Portugal play surprise package Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday and a visibly frustrated Santos took great pains to explain what happened behind the scenes to put the issue to bed.
With immense pressure on him to match the late great Diego Maradona and send the trophy back to Buenos Aires, Lionel Messi has lit up the Qatar tournament while others in the superstar stratum - Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo - have underwhelmed and gone home.
In his communication, Batra also pointed fingers towards the team management without specifying anything.
Mbappe becomes PSG's all-time highest goal-scorer as French champions extend lead
Bayern Munich conceded a stoppage-time equaliser through VfB Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy from the penalty spot for a 2-2 on Saturday, the champions' third consecutive Bundesliga draw.
They have one of the most exciting squads around, full of proven matchwinners to take the burden off Ronaldo.
Vinicius Junior's second half tap-in steered Real Madrid to a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday.
None of the other three quarters boast of such a strong star cast but there would be a few mouth-watering opening round clashes to look forward to.
Images from the FIFA World Cup third place playoff match between Croatia and Morocco on Saturday.
From sharp, flying tackles and tough possession-fights, bloodied noses to scissor kicks in attempt to finding those crucial goals and the ecstatic celebrations thereafter, Rediff.com gives you a quick rewind of all the excitement that has transpired over the last five days across France...
Images from the FIFA World Cup Group F match between Morocco and Croatia on Wednesday.
French ministers, former coaches and players, intellectuals and ordinary fans hailed Zinedine Zidane's half apology.
China and Spain played out a 0-0 draw in their final World Cup Group B match on Monday and the result was good enough for both teams to advance to the last 16 after Germany beat South Africa 4-0 in the other game in the section.
A summary of Wednesday's action at the US Open.
The Germans will play their group matches in Munich
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday.
Australia's dancing substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne saved the last penalty to clinch a place at this year's World Cup in Qatar as they edged Peru 5-4 in a shootout.
Vicente del Bosque played down a suggestion he had changed football by sometimes starting matches at Euro 2012 without a recognised striker after Spain crushed Italy 4-0 to retain their continental title on Sunday.
'Believe it or not, I'm one of the fortunate, among very few who reached the world top with a single KIDNEY, allergic with even a painkiller, with a dead takeoff leg.. Many limitations. still made it. Can we call it magic of a coach or his talent.'
With the triumph, the Indian GM qualifies for next year's Tata Steel Masters Group.
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.
Rediff.com looks at the five best goals from the concluding round in the league stage.
A 'winning culture' may be one of the most over used terms in modern football but Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti proved on Saturday, at Liverpool's expense, that there truly is meaning and value in the concept.
The stadiums at Qatar offer plenty of wisdom and chutzpah on how to take our own lives forward.
IMAGES from the soccer matches played across European leagues on Friday.
'The Roland Garros tournament directors can confirm that two players competing in the qualifying tournament have tested positive for COVID-19 and three others have confirmed close contact with a coach who has tested positive for COVID-19.'
Following their 2-0 win over nine-member Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League game at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, NorthEast United FC's head coach Ricki Herbert said he was disappointed that his team couldn't defeat their under-strength opponents by a bigger margin.
Real are on 81 points with four games to go. They are 17 points ahead of nearest rivals Sevilla.
Nadal has traditionally started his French Open campaigns with at least one claycourt title under his belt but this year got to the French capital empty-handed.
Some key facts about Zinedine Zidane, who stepped down as Real Madrid coach after leading the Spanish club to a third successive Champions League title.
Manchester United forward Radamel Falcao is "100 per cent ready to give everything" according to wife Lorelei Taron who hit back at manager Louis van Gaal's suggestion that the Colombian is only fit enough to play 20 minutes.
Gosens excelled in his ninth game for the country on Saturday, causing problems for the Portugal defence
'These matches are all like finals now and if you don't play well, you don't win.'
While the men's matches were deferred, the international governing body said that the women's matches between India and Germany will go on as planned this weekend at the Kalinga Stadium.
The 16-year-old from Gujarat was rewarded for last year's stellar run, which saw her win titles in three junior international tournaments. It enabled her rise three places and take the top position in the BWF junior rankings.
Wimbledon debutant Eubanks ends Tsitsipas's challenge in fourth round.
Wasteful Portugal were held to a 1-1 home draw by Serbia after their captain and top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo limped off with an apparent hamstring injury in the first half of their Euro 2020 Group B qualifier on Monday.
Images from the FIFA World Cup Quarter-final match between Portugal and Morocco on Saturday.
World championship trials would be held from March 7 to 9, followed by the Asiad trials from March 10 to 13.
