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.
The Argentine failed to find the net for Barcelona in either leg of the Champions League semi-final, meaning he has now been unable to score against Chelsea in eight outings, by far his worst record against any club.
Passed the milestone of 200 goals for Barcelona in November 2011 and is fast closing in on the Catalan club's record marksman Cesar Rodriguez, who scored 235.
Barcelona's faith in their ability to groom the little lad from Rosario for their first team and transform him into the world's best player has paid off handsomely.
Lionel Messi does not need a Copa America win to feel like the king of the world. He captured that crown a long ago, says Dhruv Munjal.
Lionel Messi may lack a World Cup for Argentina but his 10 years with Barcelona have seen him rewrite the history books and become symbolic with the club's golden era.
He might be travelling halfway across the globe to promote youth football through Subroto Cup but Brazilian legend Pele on Friday declared that there won't be another like him and the man who draws constant comparisons with him, the inimitable Diego Maradona.
Lionel Messi gave a new meaning to the phrase 'Hand of God' when he netted a Champions League record five goals in Barcelona's 7-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi still needs to produce his best at the World Cup to be remembered as one of the truly great players, former France captain Michel Platini said on Monday.
At the age of 23, Barcelona's Lionel Messi has already come to define an era of European soccer in a way only a handful of players have managed since the days of Alfredo di Stefano.
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi arrived in Kolkata in the wee hours on Wednesday but more than 1500 frenzied fans were left heartbroken as securitymen whisked the Argentine superstar away through the VIP gate.
Olympic gold medal-winning coach Sergio Batista was confirmed as expected on Tuesday to succeed Diego Maradona as Argentina's coach until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Manchester United were never able to control Barcelona's midfield or deal with the brilliance of Lionel Messi as they were overwhelmed 3-1 in Saturday's Champions League final, manager Alex Ferguson said.
Argentina's Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, overlooked by coach Diego Maradona for the World Cup, and playmaker Andres d'Alessandro were recalled to the national team squad on Friday.
Argentina, bidding to end a trophy drought, kicked off the 43rd Copa America with a disappointing 1-1 draw with minnows Bolivia at La Plata outside Buenos Aires.
Images from the Champions League second-leg match played on Wednesday.
Diego Maradona's Argentina lit up the World Cup with its first hat-trick on Thursday while fellow Latin Americans Mexico humiliated European heavyweights France in a comfortable 2-0 win.
Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero, a target for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in January, has asked the La Liga club to release him from his contract, the Argentina international said on Monday.
Is this a squad that will throw up 11 world-beaters who will go out and destroy all comers for nine consecutive matches, asks Krishnakumar Padmanabhan.
As we sit at home and miss live action, the wondrous phenomenon of sport has delivered so many past glories that we will probably never run out of things to see, recalls Dhruv Munjal.
Carlos Tevez laid on two goals and scored a third as Argentina beat world champions Spain 4-1 in a friendly at the Monumental on Tuesday.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite films, most of them shown at international film festivals held virtually (Berlinale and Rotterdam), hybrid (Toronto) or physical (Cannes and Venice).
It's been a challenge, especially being glued to the TV set for the late night matches.
Brazil and Argentina have ousted Spain as the top picks for World Cup champions, according to a global field of 100 football fan economists polled by Reuters.
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.
A Las Vegas museum devoted to the exploits of Tommy gun-wielding mobsters will open a permanent display that explores the "rampant corruption" of global soccer's scandal-rocked governing body, which has drawn comparisons to organized crime.
The favourites to win next year's World Cup in Russia were given navigable paths to the last 16 with the coaches of Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain having reason to feel reasonably optimistic after Friday's draw.
Marin Cilic overcame Federico Delbonis 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2 after a titanic tussle in the opening singles rubber to give hosts Croatia a 1-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup final on Friday.
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.
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.
'Generations of football fans will eternally be grateful to Johan Cruyff and what he did for the beautiful game,' says Aabhas Sharma.
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.
