Seydou Keita made the most of a rare place in the starting lineup to give Barcelona a 1-0 win at home to Real Zaragoza on Saturday that put the champions 10 points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Striker Sunil Chhetri, who is recovering from an ankle injury, made it to the 20-member Indian squad for the Nehru Cup international football Tournament, starting at the Ambedkar stadium in Delhi on Tuesday.
Former hockey goalkeeper Baljit Singh on Thursday accused Sports Minister MS Gill of not fulfilling his commitment of helping him regain his full vision and alleged the Ministry brought him back midway through his treatment in the US.
Chelsea have signed Germany's highly-rated attacking midfielder Kai Havertz from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Friday.
A round-up of Saturday's action in La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Two goals from Arda Turan and one from Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a 3-0 win over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup second leg on Wednesday to seal a 5-0 aggregate victory.
Dheeraj, whose performance under the woodwork during the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India earned him accolades, is the third player after skipper Amarjit Singh and defender Anwar Ali from that squad, to get a call in the senior team camp.
Belgium won a tense penalty shootout 3-2 against three-times champions Netherlands to win their first men's hockey World Cup title.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
An insatiable Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick as Barcelona hammered Espanyol 5-0 in a local derby on Saturday to make it three wins from three and take full advantage after Liga champions Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Levante.
Holders Barcelona were knocked out of the King's Cup on Wednesday when they won a thrilling last-16 second-leg clash at Sevilla 1-0 but were eliminated on the away goals rule after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.
Barcelona rarely looked capable of repeating their heroic comeback in the last 16 against Paris St Germain.
The 28-year-old Argentine has scored seven goals from direct free-kicks in this year's La Liga, the latest in Sunday's 5-0 triumph over Espanyol.
Though no peripheral burning is taking place at the moment at the well's site at Baghjan, the company has declared an area up to 1.5 km radius as "red zone" to avoid any untoward incident and harm to the general public.
Images from the FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifiers played across the globe on Saturday
Lionel Messi scored a penalty for the third Champions League game in a row with the Spaniards maintaining their winning start to the group stage.
Betis fans bow to 'extraordinary' Messi after sublime hat-trick Lionel Messi is used to receiving adulation at the Nou Camp but on Sunday he got a rapturous reception from rival supporters for a majestic hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 win at Real Betis. Messi opened the scoring with an unstoppable free kick then combined with devastating effect with Luis Suarez to carve Betis open and score a second goal right before halftime. The Argentine saved his best goal for last, completing a victory which took Barca 10 points clear at the top of La Liga with a spectacular first-timed chip from the edge of the area after playing a one-two with Ivan Rakitic. Beaten Betis goalkeeper Pau Lopez looked on in awe while the home supporters, renowned for devotion to their side, rose to their feet, bowed down to Messi and chanted his name. "Even though the opposition concedes goals to Messi they can still enjoy this unbelievable era which he has created, they enjoy it too and today they recognised that," said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde. "It's significant that they gave him this ovation, it's an acknowledgement. Our rivals' supporters have to suffer him but they also appreciate him, because of the player he is. "Leo's performance was extraordinary, he got three goals but he could have got four, that shows you how good he is." Betis coach Quique Setien commended his supporters for their treatment of Messi while saying he felt honoured to work in the same era as the Argentine. "I really like the fact that our supporters showed their appreciation for a great player, today he really made us suffer," Setien said. "It's only fair and it's right to recognise this, our fans behaved in an extraordinary way and I'm very proud of them. I've seen some magnificent players do great things but no-one can match the things Messi has done over the last 12 years. "It's a privilege to have been able to start this era with him and see him in action every weekend." The five-times world player of the year moved on to 39 goals in all competitions this season with two months still left in the campaign. It was Messi's 51st career hat-trick but he could not recall receiving such applause from a rival team's fans. "I cannot remember anything like this before and I'm very grateful for the fans' reaction," Messi said. "I'm very grateful to them and happy for the victory, which was very important."
Argentina put behind a dismal first half to beat Algeria 4-3 in a friendly international.
Brazil midfielder Casemiro stretched Real's advantage right before halftime with a gut-busting run to meet a cross from compatriot Vinicius, but Levante hit back shortly after the interval through former Madrid forward Borja Mayoral.
Russia forward Denis Cheryshev said he got quite emotional after his team upset the odds to eliminate highly fancied Spain at the World Cup and move unexpectedly to the last eight, sending football fever to sky high levels in the host country.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has banned hockey goalkeeper Akash Chitke for two years after he tested positive for a prohibited substance earlier this year.
A 21-member Indian men's hockey team will embark on a 15-day tour of Europe, starting July 31. High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans will take over as the chief coach of the side following the unceremonious ouster of Paul Van Ass.
La Liga champions Barcelona's domestic struggles continued as they dropped points for the third game in a row, drawing 1-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets had begun the match on the substitutes' bench.
India men's hockey team chief coach Roelant Oltmans feels the one week break starting before the Champions Trophy will help the players rejuvenate themselves ahead of the Rio Olympics, the countdown for which has already begun. The 29-member men's hockey squad will be on a week's break before they rejoin on May 29 and Oltmans said the idea, behind the move was to ensure the players are feeling fresh and hungry ahead of next month's FIH Champions Trophy in London. "Starting June 5, the team will be away for almost a month playing two different tournaments in two different countries. Everything we do in this period will be demanding not just physically but also mentally," Oltmans said.
Barcelona forwards Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi fired the Catalans to a confidence-boosting 2-0 win at in-form Sevilla on Saturday to keep the pressure on La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
Manchester City cannot afford another defeat on Tuesday at home to Barcelona, who thumped them 4-0 two weeks ago, having taken just one point from their last two Champions League Group C matches.
The two firefighters had gone missing after the well caught fire on Tuesday and their bodies were recovered by a National Disaster Relief Force team on Wednesday morning, said Oil India Spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika.
The late equaliser saw Valencia left on eighth spot with 27 points in the standings. Here are Images from the exciting draw played at Mestalla in Valencia, on Sunday.
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Tuesday
The Scottish broadcaster said Murray was self-isolating and still had hopes of competing in the Australian Open next month.
Barca, who were without injured talisman Lionel Messi, started on the back foot and fell behind when Nabil Fekir netted with a sublime angled strike in the 15th minute. Griezmann, who joined Barca last month from rivals Atletico Madrid, scored four minutes before halftime to level the scores.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City beat champions Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to extend their lead to 18 points and leave the London side further adrift from the Champions League qualification spots.
It was Messi's 30th goal in 39 competitive games against Atletico
A solo goal by the Brazilian striker and some outstanding goalkeeping from Iker Casillas earned Real Madrid a 1-1 draw with leaders Barcelona in the Spanish league.
Chelsea's pre-season program got off to a disappointing start when they lost 1-0 to the Major League Soccer All-Stars.
Real Madrid have decided to give departing goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas an official send-off later on Monday following criticism over the low-key nature of his tearful farewell news conference on Sunday.
A summary of Tuesday's Group stage matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta lifted a ninth Liga title after his side beat Real Sociedad 1-0 on Sunday in an emotional final game for the midfielder at the Nou Camp while Fernando Torres scored twice in his final game for Atletico Madrid.
Luis Suarez was incredulous after being sent off in Barcelona's thrilling King's Cup semi-final second leg with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, ruling him out of the final in May after playing a pivotal role in getting his team there.
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