It was The Blue Samurai's first win under coach Akira Nishino, who had lost friendlies against Ghana and Switzerland since taking over in April.
Argentina's two iconic players may be contrasting characters but they shared many traits
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi scored twice as Ronaldo's Real Madrid came from behind to beat promoted Hercules 3-1 and Messi's Barcelona humbled 10-man Sevilla 5-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
Karim Benzema scored twice as Real Madrid survived without Cristiano Ronaldo to win 3-1 at Racing Santander and close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to seven points on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo lit up the Bernabeu with a brilliant four-goal performance in Real Madrid's 6-1 drubbing of struggling Racing Santander on Saturday.
Images from matches played across top football leagues in Europe.
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.
Barcelona cranked up the pressure on Real Madrid by moving seven points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday after sweeping aside Racing Santander 3-0 at the Nou Camp.
Cani's brilliant effort from just inside Osasuna's half helped Villarreal to a 4-2 home win as La Liga reached the midway point of the season on Saturday.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso gave a 10 million euro ($13.33 million) thumbs-up to future Formula One success with Ferrari Monday.
Jose Mourinho believes he is the ideal person to bring long-term stability to Real Madrid, and has played down the significance of their disappointing opening day draw at Real Mallorca.
SBI's Bhattacharya is ranked second on the list, while ICICI's Kochhar is 5th and Axis's Sharma is 19th in the Fortune list
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.
Fernando Alonso's move to Ferrari, confirmed on Wednesday, will give the Formula One driver merry-go-round the big push that everyone has been waiting for. The deal took nobody by surprise, with Finland's 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen making way for the Spaniard next year at the Italian team who now have Spanish bank Santander as major backers.
Thierry Henry was on target as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 home win over Racing Santander on Saturday to move five points clear at the top of La Liga.
Lionel Messi scored twice to guide leaders Barcelona to a 4-1 win at Racing Santander in La Liga on Tuesday.
A summary of Saturday's action in Serie A and La Liga.
Diego Forlan scored twice from the penalty spot to help Atletico Madrid to a 4-0 first-leg victory at home to Racing Santander in a King's Cup semi-final on Thursday.
Sevilla sealed their place in the last four of the King's Cup on Wednesday when they lost their quarter-final second-leg 1-0 at home to Deportivo Coruna but went through 3-1 on aggregate.
Sevilla were on course for a place in the King's Cup semi-finals after crushing Deportivo Coruna 3-0 at the Riazor in their last-eight first leg match on Wednesday.
European investors face billions of dollars losses in the wake of disclosure of 'Ponzi' scheme run by Bernard Madoff, now being investigated by the American authorities.
Valencia striker David Villa has torn a thigh muscle and will be out of action for around three weeks, the La Liga club said on Monday.
Button said he was confident the team would overcome its "current difficulties" to achieve great successes in the future.
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.
Lionel Messi came off the bench and scored twice in the second half as Barcelona, who survived two late dismissals, won 2-1 at Racing Santander on Sunday and maintained their huge lead in the Primera Liga. Racing gave the visitors little space and took the lead after the restart when Nikola Zigic scored from the penalty spot.
A summary of Sunday's action in Serie A and La Liga.
Valencia, who lifted the trophy on their last appearance in the showpiece match in 2008, will meet 30-times winners Barca in the final on May 25 at Betis' Benito Villamarin stadium.
Primera Liga top scorer Samuel Eto'o netted twice as Barcelona beat Sporting Gijon 3-1 at the Nou Camp on Sunday to restore their 12-point advantage at the top of the table.
Luis Fabiano scored twice for Sevilla as the 2007 King's Cup winners eased into the quarter-finals with a 3-0 victory at Deportivo Coruna in their second leg tie on Wednesday.
Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Racing Santander in the Primera Liga on Saturday, leaving new coach Pep Guardiola still seeking his first league win at the helm. Lionel Messi came off the bench in the second half to inspire a toothless Barca, who lost 1-0 at Numancia in their season opener, and scored a 71st minute penalty.
Real Madrid moved closer to retaining their Primera Liga title with a 2-0 win away at Racing Santander.
Barcelona failed again to put pressure on leaders Real Madrid after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by city rivals Espanyol in the Primera Liga on Saturday. The Champions League semi-finalists have only managed one win in their last eight league matches. They stay second with 61 points, eight short of Real who can extend their lead at the top to 11 with a win at fifth-placed Racing Santander on Sunday.
Barcelona, who are struggling for goals, host Olympique Lyon in Wednesday's Champions League opener in Group E.
A lethargic-looking Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by 10-man Racing Santander in their opening match of the season.
Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the King's Cup after a Thierry Henry earned them a 1-0 victory over 10-man Villarreal.
Villarreal missed their chance to stay in touch with Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Liga when they went down 2-0 at Valladolid on Sunday. The defeat kept Manuel Pellegrini's side level with Barcelona on 28 points in third spot in the table and four adrift of leaders Real, who won 3-1 at home to Racing Santander on Saturday.
Real Madrid stretched their lead at the top to four points after beating Racing Santander 3-1 at home while arch-rivals Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at Espanyol in the Catalan derby. Real skipper Raul steered his side to their seventh win in seven games at the Bernabeu when he took his tally for the season to eight goals with a classy double.
Racing Santander came from a goal down to beat Real Madrid 2-1 with two controversial second-half penalties.
NRI businessmen Hindujas on Monday began studying the books of Indian telecom firm Hutch-Essar for which they are understood to have roped in leading Spanish Bank 'Banco Santander' for financing the multi-billion dollar deal.
The referee who presided over Real Madrid's 2-1 Primera Liga defeat away to Racing Santander on Saturday said he has received death threats.
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