Real Madrid's Welsh winger Gareth Bale has joined Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for FIFA's Ballon d'Or award.
Coach Joachim Loew said he is satisfied with Germany's showing at Euro 2008 after they lost the final 1-0 to Spain on Sunday. The Germany coach, who will stay in charge for the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, said Spain fully deserved their first major title in 44 years.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
Rediff.com brings a preview of the main matches coming up this weekend in the English Premier League.
A lacklustre Bayern Munich needed a long-range goal from Spaniard Xabi Alonso to secure a 1-0 victory over Darmstadt 98 on Tuesday that put them into the quarter-finals of the German Cup.
They opened their Bundesliga title defence with a 2-0 home win over Borussia Dortmund.
Barcelona's Neymar struck twice to put the Spanish side in the Champions League final despite a 3-2 loss at Bayern Munich on Tuesday as they progressed 5-3 on aggregate and will face Real Madrid or Juventus next month.
Bayern Munich will not only have to overturn a 3-0 Champions League semi-final first leg deficit against Barcelona on Tuesday but they will have to do it against a superb defence and in the midst of their biggest slump in years.
Argentina will face a stronger, fitter and hungrier Germany when they meet for the third time in 18 months.
The football fever reaches sky-high with all eyes on Euro 2016. Tournament host France will play the opener against Romania, which will be aired in India post mid-night on June 11. As the UEFA braces for the 15th edition of the European continental championship, the tournament organisers have revealed the all time XI to play in Euro's history.
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola set a Bundesliga record after needing only 61 matches for his 50th league win when the champions beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0 on Saturday to march towards the title.
Factbox on Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who announced his retirement from international football on Friday.
German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has retired from international football, he announced on Friday, saying he was disappointed to have not finished his career with a win at Euro 2016 in France. "It wasn't to be and I have to accept it," he said in a statement on his Twitter feed.
Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid made it four away wins from the opening four Champions League last-16 first leg matches when they triumphed at Arsenal and AC Milan respectively on Wednesday.
Germany and Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira's World Cup hopes hang in the balance after he was ruled out for around six months with a torn cruciate ligament suffered in Friday's 1-1 draw against Italy, team doctors said on Saturday.
Bayern Munich booked their fifth successive Champions League semi-final spot with a 2-2 draw at Benfica on Wednesday to seal a 3-2 aggregate victory that kept the Germans on course for a treble of titles.
'I am a bit surprised by the score, but it is the Bayern mentality.' 'When it matters we are always there.'
Bayern Munich's surprise 3-1 Champions League loss to Porto was the price the five-time European champions paid for a string of injuries and a tired squad.
In-form Borussia Moenchengladbach struck three times in 14 minutes in the second half to floor champions Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday and inflict their first Bundesliga defeat of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score 100 goals in UEFA competitions when he struck twice as holders Real Madrid came from behind to win 2-1 at Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
Germany's Lukas Podolski will receive an appropriate farewell when the world champions meet England in a high-quality friendly on Wednesday with the winger having become one of the country's all-time greats, coach Joachim Loew said on Tuesday.
Portugal and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named the world's best footballer for the second time on Monday, preventing his great rival Lionel Messi from winning the award for a fifth year in a row.
The 2014 World Cup was a captivating carnival of football with high drama and Germany displayed their credentials as worthy champions.
Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to rekindle some of the magic they once served up under Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday when they face their old coach in the latest edition of Real Madrid's rivalry with Bayern Munich.
New coach Pep Guardiola shuffled the cards at Bayern Munich as the treble winners beat his former club Barcelona 2-0 in a friendly on Wednesday.
Alexis Sanchez had equalised for the visitors, scoring on the rebound after Manuel Neuer saved his 30th-minute penalty but the Gunners suffered when captain Laurent Koscielny limped off injured to leave the defence exposed.
Chelsea's Spanish striker Diego Costa was named along with usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23- man FIFA Ballon D'Or short-list released on Tuesday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Bayern Munich's smooth passage into the Champions League knockout stage hit a speed bump after it emerged on Thursday that versatile Austria international David Alaba will need knee surgery and will be out for several weeks.
Bayern Munich slumped out of the German Cup semi-finals 2-0 on penalties to Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern Munich put upstarts RB Leipzig firmly in their place by sweeping to an emphatic 3-0 home win, with all the goals coming in the first half, in a disappointingly one-sided top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund 4-3 on penalties to win the German Cup for the 18th time on Saturday, handing coach Pep Guardiola another domestic double in his final game in charge.
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola was brought to the club to extend their European dominance, but will leave at the end of the season having lost three successive Champions League semi-finals.
Germans basked in World Cup glory again when the national team were honoured before attending the premiere of the official movie about their victory in Brazil in July.
Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
Defying all odds, an 11-year-old football prodigy from an impoverished area of Bhubaneswar has been selected to train at Germany's most iconic club Bayern Munich, as an academy player for two months.
"First we have to play football and see what happens. Maybe we can then score a goal and create an atmosphere in the stadium."
Bayern Munich may be missing some of their biggest names when they travel to Porto for the first leg of their Champions League last eight on Wednesday but the Germans are confident they have enough firepower to defend their favourites tag.
Departing Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has been assured a bittersweet farewell at the German club with the pending celebration of a record fourth straight Bundesliga title soured by another failure to shine on the European stage.
Bayern Munich's party was wrecked by Borussia Moenchengladbach who hit back for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, forcing the Bavarians to wait at least a week to clinch a fourth straight Bundesliga title.
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