Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo was voted England's Footballer of the Year on Friday -- only the second player to win the award in successive seasons since its introduction 60 years ago. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Portsmouth goalkeeper David James finished second and third respectively in the poll organised by the Football Writers Association since 1948.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld insists his run to the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid two years ago proves that underdogs can compete with Europe's elite and win the competition.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
Striker Alvaro Negredo scored twice and created two more goals to lift European champions Spain to a 5-2 victory over Bosnia on Wednesday and make it 10 wins out of 10 in World Cup qualifying Group Five. Coach Vicente del Bosque gave Negredo his first starting spot in place of Fernando Torres and the Sevilla forward took his chance to impress with two goals in five second-half minutes and assists for David Silva and Juan Mata.
Fernando Torres scored twice as Liverpool battled to a 3-2 English Premier League win at West Ham United on Saturday after the Londoners had twice pegged them back. Belgian centre back Thomas Vermaelen was a less likely two-goal hero as his double set up Arsenal for a 4-0 home thrashing of Wigan Athletic - emphatically avoiding a hat-trick of defeats after losses to Manchester United and City.
Guatemalan police on Tuesday arrested fugitive former national soccer federation president Brayan Jimenez in connection with a corruption probe into the sport's world governing body FIFA.
Liverpool lost for the second time in three Premier League matches on Monday, slumping to a 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa.
Defender Branislav Ivanovic headed two goals from corners and Didier Droga added the third to give Chelsea a 3-1 away win over Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
In other matches, super-sub Messi helped Barca romp past Atletico
If England beat Panama and Belgium beat or draw with Tunisia then England are through to the last 16.
Liverpool rekindled the title race on Saturday with a 4-1 mauling of Premier League leaders Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez never dreamed of beating his former club Real Madrid by such a large margin after watching his team thrash the Spaniards 4-0 in the UEFA Champions League at Anfield, he said on Tuesday. Two goals from Steven Gerrard, plus strikes by Fernando Torres and a late Andrea Dossena goal dealt Real Madrid their biggest defeat in the Champions League and secured a 5-0 aggregate win that humbled the Primera Liga outfit.
City's Guardiola defends Mendy after COVID protocol breach.
A round-up of Friday's action in La Liga, and Bundesliga.
Liverpool are determined to end the trend of selling their best players during the close season in order to build a squad capable of consistently challenging for major honours, manager Juergen Klopp said.
Highlighting a steep disparity in the pay hikes of executives and the labour force during the economic boom, Raymond Torres, director at the ILO's International Institute of Labour Studies in Geneva, pointed out that worldwide the average hike in executive pay was 10 per cent as compared to a mere 0.7 per cent for workers.
Top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi went down fighting in straight sets to third seeded Russian pair of Michail Elgin and Alexandre Kudryavtsev in the semi-final of the LTAT-SAT Bangkok Open ATP Challenger in Bangkok on Saturday.
Liverpool's Premier League title aspirations all but vanished with a 1-1 home draw against relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic.
The Genie will contain lots of gamified apps.
Chelsea and Liverpool maintained their unbeaten starts to the season and kept the pressure on early pace-setters Arsenal when they both chalked up 2-0 away wins in the Premier League on Saturday.
Aguero will not start against Man United: Guardiola.
Liverpool piled more misery on Newcastle United with a 3-0 victory at Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday. First-half goals from Jermaine Pennant and Fernando Torres, his 25th of the season, and Steven Gerrard's effort after the break strengthened Liverpool's hold on fourth place over city rivals Everton.
Attendances at Premier League games are down by an average of 920 fans per game this season, according to an investigation by the Daily Telegraph.
The Spanish media revelled in their side's impressive Euro 2008 final victory over Germany as the story dominated the front pages of every newspaper.
Arsenal are not only hoping to win a first European trophy since 1994, but know their hopes of qualifying for next year's Champions League depend on winning the Europa League in the French city of Lyon next month.
Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a London derby while Liverpool got back to winning ways with a 4-1 win over Portsmouth.
Chelsea stayed top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday while Liverpool kept pace after an astonishing comeback earned them a 3-2 win at Manchester City.
Bayern Munich gained some revenge for their 2012 Champions League final defeat by Chelsea when they beat the Premier League club 5-4 on penalties after a thrilling UEFA Super Cup ended 2-2 at the end of extra-time on Friday.
David Villa hit a spectacular volley to earn Spain a 1-0 win over world champions Italy in a friendly on Wednesday. The Valencia striker, who replaced Fernando Torres at halftime, fired the ball into the top corner past a helpless Gianluigi Buffon 13 minutes from time after Fabio Cannavaro had headed the ball clear of his area.
Arsenal launched their bid for a first Premier League crown in five years with a comfortable 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the season on Saturday. Liverpool, who have their eyes on a first title since 1990, also got off to a winning start by beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light with a late goal from Fernando Torres.
Twenty-three-times Cup winners Athletic Bilbao were dumped out in sensational circumstances by tiny island side SD Formentera, who sneaked a 1-0 win at San Mames with a header by Alvaro Muniz deep in stoppage-time to reach the last 16 for the first time with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
While Olympians are revered for athleticism, discipline and determination, modern competitors are showing experience is also an asset and sporting careers can be extended using new training techniques.
If want to look at the world's most beautiful places, scroll down now. The winners of the fifth International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition have been announced, with stunning shots documenting everything from magical mountains to glistening lakes and dark, forbidding forests. There were almost 3,000 entries from photographers around the globe, leaving the judges with a headache to whittle them down. Adam Gibbs from Canada has been revealed as the 'photographer of the year' (an award based on a folio submission of at least four images) with his hauntingly beautiful shots of woodland scenes around Vancouver Island. Here's a selection of the photos that caught the judges' eyes.
Coach Joachim Loew said he is satisfied with Germany's showing at Euro 2008 after they lost the final 1-0 to Spain on Sunday. The Germany coach, who will stay in charge for the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, said Spain fully deserved their first major title in 44 years.
Chelsea have bolstered their attacking options by signing France forward Loic Remy from Premier League rivals Queens Park Rangers on a four-year deal, the 2012 European champions announced on Sunday.
Spain are unbeaten in 18 matches and have won their last eight on the trot. Their quarter-final opponents will need to produce something special to end that run.
Striker David Villa scored in stoppage-time to give Spain a 2-1 victory over Sweden in a scrappy Group D encounter at Euro 2008 on Saturday. The result puts Spain close to a place in the quarter-finals with six points from two games, though Sweden are still in the race on three points.
A hat-trick by David Villa helped Spain to a 4-1 win over Russia in their Euro 2008 opener on Tuesday.
The football fans in Kochi will get a chance to witness a fascinating contest between Brazilian attacking flare and Spanish 'tiki-taka' possession football in what could be a final before the final of this tournament.
Liverpool continued their revival with a 4-1 home win over Porto while Real Madrid lost 2-3 at Werder Bremen in Wednesday night's Champions League matches.
