Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Andrea Barzagli have extended their contracts with the Italian champions until 2018, they said on Wednesday. Italy captain Buffon, 38, and international team mate Barzagli, 35, have helped Juve win five straight Serie A titles, having made 35 and 30 appearances respectively this season. "I hope that my fantastic story with this club will go on and bring even further success," Buffon told a news conference. "I'm immensely proud in the faith Juventus have placed in me once more." Barzagli added: "Even at this age, I still have room to improve and this is the best place for me to do so."
Juventus laboured to a 1-0 win at struggling Siena to end a barren four-match run in Serie A on Sunday while a late Alessandro Nesta double earned resurgent AC Milan a stunning 2-1 comeback triumph at Chievo Verona.
She will now play Dutch 15th seed Kiki Bertens, who saw off Australian qualifier Daria Gavrilova 6-3, 6-3, in Saturday's semi-final on the red Foro Italico clay.
The Italian federation (FIGC) is determined to complete the season and its president Gabriele Gravina has been presenting new ideas on an almost daily basis of how that can be done. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan in Central Asia is set to resume its soccer season with spectators at the weekend, making it only the second country in the world to let fans attend matches as the new coronavirus shuts down almost all of world football.
A two-goal burst from striker Diego Milito gave Serie A champions Inter Milan an unconvincing 2-1 win at Cagliari on Sunday when AC Milan also struggled to beat Bologna 1-0.
Martin Caceres scored on his Serie A debut to help Juventus win 2-0 at Lazio on Saturday and maintain their perfect start to the season.
Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has been offered a professional contract by Australian A-League outfit the Central Coast Mariners but a deal is unlikely without an external third party financial contribution, the club said on Tuesday.
Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic scored with almost the last kick of the game to snatch a 2-2 draw against AC Milan in Serie A under new coach Stefano Pioli after their neighbours twice led through Suso in Sunday's derby. Perisic turned the ball in at the far post to spare the blushes of his captain Mauro Icardi who had missed two simple chances which could have changed the course of the game. Antonio Candreva also scored a spectacular goal for Inter who made an encouraging start after Pioli was appointed last week with Frank de Boer having been fired after 85 days.
Juventus booked their spot in the Italian Cup quarter-finals with an easy 3-0 home win over Catania on Wednesday.
Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro will return to Juventus from Real Madrid on July 1 despite widespread supporter anger over the move.
Paul Pogba repaid some of his world record transfer fee with two goals as Manchester United rediscovered their early-season shine, cruising to a 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce to go top of their group on Thursday. Pogba scored a penalty and rifled United's third into the top corner. Anthony Martial also netted from the spot and Jesse Lingard fired home in the second half before former Old Trafford favourite Robin van Persie pulled one back for Fenerbahce. Inter Milan and AS Roma, though, had more testing evenings. Coach Frank de Boer breathed a sigh of relief when Inter survived an onslaught from Southampton to end a three-match losing streak with a 1-0 victory while Roma conceded twice late on to draw 3-3 at home to Austria Vienna.
World champions Italy, smarting from the 3-0 drubbing by Netherlands, are likely to overhaul their team and maybe their formation for Friday's Euro 2008 match against Romania. Romania's game-plan will be much the same as against France with the focus on defence rather than goals.
Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has been ruled out of Euro 2008 after suffering ankle ligament damage on Monday, the Italian football federation said. The 34-year-old defender collided with Giorgio Chiellini in Italy's first training session in Austria and his departure was confirmed after having tests in hospital.
Alessandro Del Piero's Euro 2008 hopes suffered a fresh blow on Saturday when Italy coach Roberto Donadoni left the striker out of his squad for Wednesday's friendly in Spain.
Pope Francis on Sunday declared Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Euphrasia Eluventhinkal from India as saints at Vatican.
