Argentina shrugged off the injury absence of Lionel Messi to launch their Copa America Centenario campaign with a 2-1 defeat of defending champions Chile in Santa Clara, United States on Monday. Goals from Angel Di Maria and Ever Banega secured a deserved three points for Argentina, who exacted sweet revenge for their defeat to the Chileans in last year's Copa America final. Chile substitute Jose Fuenzalida scored an injury time consolation for the holders. The Argentines will now be firm favorites to progress to the quarter-finals as Group D winners with games against Panama and Bolivia to come. Injured Argentina captain Messi watched from the substitutes' bench at Levi's Stadium after failing to recover in time from a sore back suffered in a friendly win over Honduras last month. But the Barcelona superstar's absence was barely noticeable, with Nicolas Gaitan slotting into Argentina's attack and making an instant impression, hitting the woodwork with a header after only two minutes.
The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers are still digging out people trapped beneath mounds of rubble.
Villarreal's struggles in the Spanish league continued with a 2-1 loss at Athletic Bilbao, with striker Gerard Moreno not finishing the game because of an injury.
Koopmeiners leads Atalanta past Milan into Coppa semis
A Lionel Messi masterclass, netting a brilliant free kick before laying on two more goals, put Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a resounding 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan on Tuesday.
Champions Real Madrid earned a 2-0 win in a feisty LaLiga encounter at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday to ensure they stayed in the hunt for the LaLiga title with leaders Barcelona.
Images from stories that shaped the week gone by.
These photos prove we live in a bizarre world.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday night.
Atletico celebrate anniversary with 3-1 comeback win over Mallorca
At 19, the 5'8" Puerto Rican beauty has not only accomplished her dreams, but also done her nation proud.
Images from UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Van Gaal also said that they gave the ball away unnecessarily after half-time, insisting that their positions in midfield were not as good as in the first half.
Premier League-based trio Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla were among a high-profile list of absentees when Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque named his provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2016 on Tuesday. Costa injured his hamstring against Liverpool in Chelsea's penultimate game of the season. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres was also absent from the squad despite his improved form towards the end of the season, as were Arsenal midfielder Cazorla and Valencia forward Paco Alcacer, Spain's top scorer in their qualifying campaign.
Defending champion Fernando Verdasco ended Juan Martin del Potro's hopes of reaching a first final following a long injury layoff with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the semi-finals of the San Jose Open on Saturday.
Here are the best images from across the world from the previous week.
A summary of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
These 8 images that show we live in an odd world
Lionel Messi was at the top of his game as Barcelona earned a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to move up to third in La Liga.
What's worse than watching someone take a million selfies?
From the ruins of a Syrian city to shamans, these are just some of the 60 breathtaking images selected as finalists in Smithsonian Magazine's 16th Annual Photo Contest. The magazine received a whopping 48,000 submissions from photographers in 155 countries between March 27 to November 30 2018. The annual contest has gifted us breathtaking pictures from six different categories: Travel, Altered Images, Mobile, Natural World, People, and The American Experience. March 27 is the day when Smithsonian will announce the winner of the Grand Prize. Till then, enjoy some of the amazing work done by the photographers.
Top seed Andy Roddick advanced to the Memphis Championship final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Juan Martin Del Potro on Saturday and will face big-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic.
LaLiga leaders Barcelona's pursuit of a 27th Spanish title gained momentum after a 2-1 comeback win over Real Madrid.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Images from the FIFA World Cup qualifiers matches.
AC Milan went out of the Italian Cup after being held 1-1 at Catania, while AS Roma crushed Torino 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals.
Gazing upon the prize-winning images of the Siena International Photo Awards 2019 is something of a roller coaster experience. The overall winner is a compelling picture of a boy trying to retrieve his ball behind an armed guard in Liberia, taken by British photographer Jonathan Banks. He was up against some extremely talented competition, as our selection shows.
Sumit Nagal won the second singles and then combined with Sahil Deshmukh to win the doubles as India defeated Argentina 2-1 for their first win the Junior Davis Cup final, in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya, returning to Formula One after missing two races due to injury, crashed heavily in practice.
Michael Schumacher of Germany, driving a Ferrari, has won the San Marino Formula One Grand Prix.
A man playing a practical joke by wearing a Laden mask and jumping out at motorists was shot by a startled taxi driver in Costa Rica.
Lionel Messi scored his maiden goal for Paris St Germain in Tuesday's 2-0 Champions League victory against Manchester City.
Here's this week of photos that prove we live in a mad world.
As we prepare to cruise into the New Year, Rediff.com gives you a glance back, through photos, into all the sporting moments that made the last 12 months memorable.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Serie A leaders Juventus scored twice in the last five minutes to win 3-2 at Inter Milan, who had earlier come from behind to lead despite playing with 10 men in an extraordinary match on Saturday.
