Defensive injury concerns for veteran squad leader Vincent Kompany and Barcelona's Thomas Vermaelen have eased and coach Roberto Martinez has sent standby defender Laurent Ciman home.
The rest of Barcelona's squad will have to do "a little bit more" to make up for the absence of five-times World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for the next three weeks, according to captain Andres Iniesta.
Images from 2010 World Cup draw in Cape Town on Friday.
The 2010 football World Cup draw pits Brazil with Portugal, Ivory Coast and N Korea in the same group.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona named a squad on Thursday for a friendly he is banned from taking part in.
South Korea's Huh Jung-moo said on Friday he was stepping down as national coach after his side were knocked out of the World Cup in the second round.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona will appear before a FIFA disciplinary committee on Sunday over his foul-mouthed outburst last month, soccer's world governing body said on Tuesday. Maradona could be sidelined from matches in next year's World Cup if FIFA decide to hand him a stadium ban for his rant at the end of the 1-0 win in Uruguay that guaranteed his team a place at the finals in South Africa.
Officially timed at 52 seconds, Jose Batista remains the fastest sending off in World Cup history.
Argentina forward Lionel Messi acknowledged he was not at his best for Diego Maradona's side in their World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay. Argentina beat Peru 2-1 with a last-gasp goal on Saturday and then defeated Uruguay 1-0 in Montevideo on Wednesday to finish fourth and qualify for the South Africa tournament.
Diego Maradona fights for his future as Argentina's World Cup coach when he sends his team out against Peru on Saturday. Maradona, whose side are flirting with elimination in a playoff berth, believes his players will get the victories they need to remain on course for the 2010 finals in South Africa.
It was a memorable day for Indian tennis as Rohan Bopanna won the Erste Open in Vienna, partnering Pablo Cuevas, while the team of Saketh Myneni and Vijay Sundar Prashanth clinched the Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh City.
India will compete at home against Brazil in the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie from September 17 to 19. After a long time, India have home advantage. They played all their matches outside the country in recent times.
Off-form Ronaldinho was left out of Brazil's squad on Thursday for next month's World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup. Striker Ronaldo, who has not played for his country since the last World Cup, was also overlooked despite a promising start to his latest comeback with Corinthians. Brazil face Uruguay in Montevideo on June 6 and host South American group leaders Paraguay in Recife four days later.
Martin Caceres scored on his Serie A debut to help Juventus win 2-0 at Lazio on Saturday and maintain their perfect start to the season.
Irish female footballer Stephanie Roche, who currently plays for French division 1 Feminine club ASPTT Albi, has earned a unique distinction of being the only woman to have been shortlisted for FIFA's goal of the year alongside fellow strikers Robin van Persie and James Rodriguez.
India, Indonesia, China, Venezuela, Turkey and the Philippines have rejected a proposal by the United States and other farm exporting countries that aims to severely curtail the flexibility to designate certain farm tariff lines as special products in the Doha market access negotiations for farm products.
Mauritius, country from where large amounts of investments are routed to India, figures among the nations that have substantially implemented tax standards. Among the countries that have committed themselves to the internationally agreed tax standards but have not yet implemented them are Singapore, Switzerland, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, and Cayman islands.
La Liga players dominate this year's Best Player in Europe shortlist, announced by the continent's governing body UEFA on Monday, with seven of the top 10 contenders for the prestigious award currently plying their trade in Spain.
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.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi returned to training with his team mates on Monday as he continues his recovery from a thigh strain sustained in a La Liga match at Almeria at the end of last month.
Cristiano Ronaldo has received an offer to leave Real Madrid and join Italian champions Juventus, a source close to the player said.
Les Bleus' average age is 26 years old -- like England -- and Kylian Mbappe is 19, but it was he who ran riot after France fell 2-1 behind early in the second half.
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.
The uncertainty surrounding the Liverpool forward's participation after he suffered shoulder ligament damage in last month's Champions League final, had a huge impact on both preparations and team confidence coming into the tournament.
Diego Maradona enjoyed a winning start as Argentina coach with victory over Scotland on Wednesday while Marcello Lippi equalled a world record in charge of Italy. Among the pick of the other friendlies in Europe, a late header from captain John Terry earned England a 2-1 win against old foes Germany, European champions Spain swept Chile aside 3-0 and Robin van Persie's brace helped the Netherlands beat Sweden 3-1.
Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi described a "feeling of shame" after his side suffered a 5-0 hammering at the hands of hosts Russia in the World Cup's opening game at the Luzhniki Stadium on Thursday.
Paulo Dybala said his two-goal performance against Barcelona on Tuesday was the sort of night he had dreamed about since he used to play on the bumpy pitches of the Argentine second division as a slightly-built teenager.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struck his fifth international hat-trick, including a spectacular volleyed opener, to lead the European champions to a 5-1 win over the Faroe Islands in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
Mauritius singled out India for being the fit candidate to become a permanent member while calling for expansion of the 15-member Council which currently has five permanent members -- the US, Britain, Russia, France and China -- and ten non-permanent ones who are elected by the 192-member General Assembly for a two-year term.
Luis Suarez picked up a hamstring strain in Tuesday's Champions League match at Bayern Munich.
Lionel Messi is back in the Argentina squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Colombia after missing the last three due to injury in which his team have dropped seven points. Messi was named on Friday in coach Edgardo Bauza's 26-man squad and will captain Argentina away to arch-rivals Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Nov. 10 and at home against Colombia in San Juan five days later. Argentina have slipped down the South American group standings to fifth after a shock 1-0 home defeat by Paraguay and 2-2 draws with Peru and Venezuela, all without Messi.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Over the last 10 days, negotiators have burnt the midnight oil to study the revised draft modalities (parameters) issued by the chairs of the negotiating bodies for Doha agriculture and industrial products. After all, these parameters, which are essentially figures and textual language, will ultimately become commitments depending upon the final agreement among the 151 members of the WTO.
The 18 new members were elected by absolute majority through a secret ballot.
Brazil beat Chile 3-2 in a penalty shootout to reach the World Cup quarter-finals after their dramatic last-16 match in Belo Horizonte ended 1-1 after extra time on Saturday.
Indian ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles's final appearance at last week's Madrid Masters has booked the duo a berth in the season-ending prestigious Tennis Masters Cup to be held in Shanghai next month. The top seven teams in the ATP doubles race apart from Roland Garros winners Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Luis Horna of Peru would compete in the event.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi hit his 400th career goal for the La Liga leaders.
A tax fraud case involving Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and his father Jorge should be dropped because of errors in the investigation and court proceedings, their lawyers said.
Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a maiden Paris Masters title when he survived a second set blip to beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas
Images from football matches played in the La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga on Saturday.
