Recent episodes of vomiting suffered by Barcelona forward Lionel Messi are 'not normal' but they do not affect his performance and there is no cause for alarm, coach Gerardo Martino said on Friday.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has criticised FIFA's Ballon d'Or award given to the world's best player for glorifying the individual at the expense of the team.
Juventus rehire Allegri.
From bloody noses to sparks on the race track, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
Angel Di Maria's brief career at Manchester United came to an end as the winger will join Paris Saint-Germain on a four-year deal.
Spain captain Iker Casillas has said he finds it strange that the format of the draw for the World Cup finals allowed the holders to be placed in the same group as Netherlands, the team they beat in the final in 2010.
Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain is feeling the wrath of the club's fans following widespread reports he is about to jump ship and join bitter rivals Juventus. Italian media have reported that Juventus, Italian champions for the past five seasons, are on the point of signing the prolific Argentina striker, who last season scored a record 36 Serie A goals.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Barcelona star striker Neymar has said that although winning the Ballon d'Or award is one of his goals, he will not 'die' even if he never lifts the coveted individual prize in his career.
With a fifth world player of the year award safely tucked away in the trophy cabinet, Lionel Messi can set his sights on one of the next milestones in his remarkable career: reaching 500 goals for club and country. The Barcelona and Argentina forward can add to his jaw-dropping tally of 479 in 609 official games -- 430 for Barca and 49 for his national team -- in Sunday's La Liga match at home to Athletic Bilbao. The 28-year-old from Rosario, who picked up the FIFA Ballon d'Or on Monday, is looking close to his best following a two-month injury layoff late last year and netted a hat-trick when second-placed Barca crushed Granada 4-0 at the Nou Camp last weekend in their most recent outing in Spain's top flight.
It rains hard and often and is a far cry from the beaches of Barcelona, yet Argentina striker Sergio Aguero believes world player of the year Lionel Messi would find Manchester to his liking. Manchester City striker Aguero said he had extolled the virtues of England's north-west city to his compatriot and Barcelona forward who is the most valuable player in the game. Messi, 28, has expressed no desire to leave Barca, where he is contracted to until 2019, but Abu-Dhabi owned Manchester City, backed by the billions of Sheikh Mansour, are one of the few clubs who could afford to buy him. "He already knows there's no beach!," Aguero, who has scored 120 goals in 185 appearances during his four-and-a-half years at the Etihad, told Sky Sports. "We play every three days so we just eat, rest between games -- so the weather is not really that important.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were on target as holders Barcelona thrashed Real Sociedad 5-2 to reach the King's Cup semi-finals for the seventh successive year with a 6-2 aggregate victory on Thursday.
A summary of the man's football matches at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain struck twice as the Italian side produced a masterful all-round display to beat Monaco 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
They can now dream of going one better than their third-place finish in 1998, which marked their first participation in the World Cup finals as an independent nation.
Atletico Madrid's players are hoping coach Diego Simeone can become the club's equivalent of Alex Ferguson.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The contest for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award promises to be one of the most competitive ever with the likes of Usain Bolt, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Murray vying for top honours.
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has become the latest to insist that all is well at the club, dismissing reports of a rift between Argentina forward Lionel Messi and coach Luis Enrique.
Barcelona forward Neymar is reportedly looking forward to welcome Luis Suarez into his and Argentina captain Lionel Messi's star-studded strike partnership when the Uruguayan returns for his four-month ban this weekend.
The World Cup lost its headline acts on Saturday as the game's two biggest stars, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, readied to leave Russia after their teams were eliminated in the round of 16. Messi's Argentina lost 4-3 to France and hours later Ronaldo's Portugal went down 2-1 to Uruguay, leaving the tournament without its two best known and most loved players.
Barcelona wasted a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga as they were shocked 1-0 at lowly Almeria on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike by El Bilal Toure.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Valencia will banish a fan who hit Barcelona forward Lionel Messi on the head with a plastic bottle on Sunday for life once they have been identified, the club said on Monday.
Treble-chasing Barcelona are exactly where they want to be as they prepare for two matches this week that could make or break coach Luis Enrique's first season in charge.
Juventus's new signing Sami Khedira will miss the first two months of the season with a thigh injury, the Serie A champions said.
While that may not differ too much from the scenario in many group stage matches pairing the big beasts of the game against those nations who occupy lower rungs of the FIFA rankings, the X-factor in Kazan could be Carlos Queiroz.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal "does not know why" Angel Di Maria has not joined the Premier League club's pre-season tour of the U.S following media reports the winger is close to signing for Paris St-Germain.
European champions Portugal spurned a two-goal lead against Tunisia, stumbling to a 2-2 draw, as France, one of the World Cup favourites, flexed their muscles with a comfortable 2-0 win over Ireland in warm-up friendlies on Monday.
Barcelona leapfrogged Atletico Madrid to go top of La Liga after Lionel Messi's acrobatic volley secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory against tenacious Malaga on Saturday.
Juan Roman Riquelme, the supremely talented and sometimes controversial former Boca Juniors and Argentina playmaker, has retired from soccer.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has given the strongest hint yet he could consider leaving Barcelona, saying in an interview published in Ole newspaper on Tuesday "things can change a lot in soccer".
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri believes Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the Ballon D'Or, following media reports that the forward has not been short-listed for the award's final three for the first time since 2010.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Hannes Halldorsson used to make zombie films for a living but it was watching videos that let Iceland's goalkeeper outwit Lionel Messi and save a penalty on Saturday that gave his side a shock World Cup point.
A factbox on Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi
There was the usual frenzy of last-minute deals as the English Premier League brought the curtain down on another bumper European transfer window in which Manchester City again flexed their financial muscle as the continent's top spenders.
Argentine clubs River Plate and Boca Juniors will contest the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final, South America's equivalent of the Champions League, in Madrid on Sunday.
Poland's Robert Lewandowski has chalked up so many big-game landmarks during his club career that the 27-year-old seems overdue a major tournament performance with his country.
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski was named The Best FIFA Men's Player 2020 on Thursday, beating off competition from last year's winner Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.