Juventus beat a disorganised AC Milan 4-2 in an enthralling Serie A encounter on Sunday to go clear in second place. Striker Amauri scored twice to put Juve six points behind leaders Inter Milan, who earlier defeated bottom side Chievo 4-2, while Milan now trail their city rivals by nine after 16 matches.
The best and the worse styles...
AC Milan were held 2-2 at struggling Torino on Sunday, leaving city rivals Inter Milan three points clear at the top of Serie A. Torino's Alessandro Rosina scored a 78th-minute penalty, which was conceded for handball by Kakha Kaladze, to earn the hosts a draw after Ronaldinho had put Milan 2-1 up with a spectacular free kick in the 34th.
Inspired by two-goal Alessandro Del Piero, Juventus chalked up their first win at Real Madrid since 1962 by beating the Spaniards 2-0 to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League.
Alessandro Florenzi ran more than half the length of the field to score and cap a 2-0 win for AS Roma over Genoa which took them back into second place in Serie A on Sunday.
Alessandro Del Piero scored with a longe-range swerving free kick to give Juventus a 1-0 home win over Zenit St Petersburg on their return to the Champions League group stages on Wednesday. The 33-year-old captain, who played in the final when the Turin club won the second of their two European Cups in 1996, netted on 76 minutes in their Group H opener with Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev looking at fault.
The death toll for the worst ever migrant disaster in the Mediterranean could be as high as 950 said reports even as Italy's coastguard coordinated the search for survivors and bodies.
Kaka netted a hat-trick to help AC Milan keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive with a 5-1 win over relegation-threatened Reggina on Sunday.
One of the most favourite activities of Christmas is decorating the Christmas tree. From England to Lebanon, here are some of 2016's most over-the-top Christmas trees.
Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero and Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano have been included in Italy's provisional 24-man squad for Euro 2008, coach Roberto Donadoni said on Tuesday. Del Piero, 33, has not played for the world champions in eight months but was expected to be included after finishing as Serie A's top scorer for the first time with 21 goals this term.
Troubled AC Milan slipped back to sixth in Serie A on Sunday after they lost 2-1 at home to Atalanta and rivals Udinese beat Fiorentina 3-1.
Juventus missed the chance to join Inter Milan at the top of Serie A after losing 3-1 at promoted Napoli following two dubious penalties on Saturday.
San Siro has become a hindrance rather than a help for Inter Milan, coach Roberto Mancini said following their 2-1 home defeat by champions Juventus.
European football was given good and bad reminders of its past on Thursday with an impressive 2-0 win for once-mighty Ajax Amsterdam over Schalke 04 in one Europa League game but ugly scenes in the crowd at Lyon delaying another.
The 31-year-old Nesta has 78 Italy caps and played in three World Cups.
Former Chelsea winger Florent Malouda will join Brazilian Roberto Carlos at the Delhi Dynamos for the second season of the Indian Super League, the club announced on Sunday.
Benevento, beaten in their first 14 Serie A matches, grabbed their first-ever top flight point in extraordinary style on Sunday when goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli scored with a flying header deep into stoppage time to give them a 2-2 draw with AC Milan.
While Kapil is an academy member of the Laureus World Sports Awards along with Australian cricket legend Steve Waugh, Yuvraj has been invited in role of an ambassador.
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni has announced his 25-man squad for Euro 2008 qualifiers against Ukraine and Georgia.
Former Italy defender Marco Materazzi has joined Chennai in the new Indian Super League (ISL) following in the footsteps of former national team mate Alessandro Del Piero.
There are small signs of encouragement in Michael Schumacher's condition but the former Formula One star still faces a long fight to recover after suffering brain damage in a skiing accident, his agent said.
Juventus were promoted back to Serie A with three games to spare after a thumping 5-1 win at Arezzo.
Barca have now won just one of their last nine away matches and although they remain top of the table on 56 points, they are only two clear of Sevilla and five ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid who both have a game in hand.
Images from football friendlies played on Wednesday.