The 29-year-old's composure on the ball, ability to pick a pass and tough tackling paid dividends at both ends of the pitch in the must-win game against Nigeria.
England and Belgium face a World Cup conundrum ahead of Thursday's crunch in Kaliningrad
The 33-year-old Real Madrid forward's individual brilliance has glossed over Portugal's dour performances in their first two matches and Fernando Santos's side have mostly appeared like a one-man team.
United's Ibrahimovic, Roma's Dzeko find the net thrice to give clubs first leg advantage
The Russian Football Union's anti-discrimination inspector has said the World Cup is a chance for Russia to show how open it is.
One of Europe's most expensive teenagers Renato Sanches has yet to nail down a starting spot with Portugal but the brawny midfielder is making his presence felt on the continent's biggest stage.
Images from the Nations League football matches played on Thursday.
A summary of Thursday's matches in Europe's second tier club football tournament
Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
Parrying a direct reply on whether there will be a meeting between Khurshid and Aziz on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet, Spokesperson in External Affairs Ministry said the External Affairs Minister will take the opportunity to interact "informally" with several other leaders present there.
Carlos Tevez has been included in the squad for the first time in three years for next month's friendlies in England against Croatia and Portugal.
United States President Barack Obama may cancel his scheduled visit to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, as tension builds up between the two countries over fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, according to media reports.
The G20 meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors beginning July 19 will also be attended by Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao and Deputy Governor Urjit Patel.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
AC Milan, Villarreal and Nice reached the knockout stage of the Europa League after posting wins on Thursday in the penultimate round of the group stage.
Benfica, helped by an excellent Champions League debut from goalkeeper Ederson, clung on desperately then scored two late goals to beat Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The Russian plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula over the weekend, killing all 224 people aboard, broke up high in the air, an official said.
Manchester United have deposed Real Madrid as the world's richest soccer club after revenue grew to a record $735 million in 2015-16, according to Deloitte's annual Money League published on Thursday.
A Russian fund submitted its interest to the resolution professional on February 14 and also hired a consultancy firm to help them with the bidding process.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
England have lost to Germany in their last three knockout meetings at major tournaments
And what an exciting week it has been, with players returning to packed stadiums, some memorable individual and team performances and a medical incident which had the world on edge.
Belgium play in a second successive World Cup quarter-final, looking to reach the semi-finals for the second time after they advanced to the last four in Mexico 32 years ago.
Croatia were in dreamland on Thursday after advancing to the knockout phase of the World Cup for the first time in 20 years with a 3-0 rout of Argentina that left a subdued Lionel Messi and his team mates facing yet another flop.
Increasingly isolated on the global stage, the World Cup has so far helped Vladimir Putin send a defiant message to his opponents that Russia is succeeding despite Western efforts to hold it back.
While Lyon rallied to hold Leipzig 2-2 after a Memphis Depay strike, it was the English clubs who made a mark on the night. Liverpool and Chelsea moved into the last 16 with contrasting wins and now all four English clubs, including Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, are in the Champions League knockouts this season.
Thirty-two countries, ranging from Finland and Sweden to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Kazakhstan, have declared interest in hosting matches at Euro 2020 which will be staged across the continent.
On a day when top seed Sloane Stephens survived a scare before beating Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, Sakkari showcased supreme court coverage skills throughout her almost two-hour match against Bertens.
Juventus progressed to the Champions League last 16 after a Cristiano Ronaldo goal and a late header from substitute Alvaro Morata gave them a comeback 2-1 home win over Hungarians Ferencvaros on Tuesday.
Fellow Serie A sides Atalanta and Lazio also won while Portugal's Vitoria Guimaraes began their match against Salzburg with not a single European player in the team.
It was Novak Djokovic's first match this year after his Australian Open hopes were dashed when he was deported following an 11-day saga revolving around his decision not to have a COVID-19 vaccination.
Jose Mourinho suffered a nightmare homecoming as Porto, the club he led to the Champions League title in 2004, inflicted a 2-1 defeat on his woefully out-of-sorts Chelsea side in Group G on Tuesday.
Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday.
Swiss seventh seed Belinda Bencic was stunned by Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova while former champion Ana Ivanovic was also sent packing in third-round action at the BNP Paribas Open in California.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
The Euro 2020 soccer Championship, trumpeted as a continent-wide feast of football from Dublin to Baku to mark UEFA's 60th anniversary, was postponed for a year on Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic claimed its biggest sporting casualty yet. Europe's flagship tournament, staged every four years and second only to FIFA's World Cup in terms of prestige in soccer, will now be staged from June 11 to July 12, 2021.
'Putin is in danger of losing face in his Ukrainian adventure. His bluster is a response to this.'
Russia and China have a broad consensus today on almost all core issues related to global strategic stability, which is unprecedented in modern history, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A summary of Wednesday night's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Klopp has led Liverpool to back-to-back Champions League finals but is adamant that their impressive recent track record does not make them the title favourites.
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