The World Cup served up more nerve-shredding drama with Netherlands scoring two late goals to beat shattered Mexico 2-1 and 10-man Costa Rica bouncing back from conceding a stoppage time equaliser to oust Greece on penalties on Sunday.
PSV Eindhoven, unbeaten in all competitions this season, cruised to a 3-1 win at Heerenveen in the Dutch Cup fourth round on Saturday.
Here is a quick guide to the eight games which get underway on Saturday.
Manchester United have signed Dutch international goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar from Premier League rivals Fulham.
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden barely broke a sweat in a straight-set victory over local hopes John Millman and Edward Winter at the Australian Open.
Goals by substitutes Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay gave the Netherlands a 2-0 victory over Chile on Monday that put them top of World Cup Group B and likely to avoid a second-round meeting with Brazil.
Coach Bert van Marwijk, Dutch officials and many of the press did not hear any racist abuse during Wednesday's session but it has since emerged that a handful of the squad did.
A season without injuries may never happen in the whimsical career of Arjen Robben, yet despite all the setbacks he remains the most lethal threat in the Dutch team.
Dutch delight screamed out from the pages of their newspapers on Saturday as the country basked in the afterglow of a thrilling win over holders Spain at the start of their World Cup campaign.
Germany may field just one man up front to concentrate on neutralising the dangerous Dutch strikers, including the prolific Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Paul van Meekeren said his team still has the determination to go all the way to the semifinals after causing another upset of the World Cup.
Feyenoord scored three times in the first half as they romped to a 4-0 home win over Roda JC Kerkrade and went top of the Dutch league on Sunday.
Fear of further semi-final failure is all that stands in the way of a classic when slick-passing Portugal meet a fast improving Netherlands side.
A JKLF spokesman said the Kashmir issue was discussed at the meeting, but did not spell out the details.
From staying under the radar in the lead-up to the World Cup to becoming high-flyers, South Africa have started playing to potential and are firm favourites against the Dutch.
Tata Communications on Monday said it was considering challenging the Dutch court verdict, which has allowed access to its cable landing station in Mumbai for Anil Ambani Group's Flag Telecom. Reliance Globalcom on its part confirmed receiving a copy of the judgement and said the Hague court had rejected all claims made by VSNL. Flag Telecom, a subsidiary of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Telecom, wanted access to Mumbai landing station of Flag Europe Asia.
The 24-year-old Indian went down to Anders Boesen of Denmark in the last 16.
Indian men's hockey team finish third...
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is making a brief Dutch comeback for this month's World Cup qualifiers. Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk included Van der Sar, who retired from international football after Euro 2008, in his 22-man squad for the Group Nine games against Iceland in Rotterdam on October 11 and away to Norway four days later. Goalkeepers Maarten Stekelenburg of Ajax and Feyenoord's Henk Timmer, who is in the squad, are both nursing injuries.
Max Verstappen won the first sprint race of the Formula One season at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.
Chetan Anand's bid to win his third title on the trot came crashing as the national champion went down fighting against third seed Indonesian Andre K Tedjono in the men's singles final at the Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Amsterdam on Sunday. Sixth seed Chetan lost 15-21, 21-11, 19-21 in a 51-minute gruelling battle.
National champion Chetan Anand and Aditi Mutatkar sailed into the semi-finals even as mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju crashed out in the Dutch Open badminton tournament in Amsterdam on Friday. In the women's singles, Aditi defeated Indonesia's Rosaria Yusfin Pungkasari 12-21, 21-13, 21-18, while sixth seed Chetan got the better off 13th seed Ari Yuli W Hartanto of Indonesia 21-8, 21-16 in 29 minutes to stay on course for his third consecutive title.
It was the first time the US had beaten the Dutch whose defeat continued a run of mediocre results since they came third at last year's World Cup. It will also heap the pressure on them ahead of next week's vital Euro 2016 qualifier away to Latvia.
Fit-again Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder scored either side of the break on Sunday to earn the Netherlands a 2-0 home win over Wales in their final friendly before the Euro 2008 finals.
Rohit & Co. eye better batting show against USA
Never before in history have Cannes and its sidebars found space for eight Indian, or India-themed, films.
Spain and Sweden enter the semifinals of the Women's World Cup.
Second-half goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie gave Netherlands a 2-0 triumph over Romania on Tuesday, wrecking their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 quarter-finals. Huntelaar sidefooted home in the 54th minute from a right-wing cross by Ibrahim Afellay and Van Persie made sure of victory with a fierce left-foot drive in the 87th after expertly controlling a free kick by Demy de Zeeuw.
'Right now hockey is totally changed and anyone can beat anyone depending on the day. It depends on how many chances you create.'
Arsenal took the race to the final day last season and are strongly tipped to end Manchester City's dominance this time.
PSV Eindhoven clinched their fourth Dutch league title in a row on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Vitesse Arnhem to finish above rivals Ajax Amsterdam.
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal took advantage of the first official water break at the World Cup to switch tactics and conjure up a late win for his side over Mexico on Sunday.
The star ingredient of many a delicious preparation is, of course, cheese!
Netherlands may be among the favourites to win the World Cup but they suffered a scare on Saturday when they narrowly avoided defeat by Japan in their first match since completing qualification for next year's finals.
France produced a scintillating show as they put memories of one of the most painful moments in their soccer history to one side by crushing Bulgaria 4-1 in a World Cup Group A qualifier on Friday.
The Netherlands caused the World Cup's second major upset in three days, as it shocked an in-form South Africa by 38 runs.
The Czech Republic snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win over the Netherlands thanks to Vaclav Pilar's added time goal after a dreadful mistake by Daryl Janmaat in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier on Tuesday.
