Atletico Madrid's Brazil-born forward Diego Costa has signed a formal letter stating his wish to play for adopted country Spain, ending a tug-of-war between the two powerhouses over the in-form 25-year-old.
Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune have appointed former Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini as their new manager, Chinese and British media reported on Saturday.
Brazil will be without captain Thiago Silva for their World Cup semi-final against Germany after FIFA on Monday rejected an appeal against his yellow card, denting home hopes of lifting the trophy for the sixth time.
The right-footed Quaresma has scored at least one dozen similar goals during his career and also uses the trivela for passing and crossing.
Photos of the third-place playoff match between Brazil and Netherlands
Brazil play Colombia in Fortaleza in Friday's afternoon kick-off and, with the weight of expectation upon them, there are concerns about whether a team that have failed to sparkle so far can cope with the pressure.
The Portugal coach believes the hosts are in a tough position because they don't have quality players.
Now that the World Cup is over, we take a look at the most memorable moments in the month-long football extravaganza.
From Luis Suarez's bite to commenting on Brazil's big loss in the semi-final, everyone had their two-bit to share. Here is a selection of the best quotes from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Brazil rode a wave of emotion, patriotism and prayer to reach the World Cup semi-finals but Tuesday was the day when the weight of expectation caught up with them.
Luiz Felipe Scolari is blaming the some of the team's struggles, which include a disappointing performance that nearly led to its elimination by Chile in the second round, on the pressure of needing to succeed in front of the home fans.
Now facing Chile in the first game of the tournament's knockout round, Brazil will be encouraged by recent history. They easily knocked out Chile at the same stage in the last two World Cups "La Roja" (The Red) featured in, 1998 and 2010.
Hosts Brazil will look to clinch their berth in the last 16 of the World Cup as they host already-eliminated Cameroon in their final Group A match at the National Stadium in Brasilia.
The thought of Neymar tearing your team into pieces might be enough to give some coach's nightmares, but Croatia's Niko Kovac isn't losing any sleep over the threat posed by the Brazilian phenom ahead of Thursday's World Cup opener.
With a passionate crowd behind them, a savvy coach and a settled team enjoying a sparkling run of form Brazil are hot favourites to lift a record sixth World Cup this July.
With one month to go until the start of the 2014 soccer World Cup in Brazil on June 12, we take a look at how things are shaping up on the playing side for 10 of the leading nations.
Brazil scrapped their way to a flattering 3-0 friendly win over France on Sunday in an ugly, disjointed match against opponents who are even worse off than themselves.
At the last two World Cups, Brazil have veered away from the great, attacking traditions that used to make them the team that everyone wanted to watch.
World Cup winners Ronaldinho and Kaka were both left out of the Brazil's Confederations Cup squad on Tuesday as coach Luiz Felipe Scolari opted for youth ahead of experience.
Fred scored a last-minute equaliser to give World Cup hosts Brazil a 1-1 draw against Russia in a football friendly on Monday as the South Americans remained winless since the return of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Images from the football friendly played between Italy and Brazil in Geneva on Thursday.
Five-times world champions Brazil extended their unimpressive run of results on Sunday when they scrambled a 2-2 draw with England in a friendly at the rebuilt and newly re-opened Maracana.
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.
Luiz Felipe Scolari got an indication of the work ahead of him to turn Brazil into World Cup winners when his second stint in charge began with a 2-1 defeat by England at Wembley on Wednesday.
Brazil were booed by their own fans after stumbling to a 2-2 draw with Chile in their first friendly at a 2014 World Cup stadium on Wednesday.
Dunga took charge of Porto Alegre club Internacional on Wednesday, his first coaching job since leading Brazil at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Since the billionaire from Russia took control of the London club in 2003, Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti have all left Stamford Bridge after failing to reach the Holy Grail.
Barca won their fifth European Cup in 2015 and the signs of decline have been evident over the past five years since -- but no-one envisaged a fall as great as this.
Robinho came off the bench to head home the winner in Brazil's 2-1 victory over Chile on Tuesday, taking his personal tally to nine against their South American rivals and boosting his chances of playing at next year's World Cup finals.
Chelsea captain John Terry is predicting a "fight to the death" as his team attempt to end Manchester United's three-year domination of the Premier League.
Nicolas Anelka rescued Chelsea's FA Cup hopes on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory at Watford to avoid a shock fifth-round exit. In their first game since Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked and with replacement manager Guus Hiddink watching in the stands, Chelsea fell behind to the Championship (second division) strugglers when Tamas Priskin netted with 21 minutes remaining.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink said he was prepared to manage Chelsea for the rest of the season after receiving permission to combine the two jobs.
England and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in Wednesday's FA Cup replay against Southend United.
Juventus are preparing to battle with an expensive war machine in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League last-16 second leg against Chelsea, said coach Claudio Ranieri. Hosts Juve need to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Ranieri's former club, who have been revitalised by Guus Hiddink after the Dutchman took over as coach from Luiz Felipe Scolari last month.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea marked the start of Dutch coach Guus Hiddink's spell in charge with a 1-0 victory against Aston Villa in Birmingham on Saturday to keep their Premier League hopes alive. Hiddink, who has taken the job until the end of the season following the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari, watched the top flight's leading scorer Nicolas Anelka bag a vital three points with a well-worked goal before halftime.
Guus Hiddink is in talks with Chelsea to take over as manager until the end of the season while continuing as Russia coach, he told Reuters on Tuesday.
Chelsea have signed Portugal winger Ricardo Quaresma on loan from Inter Milan until the end of the season, the Premier League club said on Monday.
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