The Dutchman burst through the middle of the pitch and laid the ball off for Messi to dribble into the net for an 18th league goal of the season, extending his lead at the top of the scoring charts.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from first T20 match between India and South Africa.
Injuries to frontline fast bowlers have forced New Zealand to opt for fresh blood in their pace attack for the three-match ODI series against India starting February 5 in Hamilton. Kyle Jamieson could be in for a potential debut, while Scott Kuggeleijn and Hamish Bennett return to the squad after a long absence. Injury has meant the likes of Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry are unavailable for the series.
Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole position in Sochi hoping for a 91st Formula One victory to equal Ferrari great Michael Schumacher's all-time record, finished third behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton hunted down Max Verstappen to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday and slash his Red Bull rival's Formula One lead to 14 points in one of the greatest drives of his career.
Power-hitting left hander Colin Munro is likely to open New Zealand's innings with Martin Guptill on the limited-overs tour of India, with Tom Latham dropping down the order, coach Mike Hesson has said.
Earlier in the night, Bolivia were denied their first win when Kaku scored with 18 minutes remaining to rescue a 2-2 draw for home side Paraguay in Asuncion.
In a three part series, Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
Mitchell Starc was the Player of the Tournament, but he ranks only 5th on Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings list, revealing how this World Cup was so much in the batsmen's favour.
The postponement of major sporting events during the coronavirus pandemic has left some British charities concerned about their survival, representatives have told Reuters, while others are worried about delivering services to vulnerable people.
Cumberbatch's Sherlock costar Martin Freeman, who plays Dr Watson in the hit BBC show, was best man at the wedding.
A tenth-wicket stand of 127 between BJ Watling (103) and Trent Boult (52 not out) helped New Zealand to a first innings total of 469 on the second day of the opening match in a two-Test series against Bangladesh on Thursday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Chennaiyin FC and Odisha FC shared the spoils after a thrilling 2-2 draw in the Hero Indian Super League, at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, in Chennai, on Thursday.
Suzie Bates blasted 79 not out on her home ground of Dunedin as New Zealand earned a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022.
Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool raised the spirits with a rip-roaring 2-2 draw in a pre-Christmas Premier League classic on Sunday after a weekend marred by COVID-19 related postponements.
A dominant Bajrang Punia overpowered his opponents with remarkable ease to claim gold medal in the men's freestyle 65 kg event at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Friday.
Norris finished ninth in the drivers' standings last season.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights important numbers for the Afghanistan team from World Cups.
The times at the Istanbul Park circuit, hosting a Formula One race for the first time since 2011, were largely meaningless.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Miroslav Klose scored a landmark goal as Germany and Ghana drew 2-2 with all the goals coming in a terrific second half of another rip-roaring football World Cup clash in Fortaleza, on Saturday.
Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold scored with a spectacular strike as they overcame the loss of three players to suspected positive COVID-19 tests and conceding an early goal to beat Newcastle United 3-1 in the Premier League on Thursday.
Battle-scarred Argentine Juan Martin del Potro clinched his 21st career title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kevin Anderson in the Mexican Open final in Acapulco on Sunday.
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the five best matches of the final round.
A goal each by Clifford Miranda and Ranty Martins enabled Dempo win the battle between Goa teams.
A look at the main Tour de France contenders ahead of Saturday's first stage, a 14-km individual time trial in Duesseldorf:
Two victims of the deadly Sydney siege were remembered on Tuesday by tearful mourners at private memorial services here, a week after a gunman held them hostage inside a downtown cafe in Australia.
Wawrinka's last ATP title came in 2017 before the former world number three underwent knee surgery.
England have the chance to reach a first major final since their 1966 World Cup triumph when they take on Denmark at Wembley in Wednesday's Euro 2020 semi-final, but they will need to banish a history of stumbling at this stage.
New Zealand battled to 64 for two in their follow-on innings, still 340 runs behind South Africa, at tea on the third day of the second Test at St. George's Park on Sunday.
Higuain had a disappointing Copa America tournament in July, scoring two goals during the competition and missing his spot kick as Argentina lost on penalties to Chile in the final.
Paris St Germain will play Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona were pitted against an unpredictable Napoli, while Chelsea were drawn against Bayern Munich. City, who will be at home in the second leg, have yet to beat the Spanish side with two draws and two defeats in their previous four meetings.
RB Leipzig's Timo Werner scored a hat-trick as they demolished hosts Mainz 5-0 on Sunday to reclaim third place in the Bundesliga with an emphatic victory after three straight draws. Schalke 04 slumped to a shock 3-0 home defeat by relegation-threatened Augsburg on Sunday, their fourth defeat in five games dropping them to eighth place in the Bundesliga.
In the current versions of the Oxford English Dictionary, the synonyms for "woman" include some eye-poppingly sexist words: b***h, besom, piece, bit, mare, baggage, wench, petticoat, frail, bird, biddy, filly.
Images from the matches played across football leagues in Europe on Sunday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
FC Goa came up with yet another injury-time equaliser to salvage a point against NorthEast United FC in a thrilling 2-2 draw in an Indian Super League encounter.
Manchester City took a major step towards retaining their Premier League title with a 1-0 win over second-placed Chelsea on Saturday, opening up a 13-point lead at the top of the table for Pep Guardiola's side.
France striker Kylian Mbappe went off nursing a shoulder injury as they beat Uruguay 1-0 with an Olivier Giroud penalty in a rematch of their World Cup quarter-final on Tuesday.
