Argentina's Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world for a record-stretching seventh time on Monday, beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to lift soccer's most prestigious trophy yet again.
Brazil have won the Copa America every time they hosted the tournament
Pele has been invited to light the Olympic flame at the Rio Games on Friday but the Brazilian soccer great is checking with his sponsors to see if he is free to lead the torch ceremony in the Maracana stadium.
Pele's doctors have given him the go ahead to light the Olympic cauldron on Friday, but muscle pains may bar the Brazilian soccer great from the torch ceremony that opens the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Police shot a mugger near the stadium where the Rio Olympics opening ceremony took place and a woman was killed close to another Olympic site, police said Saturday. The violence on Friday highlighted the task facing an unprecedented force of 85,000 soldiers and police deployed to secure the Olympics. Rio police said in a statement that a man was mugging people near the Maracana stadium when he was intercepted by one of the police officers sent from another area of Brazil to Rio as part of the huge reinforcements.
Sweden beat Brazil 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after the teams were locked goalless following extra-time on Tuesday to reach the final of the women's football tournament at the Rio Olympics.
World football governing body FIFA has reportedly announced that more than 3.5 million requests for the tickets of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have been made from 199 countries in the second sale phase.
A bit of melancholy and unbridled joy converged at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics on Sunday as Brazil breathed a collective sigh of relief for having pulled off South America's first Games.
Argentina overcame its Copa America penalty shootout demons
Residents of the Mangueira favela or slum, which overlooks the Maracana Stadium where the 2016 Olympic opening ceremony was held, expressed a mix of pride and disappointment as the Games opened in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
Argentina can look forward to a mouthwatering Copa America semi-final clash with Brazil after delivering a much-improved display to beat Venezuela 2-0 in the quarter-finals in their first game at the Maracana since losing the 2014 World Cup final.
Rediff.com takes you through a photographic journey of all the exciting sporting moments that unfolded over the last seven days.
Rains failed to dampen the famous Rio carnival spirit as this Brazilian city bid an emotional farewell to the thousands of athletes of the world in a colourful closing ceremony to bring down curtains on the 31st Olympic Games.
Athletes Village opens officially, on Sunday, meaning 10,500 athletes and another 7,000 staff members will start trickling into the luxurious layout.
Messi has spoken at length about the dream of winning a title with Argentina and his compatriots know how much an international trophy means to him.
Brazil lost their second consecutive World Cup qualifier match as Colombia fought back to win 2-1 against the five-times champions.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 18 gold medals among his career haul of 22, will carry the US flag in Friday's opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.
On Saturday evening, Lionel Messi finally got what had eluded arguably the finest footballer of his generation throughout his glorious career -- a trophy playing for his country.
The Indian hockey team will miss the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics amid speculation that the kit did not fit some of the players ahead of the parade to take place at the Maracana Stadium.
Neymar shed tears of joy after delivering Brazil's first men's soccer gold medal with the winning penalty in a 5-4 shootout triumph over Germany after a thrilling final ended in a draw following extra-time on Saturday.
In Brazil it will be the Olympic moment everyone remembers.
More than the story of any other footballer or athlete, Pele's life helped democratise his sport; made it the stuff of a widely shared dream. Shyam G Menon salutes the memory of the greatest footballer ever.
Neymar should return to Spain with renewed enthusiasm after leading Brazil to their first soccer gold medal at an Olympic Games, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. Neymar, who has scored 85 goals in 141 games in his three seasons at Barcelona, was given permission to stay in Brazil until after international games early next month. "I think it's a good decision to grant him (Neymar) that," Pique told El Mundo Deportivo. "He has earned it.
The Olympic torch was raised before Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue on Friday on the final leg of its journey to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, as Brazil excitedly put the final touches to seven years of preparations.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck the winning goal to help Real Madrid become European champions, while Marin Cilic made an impressive comeback after a ban to claim the US Open crown in September. Also, Germany defeated Argentina to become football world champions. Rediff.com brings you the last instalment of the Best Sports Photos of the Year!
Argentina lose to Brazil in Copa America semis
Focused on winning their first ever Olympic medal, the Indian archers will skip the much-awaited opening ceremony of the Rio Games on Friday.
Eight years is a long time in the life of an athlete. But just like Messi, Di Maria has preserved and persisted towards his childhood dream, points out Deepti Patwardhan.
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.
Tickets for the 2014 World Cup will cost some 10 percent more than in South Africa in 2010, with the dearest ones for international fans selling for $990 and the cheapest for $90, officials from FIFA and Brazil's organising committee said on Friday.
A mix of interesting events, coupled with big, shocking results, in the sporting world, grabbed headlines last week. From Manchester United being stunned by Watford to lose their third consecutive match to Nico Rosberg taking the World Championship lead from Mercedes teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton by clinching the Singapore Grand Prix. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games were brought to a close inside a packed Maracana Stadium on Sunday evening. Not before, we witnessed some enthralling action.
Here is a flashback of the top moments from the just concluded quadrennial Games...
The fire broke out at Ninho do Urubu, a state-of-the-art training centre that was expanded and opened only two months ago.
'Living in Brazil, I had internalised the football mythology of that country, the way I had learnt Mahabharata stories in my childhood. The tragedy at the Maracana stadium in 1950, when a confident Brazil had lost to Uruguay in the finals. They tell the story of this debacle, this 'Hiroshima' that hit them, like the Shias lament the death of Ali. It led to the Brazilian team burning their white uniforms and switching later to Yellow and blue symbolising their national colours,' says Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
Neymar scored a brace, including the fastest goal in Olympic history, Gabriel Jesus got two more and Marquinhos and Luan added one each as Brazil swept past Honduras 6-0 into the final of the men's Olympic soccer tournament on Wednesday.
Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who is competing in his fifth Games, led the Indian contingent at the parade of nations during the Open Ceremony of the Rio Olympics on Friday night.
Andy Murray says carrying the British flag at Friday's Olympic opening ceremony will be his proudest day but admits his technique needs some work.
A late header from Edinson Cavani gave Uruguay a 1-0 win over Copa America holders Chile which saw them snatch top spot in Group C at their opponents' expense and set up a quarter-final meeting with Peru.
Rediff.com brings you this and a lot more gripping sporting action from the week gone by...
South Sudanese Olympic athlete Guor Marial may not be a hot medal tip for Sunday's marathon, but the former slave's road to Rio is one of the most astonishing stories of the games.
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