in Almaty on Sunday.
Americans Bob and Mike Bryan beat Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 7-6, 6-3 on Sunday to win the doubles title at the ATP World Tour Finals and regain the end-of-season number one ranking.
Sushil struggled at the Jakarta Asian Games leading to questions on whether he was good enough to go any further at 36.
What happened on Day 3 of the French Open was more surprising. Two of the top five seeded women exited.
Belarus midfielder Aleksandr Hleb signed a four-year contract with Barcelona to complete his move from Arsenal, the Spanish Primera Liga club said on Wednesday. The 27-year-old, a long-term target for Barcelona, flew to Spain on Wednesday to take his medical, arriving just after the club had agreed to sell Brazilian Ronaldinho to AC Milan.
Champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Russian Vera Zvonareva completed crushing victories on Friday to set up a title clash in the final of the WTA event at Indian Wells. Top seed Ivanovic pummelled 17-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavyluchenkova 6-2, 6-3 in the evening semi-final after fourth-seeded Zvonareva had swept aside her doubles partner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-3.
It was a repeat of the 34-year-old's straight sets victory over Andy Murray in the second round of the US Open in August.
Thirty-two countries, ranging from Finland and Sweden to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Kazakhstan, have declared interest in hosting matches at Euro 2020 which will be staged across the continent.
England defender Rio Ferdinand said the national team set-up was like a circus until the arrival of Italian Fabio Capello as manager.
Netherlands' dream run in the Fed Cup ended agonisingly short of the final when they lost the deciding doubles rubber of a thrilling semi-final against France in Trelaze.
As the curtains fall on another year, Rediff.com brings you all the action from the sports field that defined 2019.
Jelena Jankovic won a fierce scrap with Venus Williams 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday to set up a Stuttgart Grand Prix final against Nadia Petrova. Unseeded Russian Petrova's 6-4, 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the opening semi-final was straightforward by comparison.
Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza posted first-round victories on opening day of the US Open to become the first man and woman from India to reach the second round of the same grand slam event.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza successfully defended her Monterrey Open title on Sunday when Victoria Azarenka retired injured from her first WTA singles final in three years.
In the crucial ninth game Suarez Navarro seemingly held but Sabalenka challenged an ace at 40-15 and won the discussion.
Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
Russia's Nadia Petrova muscled her way into the final of the Stuttgart Grand Prix with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Saturday.
Top ranked women's doubles pair Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza had their 41-match winning streak halted on Thursday after they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open.
Newcomers BATE Borisov got away lightly with a 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in their Champions League debut in Group H on Wednesday. Sergio Ramos gave the nine-times European champions an early lead and they threatened an avalanche of goals but BATE held firm until early in the second half. Ruud van Nistelrooy doubled the advantage with his 54th goal in the competition.
Germany defender Nico Schulz scored a late winner as their new-look side snatched a 3-2 win away to the Netherlands in their opening Euro 2020 Group C qualifier on Sunday, an absorbing clash that swung in fortunes from one side to the other.
