Argentina got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to the perfect start on Thursday when Lionel Messi's early penalty gave them a 1-0 win over Ecuador in a lacklustre match in Buenos Aires.
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.
The Argentina captain turns 31 in a few days and may be playing his last World Cup. He would need to win it to rival fellow great Diego Maradona for the eternal love of his compatriots.
Chile need Alexis Sanchez to recover his best form as they try to end an almost century-long wait for a first Copa America, according to coach Jorge Sampaoli.
Substitute Neymar scored two second-half goals to inspire Brazil to a 4-1 win over the United States in Massachusetts on Tuesday.
Argentina remain winless in South American qualifying for the 2018 World Cup after struggling to a 0-0 in Paraguay on Tuesday, while Uruguay and Ecuador both made it two wins from two games to top the group.
In one of season's biggest signings, former Brazilian World Cup winner Roberto Carlos was oficially appointed marquee manager of the Delhi Dynamos franchise for the second edition of Indian Super League (ISL) football.
Argentina forward Carlos Tevez is to leave Juventus after two seasons in which he has revived his career and will rejoin Boca Juniors, the club where he started out and remains a cult figure.
Uruguay's Cristian Rodriguez scored a soft goal in the holders' laboured 1-0 win over outsiders Jamaica when they opened their defence of their Copa America title on Saturday.
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There are 28 sports at the Olympics but many home fans will be happy if the hosts win just one as their young soccer team seek to finally secure the only international title that has so far eluded Brazil.
Liverpool's Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's player award
Lionel Messi became the all-time top scorer for a single soccer club on Tuesday after scoring his 644th goal for Barcelona during their La Liga match against Real Valladolid, surpassing Pele's record goal haul for Brazilian side Santos.
Barcelona have been very active in the transfer market in recent years, completing three of the top six most expensive transfers ever.
Pele scored 643 goals in 19 seasons for Brazilian side Santos.
Manchester United's new manager Jose Mourinho made peace with Bobby Charlton as he met the Old Trafford icon at the club's Carrington training ground.
France forward Griezmann, 28, rejected a move to Barcelona last year but announced in May he was leaving the Madrid side, where he has spent the last five seasons since signing from Real Sociedad in 2014.
Barcelona forward Neymar finds himself at the centre of unwanted media attention in Spain as his struggling team's promising season threatens to unravel after a run of defeats. The Brazilian has not scored in his last five games and is being portrayed as one of the reasons for Barca's woes after three straight La Liga losses has seen them caught by Atletico Madrid, who have also knocked them out of the Champions League. Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia this week focused on the 24-year-old's conduct off the pitch, particularly his "trips away, parties at unadvisable times and commercial commitments". He visited Brazil in March for his sister's birthday party. TV programme 'El Dia Despues (The Day After) on Tuesday showed Neymar arguing with Jordi Ala during Sunday's home defeat by Valencia after the defender chose not to pass to him. Camera footage showed Neymar appearing to swear at his team mate. Barcelona play Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday looking to get their title bid back on track with the cover of newspaper Mundo Deportivo focusing on Neymar, pictured between Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, below the headline 'This cannot go on'.
Lionel Messi's return sparked Argentina to a 2-1 win over Chile in Santiago on Thursday, breathing new life into their South American qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.
Manchester United will sell goalkeeper Victor Valdes after the Spaniard refused to play in the reserves, manager Louis van Gaal said.
Argentina's two iconic players may be contrasting characters but they shared many traits
Portugal continue to be a paradox at Euro 2016, reaching the semi-finals without ever giving the kind of uplifting performance that their talented team should be capable of.
'We were looking at making a positive change -- so Coutinho was going to come off and we were going to put Danny Ings on. I'm glad I kept him on'
Pirlo started his first season in charge of a senior side looking to make it 10 successive Serie A titles for Juve, but the rookie coach struggled.
The brain may be sharp as ever, but the legs seem heavier, the pace worryingly slower. He's still only 32, but the strain of a decade-and-a-half of paranormal activity on the pitch may just be piling up.
Luis Suarez has progressed from his impressive debut La Liga campaign to produce the most prolific season of his career and fire Barcelona to a second straight title, free of the stigma of his ban for biting which accompanied him to Spain in 2014. It was fitting that the Uruguayan should score a hat-trick in the comfortable 3-0 victory at Granada on Saturday to clinch the title, taking his tally to 40 goals in 35 games. He is the first player other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to finish as La Liga top scorer since 2009 but his contribution to Barca's title triumph goes beyond his goals and 16 assists. For Suarez is the hardest working of the feted 'MSN' partnership he forms with Messi and Neymar, a trio who have delivered 90 of Barcelona's 112 league goals. He is also the most willing to close down opponents and run into space and, naturally, he has shown himself to be the player who is keenest to throw himself into any physical battle.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will go head-to-head once again for the title of world's best footballer after being short-listed along with Neymar on Monday for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or.
Brazil hammered Bolivia 5-0 in World Cup qualifiers on Thursday, giving coach Tite his third successive win in the most convincing performance from the five-time world champions for some time. Bolivia had not won a World Cup qualifier away from home since 1993 but Brazil were still excellent, particularly in the first half, when they scored four of their five goals.
Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero struck two goals apiece in Argentina's 7-0 romp against an out-of-sorts Bolivia while Mexico were held 3-3 by Trinidad & Tobago in friendlies in the United States on Friday.
Relentless will to improve drives City to greatness
Photos from the EPL match played between Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion on Monday
Carlos Tevez was officially unveiled as a Boca Juniors player in a 6.5 million euros ($7.15 million) transfer from Juventus.
The World Cup lost its headline acts on Saturday as the game's two biggest stars, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, readied to leave Russia after their teams were eliminated in the round of 16. Messi's Argentina lost 4-3 to France and hours later Ronaldo's Portugal went down 2-1 to Uruguay, leaving the tournament without its two best known and most loved players.
Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after a court in Barcelona found him guilty of three counts of tax fraud, a statement from the court said on Wednesday.
Messi memes quickly sprung up on the internet.
Pele, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history, died on Thursday at the age of 82.
Salvadorian businessman approached the players with financial inducements before they travelled to Canada for the match at the weekend.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
In Brazil it will be the Olympic moment everyone remembers.
Brazil soccer great Pele paid tribute to Lionel Messi for equalling his goal-scoring record for a single club after the Argentine forward netted his 643rd goal for Barcelona in Saturday's 2-2 home draw with Valencia.
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