Argentina lifted the gloom from a poor Copa America by routing Chile 4-1 in their opening 2014 World Cup qualifier on Friday, while Uruguay also scored four to get their campaign off to a good start.
Netherlands' playmaker Wesley Sneijder has been credited with his team's opening goal in their 2-1 quarter-final victory over Brazil by FIFA's Technical Study Group.
France face an embarrassing early World Cup exit after a surprise 2-0 defeat to Mexico in their second Group A game on Thursday.
Karim Benzema cemented his return to form with his second hat-trick of the month and Cristiano Ronaldo also netted three goals as Real Madrid crushed lowly Levante 8-0 in their King's Cup last-16 first leg on Wednesday.
Angel di Maria's late intervention spared Real Madrid another inquest into the case of the misfiring forwards while Zlatan Ibrahimovic's sense of occasion salvaged a Champions League point for AC Milan.
David Villa and Wesley Sneijder, with five goals each, head the list of the goal scorers at the 2010 World Cup.
David Villa and Wesley Sneijder, with five goals each, head the list of the goal scorers at the 2010 World Cup.
David Villa and Wesley Sneijder, with five goals each, head the list of the goal scorers at the 2010 World Cup.
Maradona had overlooked Higuain for a long time even when he was in brilliant form for Real Madrid. The coach was sceptical about the striker's commitment to Argentina after he turned down the chance to play for the under-20s at the 2007 Youth World Cup. However, with the noose around his neck as Argentina struggled in the qualifiers, the talismanic coach called up Higuain for the last two in October and 'Pipita' did not disappoint with two good performances and a goal.
Karim Benzema went some way to justifying the 35 million euros ($49 million) Real Madrid paid to sign him when his goal secured a scrappy 1-0 home win over Real Mallorca in La Liga on Sunday.
A spot of fatherly advice could be just the thing to help Gonzalo Higuain overcome the jitters which marked his World Cup debut. The striker missed two chances he would have put away with his eyes closed in the Spanish league season, in Argentina's 1-0 win over Nigeria in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo fired a hat-trick to keep Real Madrid's title challenge alive with a 4-1 comeback victory at Real Mallorca on Wednesday.
Real Madrid climbed back above arch rivals Barcelona to the top of La Liga when Gonzalo Higuain netted a late winner in a laboured 1-0 win at Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
Real Madrid climbed back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain both netted twice to seal a convincing 4-2 victory at city rivals Getafe on Thursday.
World Cup title hopefuls Spain, England and Argentina seized morale-boosting victories in warm-up matches on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to an entertaining 6-2 victory over Villarreal that moved them two points behind leaders Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and created a goal for Gonzalo Higuain to inspire Real Madrid to a lethargic but ultimately comfortable 3-0 La Liga win over Espanyol on Tuesday.
Gonzalo Higuain bagged a remarkable third hat-trick in two weeks to steer Real Madrid to a 4-1 win over Real Betis on Saturday while Lionel Messi's double kept Barcelona top of La Liga with a 3-0 victory over Racing Santander.
Gonzalo Higuain's stunning injury-time strike secured a remarkable 3-2 comeback win for hosts Real Madrid in the Primera Liga on Tuesday.
Slovakia forward Robert Vittek admired the view from the top of the World Cup scoring table on Friday while his team-mates wondered how many more goals were up his sleeve after a barren spell in qualifying.
The first hat-trick of the World Cup finals from Gonzalo Higuain carried Argentina to a convincing 4-1 victory over South Korea on Thursday, putting the South Americans within touching distance of the last 16.
Gonzalo Higuain came off the bench to settle Real Madrid's jitters with a superb lob that completed a 4-2 home victory over Real Valladolid in La Liga on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed an 89th minute winner for Real Madrid as they came from behind to beat Osasuna 3-2 at home to stay hot on the heels of leaders Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday.
Real Madrid made the most of Barcelona's slip-up to close to within one point of the La Liga leaders on Sunday with a 2-0 win over third-placed Valencia at the Bernabeu.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain scored in a 2-0 victory away to Racing Santander on Sunday to ensure Real Madrid hold top spot in La Liga before next weekend's visit of title rivals Barcelona.
Barcelona restored their two-point lead at the top of La Liga when Lionel Messi finished a slick move to fire the champions to a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Malaga on Saturday.
Argentina produced their best performance of the Copa America so far to crush Paraguay 6-1 and set up a classic final against hosts Chile.
Borussia Dortmund beat Hertha Berlin 3-2 on penalties to reach the German Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday after the match finished 1-1 after extra time.
Third-tier Alcorcon lost 1-0 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Tuesday but dumped the nine-times European champions out of the King's Cup 4-1 on aggregate. Alcorcon operate on a budget of just over one million euros ($1.50 million), some 400 times smaller than Real's.
Real Madrid celebrated their league title triumph in style by crushing arch-rivals Barcelona 4-1 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday and helping deprive the Catalans of an automatic place in the Champions League. First-half goals from Raul and Arjen Robben, a classy strike from Gonzalo Higuain and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty earned Bernd Schuster's side an emphatic win that delighted the home fans packed into the rain-soaked stadium.
Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain scored twice for 10-man Real Madrid in a 2-0 home win over Getafe on Saturday that eased the pressure on coach Manuel Pellegrini. Real have 22 points from nine games and are one point behind La Liga leaders Barcelona after the champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Osasuna, Gerard Pique scoring in his own net in the last minute.
A clinical finish by Gonzalo Higuain gave Real Madrid a 1-0 home win over Racing Santander on Saturday and a seventh successive Primera Liga victory that trimmed Barcelona's lead at the top to nine points. Third-placed Sevilla lost further ground on Real after goals from Sergio Garcia and new signing Ricardo Oliveira gave Real Betis a 2-1 win at the Sanchez Pizjuan and condemned their city rivals to a third consecutive league defeat.
An early goal from Gonzalo Higuain earned Juande Ramos his first Spanish Primera Liga win as Real Madrid coach when the champions beat Valencia 1-0 on Saturday. Ramos, who replaced Bernd Schuster last week, watched Argentine striker Higuain score after only three minutes and Dutch winger Arjen Robben run riot but it needed several saves from Iker Casillas to make sure of victory for the home team.
Juventus are on 77 points, seven ahead of Atalanta, who thumped Brescia 6-2 on Tuesday, with five matches remaining.
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri said Eden Hazard is free to leave the club if he wants to but the Italian hopes the forward stays at Stamford Bridge.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will resume their perennial battle to be crowned the world's best footballer after they headed the shortlist of 30 players for the 2016 Ballon d'Or announced on Monday.
Samuel Eto'o scored just before the break to give Barcelona a 1-0 win at Real Valladolid that briefly put them nine points clear in the Primera Liga on Saturday before Real Madrid reduced the lead to six points again with a 1-0 win at Malaga.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Sunday
Striker Raul became Real Madrid's all-time top scorer on Sunday when he netted twice for the Primera Liga champions in their 4-0 victory away to Sporting Gijon.
Raul scored his 200th league goal to move Real Madrid eight points clear in the Primera Liga after a 2-1 comeback win over Espanyol on Saturday.
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