World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
The group stage Asian Cup exit turning out to be one bitter pill that he found too hard to swallow.
Arsenal forward Robin van Persie accused former strike partner Emmanuel Adebayor of a "mindless and malicious stamp" during Manchester City's 4-2 win over the London club at Eastlands on Saturday.
According to data from aMap, an overnight audience monitoring agency, in the top six metros, around 1.5 million viewers saw Sunday's match, while 1.9 million viewers had watched the final in 2006.
As Vicente Del Bosque's high flying La Furia Roja side get ready to take on Bert Van Marwijk's industrious and effective Oranje at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, rediff.com takes a look at a few players who can make a difference to the eventual outcome.
Spain have not been clinical enough in front of goal at the World Cup, according to coach Vicente del Bosque.
The Dutch did not serve up a footballing master class on Tuesday but the tide of orange attackers still proved too much for Uruguay in the World Cup semi-final in Cape Town.
Football is as much about fans as it is about players. Rediff.com takes a look at a few such fans which make the ongoing World Cup what it is: successful.
Arsenal are seeking compensation from the Dutch Football Federation for the injury sustained by striker Robin van Persie last month, manager Arsene Wenger said.
Images from football friendlies played on Wednesday.
Nchout sends Cameroon through with last kick of game
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Luis Figo's decision to enter FIFA's presidential election has received a positive reaction in his native Portugal even though he faces a seemingly impossible task to unseat incumbent Sepp Blatter in May.
Belgium finished five points clear at the top of League A Group 2 and will meet world champions France and former World Cup winners Italy and Spain in the final four next October.
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is making a brief Dutch comeback for this month's World Cup qualifiers. Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk included Van der Sar, who retired from international football after Euro 2008, in his 22-man squad for the Group Nine games against Iceland in Rotterdam on October 11 and away to Norway four days later. Goalkeepers Maarten Stekelenburg of Ajax and Feyenoord's Henk Timmer, who is in the squad, are both nursing injuries.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Serbian midfielder Dusan Tadic said Zinedine Zidane had helped inspire what he described as the game of his life in Ajax Amsterdam's 4-1 drubbing of Champions League holders Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Xavi's agent has declined to comment on reports the Barcelona midfielder is set to leave the La Liga leaders at the end of the season and sign a lucrative contract with Qatari side Al Sadd.
Switzerland will be among the eight seeded teams at the World Cup draw in December after they leapt to seventh in the latest FIFA rankings announced on Thursday, while Italy were edged out.
Teams involved in racial incidents should suffer more severe punishment like the docking of league points, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday.
While a billion hearts would pray for all the participants to do well, all eyes would be set on the duo of Deepika Kumari/Atanu Das, the four shooters and Mirabai Chanu to open India's medals count.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
The death toll in Tuesday's horrific terrorist attacks in Burseels rose to 35 after four people died in the hospital on Sunday, according to the Belgian Health Minister.
The England striker has four goals to his name after Monday's matches at Euro 2004.
Everton's Romelu Lukaku has described himself as one of the most gifted strikers in world football after scoring 25 goals in all competitions for his Premier League club last season. Despite his form in front of goal Everton finished 11th and sacked manager Roberto Martinez, although Lukaku still rates the season as his finest in terms of individual achievement. "I'm among the best. That's good. Personally I am happy," Lukaku said in an interview with the June edition of World Soccer magazine. "I did expect to produce a season of this calibre." The 23-year-old is part of Belgium's squad for this month's European Championship in France, where his team play Italy, Ireland and Sweden in Group E.
The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, which had been formally tasked by the UK government last month with the process of clearance after the jab emerged "safe and effective" against the novel coronavirus in human trials, is expected to authorise the vaccine by December 28 or 29 after the final data is provided on Monday, 'The Daily Telegraph' quoted senior government sources as indicating.
Former World Cup winning captain Dunga is the favorite on a short list of candidates to coach Brazil's national soccer team, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Dirk Kuyt, Mark van Bommel, Van Persie and Cocu all had gilt-edged opportunities to keep the Dutch run going but spurned them.
Former Chelsea manager Ian Porterfield and Dutch coach Clemence Westorhof are on AIFF's list
Scotland's Clarke names uncapped trio in Euro squad.
England have lost to Germany in their last three knockout meetings at major tournaments
The use of video technology for the first time in an international spared a France player an early red card in their friendly against Italy on Thursday and cut down on arguing over decisions, the match referee said.
The Indian football team continued to paint a grim picture as they are languishing down at 156th spot in the latest FIFA rankings.
Milan Baros, with five goals, emerged the top scorer of the tournament which saw 77 goals being scored.\n\n
Give us your take on Friday's games in the World Cup!
Infinite Analytics CEO Akash Bhatia and Lead Scientist Joseph Kibe reveal how AI reads Wikipedia index noise to pull out the winners.
Liverpool did not reveal the transfer fee but Southampton announced it was "a new world-record for a defender" with English media reporting that it was a 75 million pounds ($100.49 million) deal.
An air of familiarity will pervade the Champions League return of PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United when they open their Group B campaign in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Barcelona ended Celtic's 19-match unbeaten home run in Europe with a 3-1 win in the Champions League.
