In December 2008, legendary Diego Maradona had set foot in this football-crazy city. Come September 2, another Argentine stalwart Lionel Messi is set to arrive with his national team.
It took a while, but Rafael Nadal finally showed up at the ATP's end-of-year fiesta on Monday when he lit up the second day of the World Tour Finals with a compelling round robin victory against Andy Roddick.
'Generations of football fans will eternally be grateful to Johan Cruyff and what he did for the beautiful game,' says Aabhas Sharma.
As Spain celebrates it maiden World Cup title, rediff.com too celebrates by presenting its maiden football awards.
Millions of African fans mourned the agonising exit of Ghana, their last hope for World Cup glory, while four more nations stepped up to battle on Saturday for the remaining longed-for semi-final berths.
Lionel Messi became Argentina's youngest World Cup captain when he led his country for the first time two days before his 23rd birthday against Greece in Group B on Tuesday.
A spot of fatherly advice could be just the thing to help Gonzalo Higuain overcome the jitters which marked his World Cup debut. The striker missed two chances he would have put away with his eyes closed in the Spanish league season, in Argentina's 1-0 win over Nigeria in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Lionel Messi answered the key question for Argentina with a display full of artistry and guile in Saturday's 1-0 win over Nigeria, showing even without scoring himself he can carry the team at this World Cup.
Juan Sebastian Veron never looks back, only ahead, and way off in the distance is the presidency of his club Estudiantes de La Plata and even the Argentine Football Association.The immediate future, though, holds for him a World Cup comeback that once seemed impossible after he was vilified for Argentina's failure at the 2002 finals in Asia.
Such is the focus on Lionel Messi in the countdown to the World Cup that even the slightest problem in training gets full blown local media coverage as with a scrape on Friday. The world's top player, practising with Diego Maradona's Argentina for the finals in South Africa that kick off on June 11, fell and suffered a minor scrape on his right leg at the team's training base outside Buenos Aires.
France striker Thierry Henry will not be punished over the handball, which led to the decisive goal in the World Cup qualifying playoff against Ireland and sparked one of the biggest outcries in the competition's history.
Kim Lammers scored a dramatic winning goal two minutes from time as Netherlands beat Germany 2-1 in Pool A to reach the semi-finals of the women's hockey World Cup Sunday.
Lionel Messi provided yet more sublime evidence on Sunday that he is the best player in the world with a devastating hat-trick for Barcelona that will have Champions League and World Cup rivals on full alert.
Argentina and Germany set off for the World Cup with huge doubts about their prospects but they meet in Saturday's quarter-final in hot form with a great chance for the winners to go all the way to the final.
Give Argentina a two-goal head start and the result will not be in much doubt, as Mexico discovered when a dreadful decision and a defensive mistake smoothed a World Cup quarter-final path for the twice winners. Surging with the self-confidence Diego Maradona seems able to transmit directly from the touchline, Argentina found life absurdly easy for much of a 3-1 win at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday.
FIFA has an extremely serious problem which can easily be remedied by appointing a 'fifth official' (or video referee) who could be consulted by radio whenever there is a serious doubt.
Lionel Messi, who turns 23 on Thursday, captained his country for the first time on Tuesday and gave another virtuoso performance as Argentina beat Greece 2-0 to reach the second round of the World Cup.
Lionel Messi, who turns 23 on Thursday, captained his country for the first time on Tuesday and gave another virtuoso performance as Argentina beat Greece 2-0 to reach the second round of the World Cup.
Mexico's attacking flair has been clearly on display at this World Cup so all eyes will be on their tactics against Uruguay on Tuesday when a point will see them into the last 16 and a possible clash with Argentina.
The first hat-trick of the World Cup finals from Gonzalo Higuain carried Argentina to a convincing 4-1 victory over South Korea on Thursday, putting the South Americans within touching distance of the last 16.
A look at the coaches in charge of the teams at the FIFA World Cup, starting in South Africa, on Friday.
Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o threatened to stay away from the World Cup, while Diego Maradona, another man who has endured a turbulent relationship with his national side, got a lively send-off as Argentina left for South Africa.
Argentina stumbled again in World Cup qualifying, losing to Paraguay 1-0 in Asunsion on Wednesday night and falling out of the top four in the South American standings.
Brazil secured their place at the 2010 World Cup with an impressive 3-1 win over arch-rivals Argentina while South America's other candidates jockeyed for the region's other three automatic berths. The defeat left Diego Maradona's side contemplating the dreaded prospect of missing out on the finals but Argentina did cling on to the fourth and final qualifying place after Colombia beat Ecuador 2-0 in another of Saturday's five-match programme.
Five-time champions Brazil qualified for the World Cup finals on Saturday after beating arch-rivals Argentina 3-1. Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano scored twice after Benfica skipper Luisao opened the scoring for the Brazilians in a fast, hard-tackling match.
Argentina's hopes of reaching the 2010 finals in South Africa could be severely limited this weekend, should the results of the South American World Cup qualifiers go to form. Diego Maradona's Argentina face Dunga's South American group leaders Brazil (27 points), who added the Confederations Cup in late June to their 2007 Copa America title.
'It was a combination of all sorts of things, craft, skill, versatility and most of all, an 'over my dead body' attitude without which you are not a great player'
Tendulkar retired in 2013 and since then, the No.10 jersey has only been seen once on an Indian player when Shardul Thakur wore it earlier this year on his ODI debut during the tour of Sri Lanka.
Diego Forlan and Martin Palermo scored last-gasp goals as Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador switched places on a dramatic Saturday of South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Diego Maradona's Argentina, having beaten Peru 2-1 at home in torrential rain, go to Montevideo on Wednesday to defend an automatic berth in the South Africa finals against a Uruguay side that turned the tables on Ecuador.
A look at the few bright spots, the many worries, and moments that made for a distinctly indelible 2020.
David Beckham will equal Bobby Moore's outfield record of 108 England caps if he plays in the friendly with Spain, one of a number of mouthwatering international clashes this week.
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.
Carlos Tevez missed a first-half penalty as Argentina slumped to a 2-0 defeat away to Ecuador in their World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
Argentina forward Lionel Messi acknowledged he was not at his best for Diego Maradona's side in their World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay. Argentina beat Peru 2-1 with a last-gasp goal on Saturday and then defeated Uruguay 1-0 in Montevideo on Wednesday to finish fourth and qualify for the South Africa tournament.
At Rs 81.2 lakh, the BMW 730Ld is the most sensible 7 Series around. Pity most of them will form part of expensive hotel and travel fleets than that of personal collections.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Football icon Diego Armando Maradona arrived to a rousing welcome by thousands of frenzied fans who remained awake till past mid night waving Argentina's national flag of white and sky blue for first glimpse of the legend at the city airport here.
Embattled FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Thursday the corruption scandal surrounding the world soccer body had brought shame and humiliation to football.
South Africa have dismissed as 'baseless' allegations made in a US indictment that the country paid $10 million in bribes to host the 2010 World Cup.
In the week of his 31st birthday, Messi was again a largely anonymous figure as they lost 4-3 to France in a thrilling last-16 match in Kazan.
