Wearing his infectious goofy grin, 'Samba Magician' Ronaldinho cast a spell on the football-crazy denizens of Kolkata as his arrival for a two-day visit in Kolkata ushered in an early onset of the Durga Puja festival.
Football icon Diego Maradona has claimed that current Argentina skipper Lionel Messi does not have the character to be a leader.
The list of the greatest living footballers as nominated by Brazilian legend Pele to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of FIFA.
A signed pair of Lionel Messi's boots have been sold for 4,000 euros (2,700 pounds) at an auction in Beijing on Barcelona's tour of Asia, Spanish media reported on Sunday.
Peru produced a shock 3-0 win over Uruguay while Bolivia twice fought back to draw 2-2 with hosts Venezuela in a dramatic opening to the Copa America on Tuesday.
Although Ronaldinho scored a hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 victory over Udinese, it was the club's Argentine youngster who attracted the biggest cheer of the night.
Many flocked to Buenos Aires's tattoo parlors to commission designs depicting Lionel Messi.
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri said having Eden Hazard in such unstoppable form makes winning "easy" but appears almost resigned to losing him.
Lionel Messi will play against Greece in an Argentina team full of changes for their final World Cup Group B match on Tuesday, coach Diego Maradona said.
Tens of thousands turned out to pay their final respects to the football legend, who died last week after losing a battle with alcoholism.
Brazil's 1970 World Cup winning team have been voted the best of all time in a global poll of experts conducted by World Soccer magazine.
A sense of euphoria was in the air in the country, particularly in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo, where thousands of jubilant fans crowded to watch the match on a giant screen in the park.
Lionel Messi scored a goal reminiscent of Diego Maradona's famous strike for Argentina against England in the 1986 World Cup as Barcelona romped to a 5-2 win over Getafe in their King's Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
'I understood that if I dedicated myself solely to coaching, I could get much better at it'
Argentine legend Diego Maradona will kick off a football conclave on October 3 in the presence of a galaxy of current and former Indian stars like Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and I M Vijayan.
The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) will extend an invitation to Argentine legend Diego Maradona to visit the strife-torn nation and help it in raising the standard of the sport.
The retired 43-year-old star has lived in Cuba for four years recovering from drug abuse.
Soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday said he was surprised by the response of the crazy fans who thronged in thousands to have a glimpse of him as he laid the foundation stone of a football school at Maheshtala in South 24 Parganas district. Blowing kisses in the air and waving to the crowd, the 48-year-old Argentine, dressed in a grey shirt and matching trouser, said he had not anticipated that his two-day visit would evoke such a huge response.
For Argentina players and captain Messi, who netted twice in the 120 minutes before also scoring in the shoot-out, it was the biggest title of their careers.
A second-half double from Antoine Griezmann earned Atletico Madrid a stunning 4-3 comeback home win over Sevilla in LaLiga on Sunday.
Argentina and Australia have only two full days to rest, a factor Argentine manager Lionel Scaloni called 'madness'.
Fans crowded into plazas to watch the game on giant screens, cheering when Messi scored the opening goal -- a penalty -- but groaning and slowly going silent as Saudi Arabia pulled two quick goals back in the second half.
Franz Beckenbauer was for decades synonymous with Germany's success on the pitch, as player and then coach.
Not only the senior team but the young Blue Colts also emerged victorious in the SAFF Men's U-19 champions after hammering Pakistan in the final and clinching a vigorous 3-0 victory.
But after an exceptional transfer window and with Luciano Spalletti at the helm, Napoli dominated the title race while their main rivals all suffered slumps during the season.
Carlos Tevez was officially unveiled as a Boca Juniors player in a 6.5 million euros ($7.15 million) transfer from Juventus.
Major world record deals are here.
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.
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez was at a loss to explain how Luis Suarez missed three golden chances in his side's 1-0 win over Egypt in their opening World Cup Group A game but refused to blame his leading striker.
Here is what you need to know about their route to the final
Former Real Madrid striker Predrag Mijatovic criticised Gareth Bale for lacking leadership qualities
Raucous home support for holders Argentina did not make up for the absence of Juan Martin del Potro and Federico Delbonis on Friday as they fell 2-0 behind to Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Argentina are on a 36-match unbeaten run with top scorer and captain Messi playing his fifth and last World Cup in search of the elusive honour
Indian fans wait for Messi's '2011 Tendulkar moment'
Earlier, Messi's World Cup-winning team mate Emiliano Martinez won the Lev Yashin award for the world's best goalkeeper.
With immense pressure on him to match the late great Diego Maradona and send the trophy back to Buenos Aires, Lionel Messi has lit up the Qatar tournament while others in the superstar stratum - Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo - have underwhelmed and gone home.
Hundreds of thousands of Argentines poured into the sunlit streets of Buenos Aires on Sunday
The friendly between Netherlands and France on Friday will be halted for a minute's silence in the 14th minute in a tribute to Johan Cruyff.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances