Blue is definitely the colour for the discreet N'Golo Kante, now shining for France on the pitches of Euro 2016 after playing a key role in LeicesterCity's fairytale run to the Premier League title in England.
The 34-year-old suffered the injury bowling for Islamabad in the T20 tournament in the UAE and immediately withdrew to fly home to Sydney for scans and an assessment
Italy coach Antonio Conte said he wants more of the team's supporters at Euro 2016 to show their pride by wearing blue shirts after they secured their place in the knockout stages with a 1-0 win over Sweden on Friday. As the Azzurri secured their second straight win with Eder's late goal, Conte was impressed by the vast number of Swedish supporters inside the stadium in Toulouse wearing their side's bright yellow shirts. Italy, in contrast, looked under-represented in the stadium.
Rank outsiders Iceland enjoyed a superb big-stage debut as they clinched a shock 1-1 draw against Euro 2016 Group F favourites Portugal on Tuesday.
A Ciaran Clark own goal earned Sweden a fortunate 1-1 draw against a spirited Ireland side in their Euro 2016 Group E opener at the Stade de France on Monday.
Media reports suggested the McLaren driver, whose wife is Japanese, was likely to announce at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix that he would be leaving Formula One at the end of the year.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Irresistible Chelsea go into the Christmas round of fixtures knowing they can end the year by re-writing the record books.
James Taylor's patient century laid the platform for England to beat Australia by 93 runs in the third One-Day International at Old Trafford in Manchester, on Tuesday, leaving the touring side 2-1 up in the series.
On the face of it, Jose Mourinho shouldered the blame for the wounding defeat in his first Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho is a proven winner who is the perfect choice as Manchester United manager, the club's former defender Phil Neville said on Sunday.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal blamed injuries and unrealistic expectations for his team's disappointing season after a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday confirmed a fifth place finish in the Premier League.
Roger Federer took 55 minutes to dispel all injury doubts with a 6-2, 6-1 routing of unheralded German Tobias Kamke in the second round of the Brisbane International on Thursday. Media speculations swirled around the fitness of the world number three less than two weeks before he launches his bid for a fifth Australian Open title and the Swiss maestro dismissed them by dropping only three games in a lop-sided contest. "I'm going to do my best to stay injury free and give myself a chance to win another grand slam," Federer said after setting up a quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
Manchester United's winless run continued but they gave under-fire coach Louis van Gaal crumbs of cheer with a committed display in an entertaining 0-0 draw with Chelsea while Arsenal went top of the table on Monday.
'Keep Calm And Carry On' could be Claudio Ranieri's motto for the second half of the season after Leicester City earned a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday to put the heat back on Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Arsenal can win the Premier League title this season if they can continue playing the type of game they did during Monday night's 2-1 win over Manchester City, midfielder Mesut Ozil has said.
Leicester City's Premier League title defence got off to a terrible start as they were beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City, who shrugged off an injury crisis to shock the champions on the opening day of the new season on Saturday
India's head coach Anil Kumble has admitted that James Anderson, who is available for selection for the second Test starting on Thursday in Visakhapatnam, would definitely make England strong if included in the playing XI.
Swansea City "reluctantly" sacked manager Garry Monk on Wednesday, following a dreadful run which has seen the Welsh club plummet towards the Premier League relegation zone.
Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will play at Rio 2016 despite suffering with a wrist injury as he prepares for the Olympic Games. Speaking after training at the Olympic Tennis Centre in Rio on Tuesday (2 August), the Spanish team's flag bearer was asked if he would be fit enough to compete. "Yes," he said. "I was talking with the whole team and the team decided that I am going to play, so I'm going to try to train for the next couple of days.
VfL Wolfsburg came close to staging a minor Champions League miracle but their 3-0 loss at Real Madrid in the last eight on Tuesday for a 3-2 aggregate defeat was a reflection of a season of missed opportunities, club officials said.
Arsenal will put one of the best Champions League records on the line when they face Olympiakos Piraeus in a showdown for second spot in Group F on Wednesday.
Be ready to be amazed as Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this super photo feature.
The fixture list suggests that Chelsea should still be able to finish above challengers Tottenham Hotspur. But strange things can happen when the pressure reaches it's greatest intensity and here was certainly something strange about Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino punched the Anfield turf in frustration at the final whistle after his side drew 1-1 with Liverpool in a Premier League match full of thrilling, attacking action on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo wept tears of despair then tears of joy as Portugal stunned host France to lift the 2016 Euro Title in Paris. The Portuguese talisman has won everything at club level with Manchester United and Real Madrid. But Ronaldo has now become a true great after leading his country to European glory- Portugal's first major football title. Ronaldo tried to fight through pain due to a knee injury that he had suffered during the match but the knee injury took it's toll on him as Portugal lost their captain, who had to be carried off on a stretcher.
If Serena Williams' rivals were hoping that the American would take some time out to savour drawing level with Steffi Graf's professional-era record of 22 grand slam titles, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou fired off an immediate warning.
England claimed a 72-run first-innings lead to push for a series-levelling victory but Hafeez and Azhar Ali shared an opening partnership of 101 to bring the hosts back into the match.
The suggestion that Spain need to change their playing style is already meeting resistance even though another disappointing performance at a major soccer tournament suggests that tiki-taka has run its course. In many countries, a defeat as comprehensive as the one Spain suffered against Italy in Euro 2016 on Monday, when they were outplayed and lucky to lose only 2-0, would have led to calls to knock everything down and start again. In Spain, however, where many are proud of having such a distinctive style of play, there are plenty of voices calling for the team to continue trying to pass the ball all the way into the goal.
It is a measure of the importance of captain Robert Lewandowski to Poland that the striker is the first name coach Adam Nawalka writes on the team sheet despite his goal drought at Euro 2016. Most forwards who go more than 10 hours without scoring would be warming the bench and facing criticism from the media and fans. But the Bayern Munich striker will be a key part of Poland's efforts to defeat Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Thursday's quarter-final in Marseille. After scoring 13 goals in the qualifying, Lewandowski's statistics in his first four games in France make disappointing reading: no goals, two attempts on target, three attempts off target and three blocked attempts.
Mourinho's men came from 1-0 down to send the tie into extra time but Chelsea's miserable season continued unchecked as they failed to find a winner against a Stoke side that played with 10 men for all of extra time.
Australia's new Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt has backed the country's bad boy of tennis Nick Kyrgios to "control" the image he projects and break through for a grand slam trophy in the next year or two.
Poland reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 on Saturday when they beat Switzerland 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the sides had drawn 1-1 after extra-time. Granit Xhaka missed the second penalty for the Swiss when he fired his shot wide of the post.
It has been a long time coming but Spain look as if they may finally have solved their number nine problems following Alvaro Morata's two goals in the 3-0 win over Turkey.
England striker Jamie Vardy says Leicester City have no intention of treating the Champions League as some sort of belated Premier League victory parade, and are ready to add another chapter to last season's stunning success story.
Diego Simeone may not have the stomach to reinvent Atletico Madrid again after they suffered another morale-shattering loss to Real Madrid in Saturday's Champions League final.
A smiling Jamie Vardy reckoned he had never scored a finer goal than the blistering long-distance volley which helped Leicester City's footballing fantasy enter ever more surreal territory on Tuesday.
Formula One is braced for the next episode of the Max Verstappen show as Red Bull's teen sensation heads for Ferrari's home circuit only days after making the Italian team's drivers see red. While triple world champion Lewis Hamilton is aiming for his 50th grand prix win on Sunday, to become the first since Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s to win three years in a row at Monza, Verstappen will be the talk of the town.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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