Pressure mounted on Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez on Tuesday as his injury list grew, a run of poor results continued, and one of his players was accused of cheating.
Liverpool peeled away the gloom enveloping their season with a 2-0 home win over Premier League champions and fierce rivals Manchester United on Sunday.
Champions and Premier League leaders Chelsea suffered their second defeat of the season as Fernando Torres scored twice to guide resurgent Liverpool to a deserved 2-0 victory at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool's new owners watched their team slump to a comprehensive 2-0 defeat at Merseyside rivals Everton which sent them second bottom of the Premier League on Sunday.
Manchester United's rampaging start to the season continued as they beat Chelsea 3-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday to move two points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Spain will be firm favourites to reach a major tournament final for a second successive year when they play the United States in Wednesday's Confederations Cup semi-final in Bloemfontein.
Liverpool's Premier League title aspirations all but vanished with a 1-1 home draw against relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic.
Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho's move to Real Madrid has caused panic at top Premier League clubs, as he has set his sights on certain players.
Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 with goals from Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-sung to send the champions back to the top of the Premier League on Sunday.
Maxi Rodriguez scored four minutes from time to earn Liverpool a 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers which lifted them out of the Premier League relegation zone on Sunday.
Maxi Rodriguez scored four minutes from time to earn Liverpool a 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers, which lifted them out of the Premier League relegation zone on Sunday.
Liverpool's new American era began in failure on Sunday in front of their latest owners with a 2-0 loss to Merseyside rivals Everton which sent them second from bottom of the Premier League.
Liverpool piled more misery on Newcastle United with a 3-0 victory at Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday. First-half goals from Jermaine Pennant and Fernando Torres, his 25th of the season, and Steven Gerrard's effort after the break strengthened Liverpool's hold on fourth place over city rivals Everton.
Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a London derby while Liverpool got back to winning ways with a 4-1 win over Portsmouth.
Images of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Samuel Eto'o are still festooned on posters all over South Africa -- but sadly for them that's their only involvement as the World Cup reaches its final stages.
Wayne Rooney was meant to be one of the shining lights at this World Cup but in the end the England striker produced little more than a flicker.
David Villa added to his repertoire of spectacular goals to help fire Spain into the last 16 of the World Cup on Friday but there will be concern about the continued poor form of his strike partner Fernando Torres.
A dominant Spain got their World Cup campaign firmly back on track when David Villa struck twice to lead the European champions to a 2-0 win over Group H minnows Honduras on Monday.
Striker David Villa hit two stunning goals -- and missed a penalty -- as Spain returned to form with a 2-0 victory over Honduras at the World Cup on Monday.
Defender Branislav Ivanovic headed two goals from corners and Didier Droga added the third to give Chelsea a 3-1 away win over Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
Switzerland pulled off the biggest shock of the 2010 World Cup so far when they beat European champions Spain 1-0 on Wednesday, their first ever victory over their opponents in 19 games.
Liverpool rekindled the title race on Saturday with a 4-1 mauling of Premier League leaders Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez never dreamed of beating his former club Real Madrid by such a large margin after watching his team thrash the Spaniards 4-0 in the UEFA Champions League at Anfield, he said on Tuesday. Two goals from Steven Gerrard, plus strikes by Fernando Torres and a late Andrea Dossena goal dealt Real Madrid their biggest defeat in the Champions League and secured a 5-0 aggregate win that humbled the Primera Liga outfit.
It will be the fifth edition in a row that the two heavyweights have met head to head at a European Championship.
He has been in superb form ahead of the World Cup and will vie with Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, as well as Lionel Messi of Argentina, Fernando Torres of Spain and Brazil's Kaka to be the leading light of the tournament and bring home the trophy.
Chelsea and Liverpool maintained their unbeaten starts to the season and kept the pressure on early pace-setters Arsenal when they both chalked up 2-0 away wins in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Spanish media revelled in their side's impressive Euro 2008 final victory over Germany as the story dominated the front pages of every newspaper.
Striker Alvaro Negredo scored twice and created two more goals to lift European champions Spain to a 5-2 victory over Bosnia on Wednesday and make it 10 wins out of 10 in World Cup qualifying Group Five. Coach Vicente del Bosque gave Negredo his first starting spot in place of Fernando Torres and the Sevilla forward took his chance to impress with two goals in five second-half minutes and assists for David Silva and Juan Mata.
Fernando Torres scored twice as Liverpool battled to a 3-2 English Premier League win at West Ham United on Saturday after the Londoners had twice pegged them back. Belgian centre back Thomas Vermaelen was a less likely two-goal hero as his double set up Arsenal for a 4-0 home thrashing of Wigan Athletic - emphatically avoiding a hat-trick of defeats after losses to Manchester United and City.
Liverpool lost for the second time in three Premier League matches on Monday, slumping to a 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa.
David Villa hit a spectacular volley to earn Spain a 1-0 win over world champions Italy in a friendly on Wednesday. The Valencia striker, who replaced Fernando Torres at halftime, fired the ball into the top corner past a helpless Gianluigi Buffon 13 minutes from time after Fabio Cannavaro had headed the ball clear of his area.
Liverpool continued their revival with a 4-1 home win over Porto while Real Madrid lost 2-3 at Werder Bremen in Wednesday night's Champions League matches.
Liverpool's stay might only last for 24 hours until overnight leaders Chelsea visit Aston Villa on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez renewed their verbal battle over the penalty that saw Chelsea draw with Liverpool.
In another match at the Port of Rotterdam tournament, Feyenoord and Porto drew 0-0.
Chelsea stayed top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday while Liverpool kept pace after an astonishing comeback earned them a 3-2 win at Manchester City.
Arsenal launched their bid for a first Premier League crown in five years with a comfortable 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the season on Saturday. Liverpool, who have their eyes on a first title since 1990, also got off to a winning start by beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light with a late goal from Fernando Torres.
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.
Spain are unbeaten in 18 matches and have won their last eight on the trot. Their quarter-final opponents will need to produce something special to end that run.
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