From a toddler languishing in the fifth division of the Kolkata Football League during the mid-nineties to a big spending top-tier club in 2012, the journey spanning almost 18 years has been nothing short of spectacular.
AS Roma were dumped out of the Italian Cup on penalties by second-tier Spezia after a 0-0 draw at home extended their winless streak to seven matches and heaped pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Iran handed Cambodia a record-breaking 14-0 thrashing on an historic day in Tehran as goals flowed in World Cup qualifiers across Asia with Japan, South Korea and Australia securing comfortable wins on Thursday.
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.
Juventus, who have won only one of their last five games and have dropped 18 points from winning positions this season, stay on 80 points followed by Atalanta with 74 and Inter Milan on 73 with three games each to play.
Aiming for a win that has so far been elusive, world champion Viswanathan Anand will lock horns with an out-of-form Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the fourth round of the fifth Final Masters in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand could not break the ice for the third day running and drew with Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the third round of fifth Final Chess Masters in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Friday evenings are a commuter's worst nightmare in Brazil's biggest city Sao Paulo, which has some of the worst congestion problems in the world.
Juventus need to beat Manchester City to reach the Champions League knockout stages on Wednesday and many fans still believe the best way to achieve this is by fielding Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala together in attack.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out his second draw on the trot, signing peace with Levon Aronian of Armenia in the second round of 5th Final Masters in Sao Paulo.
World champion Viswanathan Anand got tangled in a complicated position and was held to a draw by little-known Spaniard Francisco Vallejo Pons in the first round of the fifth Chess Masters final in Sao Paulo.
Viswanathan Anand will be playing his first tournament since winning the World Championship for the fifth time in May early this year at Moscow.
Rafa Nadal battled to a 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 win over Argentine Martin Alund in Sao Paulo on Saturday to qualify for the Brazil Open final.
'But I think this is going to be cleared up as soon as possible and I believe in Neymar's innocence. We the players and the backroom staff are going to support him so that it doesn't have any effect on the field'
Former Brazil striker Romario, having slammed his country's preparations to stage the 2014 finals, adopted a more conciliatory tone on a visit to the Local Organising Committee on Friday.
Argentina's new coach Edgardo Bauza has set his mind to wooing Lionel Messi back from international retirement as he ponders his squad for next month's South American 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Bauza was named on Monday to replace Gerardo Martino, who resigned a month ago after steering Messi's side to two successive Copa America finals which ended in penalty shootout defeats to Chile.
Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg joining the triple Formula One world champion on the front row. On a damp and overcast Sao Paulo afternoon, it was the 60th pole of the Briton's career, eight short of Michael Schumacher's record, and his first in Brazil since 2012 when he was at McLaren. With his title on the line, it was also one of Hamilton's most important in a roller-coaster season marked by mechanical setbacks.
Tomic had to battle hard against the top seed, saving four match points in a tense final set before wrapping up the match in two hours and 15 minutes.
'But where were the majority of my cousins from South Asia, the multitudes from Pakistan and Bangladesh and my own compatriots,' wonders B S Prakash.
'They were the service class: Cleaning, pouring, clearing, wiping, sweeping and getting rid of the rubbish.'
Galatasaray win 22nd Turkish title after beating closest rival
Portugal had planned for Cristiano Ronaldo to take the fifth penalty that never was, coach Paulo Bento said after his team's 4-2 shootout defeat by Spain in Wednesday's Euro 2012 semi-final.
The world's most-hated airports are not necessarily the worst. But many travelers experienced a harrowing time at these airports.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Paris Hilton is back in India, this time to DJ at the India Resort Fashion Week. Pictures of her first landing!
Portugal winger Nani is struggling to shake off an injury to his right foot and may miss his country's opening Euro 2012 game against Germany, coach Paulo Bento said on Friday.
Brazil's 1982 World Cup captain Socrates, the '"Golden Heel' renowned as one of the great playmakers of his generation, died in hospital Sunday of septic shock at the age of 57.
Brazil could field Ronaldinho, Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso, a key trio in their 2014 World Cup ambitions, when they meet Bosnia in a friendly in Switzerland on February 28.
IMAGES from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
The 2016 Rio Olympics has witnessed some scintillating performances, wherein many young athletes achieved glory for their nation. The Rio Games also saw legendary athletes like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps delivering as per expectations and extending their domination in the Olympics history. But, there were some unfortunate ones, who fought horrifying injuries in Rio. Rediff.com lists seven such ill-fated injuries from the Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The pole was the second of the Dutch 22-year-old's Formula One career and the first in Brazil for engine partners Honda since the late triple champion Ayrton Senna in 1991 with McLaren.
The mother-in-law of Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has been kidnapped in Sao Paulo and criminals are demanding 120 million reais ($36.5 million) in ransom, according to reports in a leading Brazilian news magazine.
Former Brazil World Cup captain Socrates died in hospital Sunday At the age of 57, Brazilian media reported citing hospital sources.
AS Roma stalwart Francesco Totti came off the bench with four minutes left and scored twice to give his Champions League-chasing side a dramatic 3-2 win over Torino in Serie A on Wednesday.
Brazilian soccer legend Pele has overcome a urinary tract infection and will be discharged from the hospital where he had kidney stones removed three weeks ago, his doctors said on Monday.
Images from the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches on Sunday night.
Rio de Janeiro will deliver a successful Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday, despite delays in preparations, lack of funds and the country suffering from its biggest political and economic turmoil in decades.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand bounced back as he jumped to joint second spot at the end of the fourth round after outplaying Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain in the fourth Bilbao Final Masters in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
World champion Viswanathan Anand could do little with his white pieces as he settled for a draw with world number one Magnus Carlsen in the first round of the fourth Bilbao Final Masters, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
