Such is the impact Sadio Mane has made on Liverpool that the 24-year-old is an automatic pick to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday while experienced international teammates scrap it out to play alongside him.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu hit out at Neymar's lack of loyalty to the club on Monday and criticised the Brazilian for staying silent up until his world record 222 million euro ($261 million) move to Paris St. Germain.
Rediff.com's Norma Godinho captures classic moments from the planet's greatest sports competition: The FIFA World Cup.
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.
Elena Dementieva downplayed any suggestions she was the favourite for the Australian Open title after she romped into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova on Monday. The victory, in just 76 minutes, was the 14th in a row for the fourth-seeded Russian, who won the Auckland and Sydney tournaments before arriving at Melbourne Park. She is unbeaten in 2009 and plays Spain's unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro in the last eight.
'Dad, I understand and respect your opinion but my decision has been taken. I ask that you support me as you always do'
Neymar's record-breaking 222 million euros (198.82 million pounds) transfer from Barcelona to French side Paris Saint-Germain appeared close to completion on Wednesday, when his agent predicted he could be unveiled by the weekend.
Gijon spoiled Asier Illarramendi's return to Real Sociedad's midfield after rejoining from Real Madrid this week when they held the Basque club, coached by Scot David Moyes, to a 0-0 draw in San Sebastian.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has hinted the club may be pursuing Real Madrid's Spain defender Sergio Ramos and could also sign a "surprise" striker.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has been ruled out for a month with a calf injury sustained in Saturday's 6-3 win over Arsenal, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Monday.
After an uncharacteristically slow start to the season which provoked questions about his longevity, Cristiano Ronaldo has roared back to life with a torrent of goals and now has La Liga's top scorer award in his sights.
Olympique Marseille let 10-man Ajax Amsterdam off the hook in a UEFA Cup first leg meeting of former European champions on Thursday, while holders Zenit St Petersburg suffered a 2-0 defeat at Udinese. The only other emphatic victory in the first legs came from ambitious Manchester City, 2-0 winners at home to Danish club AaB Aalborg.
Lionel Messi set a new Champions League scoring record with a hat-trick and Luis Suarez netted his first in Barcelona colours as the Spaniards comprehensively beat APOEL Nicosia 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said he believes Lionel Messi will sign a new contract with the Spanish champions despite reports the five times World Player of the Year is stalling over a new deal.
Check out the most shocking upsets at this year's Wimbledon.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The France international is widely expected to move to Liga champions Barcelona at the end of this campaign.
Russia's Elena Dementieva battled her way through brutal conditions to beat unseeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday. Both players struggled in the scorching heat as the temperature approached 40 degrees Celsius but it was the more experienced Dementieva who coped best.
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are not yet ready to compete with Europe's elite but his side will be confident of opening their Champions League campaign with victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Tuesday.
Serena Williams eased her way into the fourth round of the Australian open on Saturday with a 6-1, 6-4 win over China's Peng Shuai. She will meet Victoria Azarenka, who knocked out former champion Amelie Mauresmo.
Maintaining her rich vein of form in the current season, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black bagged the women's doubles title at the WTA Toray Pacific Open with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Spain's Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.
The Greek league leaders confirmed the move but did not give financial details. Local media said Toure would be paid around 2.5 million euros ($2.9 million) for one season.
Real Madrid's La Liga title bid took a dent after Zinedine Zidane's leaders were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday, denied all three points by a late strike from Santi Mina. Lazio mounted a superb second-half comeback at the Olympic Stadium to beat Inter Milan 2-1 and move above Antonio Conte's side into second place in Serie A on Sunday.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Chelsea goalscorer Willian said they must go on the attack against Barcelona at the Nou Camp next month to have any chance of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
Argentina had a scare when Lionel Messi had to be substituted after incurring a back injury during a 1-0 win over rugged Honduras in a Copa America Centenario warm-up friendly on Friday. Messi walked off in pain in the 64th minute in San Juan after a clash with Honduras substitute Oliver Morazan 10 days before Argentina's opening Group D match against Chile. The team later dispelled fears of a serious injury, saying on their Twitter account that Messi had "suffered bruising on the left of his lower back and ribs." Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal for Argentina. In other warm-up matches for the June 3-26 tournament in the United States, Edinson Cavani struck twice as Uruguay overcame Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 and title holders Chile were upset 2-1 by Jamaica.
'I'm definitely not going to change, players have to know that when they face me that I have my own way of playing and that is dribbling, scoring goals and helping my team mates'
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two best players in the world right now but Neymar will eclipse them both next year, former Brazil striker Ronaldo told Reuters.
Barcelona's talismanic Lionel Messi remains the driving force of a talented side on the brink of repeating 2009's historic treble despite a change in their coach and style of football, not to mention a host of players.
Jon Dahl Tomasson converted an 86th-minute penalty to salvage a point for Feyenoord in a 2-2 draw against arch rivals Ajax Amsterdam in the Dutch league on Sunday.
Russia took a commanding 2-0 lead in the Fed Cup final on Saturday after top 10 players Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova overpowered their Spanish rivals to put the holders within reach of a fourth title in five years. World number nine Zvonareva beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-4 in the opening rubber of the five-match tie on Saturday before Svetlana Kuznetsova dismissed 20-year-old Carla Suarez 6-3, 6-1.
Lionel Messi scored yet another hat-trick and surpassed 400club goals as Barcelona came from behind to win the Catalan derby 5-1 against Espanyol.
Lionel Messi is not about to leave Barcelona despite taking his time to sign a new contract with the Liga side, teammate Gerard Pique said on Thursday, saying that the Argentine "loves the club more than anybody".
Novak Djokovic had to fight back from a set down to beat Thomaz Bellucci and reach the Italian Open quarter-finals.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp wants his players to be "angry" and guard against complacency when they entertain promoted HullCity on Saturday.
Argentina, helped by a majestic Juan Roman Riquelme performance, maintained their perfect record in the World Cup qualifiers on Saturday while Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez quit after a 5-1 loss to Paraguay. Riquelme scored two second half goals, including an exquisite free kick, in a 3-0 win over Bolivia which left Argentina with nine points from three games in the South American group.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Barcelona's Luis Suarez hit a brace and set up a double for a spritely Lionel Messi to score in his first start after injury in a rampant 6-1 Champions League victory over AS Roma on Tuesday.
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