Argentina's Lionel Messi heads into the World Cup as the player everyone wants to see but it will be the strengths and weaknesses of coach Diego Maradona that will determine how far the South Americans progress.
Brazil coach Tite has recalled veteran central defender Thiago Silva to his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.
Tennis star Aisamul Haq has become the first from Pakistan to reach the semi-finals of any Grand Slam event.
Spain's Nicolas Almagro won his second title in successive weeks on Sunday when he beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the final of the Buenos Aires Open.
Ronaldinho, who had a disappointing Club World Cup this month, has been elected South American footballer of the year in the annual poll conducted by the Uruguayan daily El Pais.
Lionel Messi's triumphant Argentina comeback has been tempered by a hint he may not be fit to play in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Venezuela. Messi, who had gone back on his decision to quit the team following their Copa America final defeat in June, scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over Uruguay on Thursday that sent Argentina to the top of the South American group. However, the Argentina captain said he had a groin pain and had to think about his fitness at the start of a busy season for his national side and his club Barcelona.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said the international break has made his plans for the Manchester derby a bit more 'complicated' than he would have liked, especially with his South American players returning a day before the clash.
Argentina's injured captain Lionel Messi has been named in a squad missing the suspended Javier Mascherano and Gonzalo Higuain for next month's World Cup qualifier against South America's bottom side Paraguay.
Neymar should return to Spain with renewed enthusiasm after leading Brazil to their first soccer gold medal at an Olympic Games, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. Neymar, who has scored 85 goals in 141 games in his three seasons at Barcelona, was given permission to stay in Brazil until after international games early next month. "I think it's a good decision to grant him (Neymar) that," Pique told El Mundo Deportivo. "He has earned it.
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.
Uruguay, the last team to qualify for the World Cup, carried the South American flag furthest at the tournament before bowing to European superiority in their 3-2 semi-final defeat by Netherlands on Tuesday.
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk believes Uruguay's passionate approach should serve as an example for his team when the sides meet on Tuesday in the first World Cup semi-final at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. Van Marwijk revealed on Monday that before one of the first Dutch matches of this campaign he has used the South Americans as an example of how to play matches at this level.
Spain's irresistible striker David Villa grabbed a late winner for Spain as they beat Paraguay 1-0 in their World Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
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Paraguay beat Japan on penalties to move into the World Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday after the match had finished in a goalless stalemate after extra time.
Few teams have the audacity to attack Brazil and their 3-0 World Cup second-round win over Chile on Monday showed what happens to those who do.
Uruguay are enjoying their best World Cup in 40 years and the way they overcame a spirited South Korea with a Luis Suarez double suggested their ambitions can stretch at least as far as the semi-finals.
In a big relief to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, pilot error was found to have caused the crash of the India-made Advance Light Helicopter 'Dhruv' in Ecuador in October, a probe conducted in the United States and India into the mishap has revealed. The crash, during a military parade on October 28 in the South American country, injuring two pilots, was considered a major setback to India's efforts to market its indigenous helicopters overseas.
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Paraguay will look to a trio of sharpshooters to see them into the World Cup second round while New Zealand, surprise contenders for a place in the last 16, are hoping luck favours them at last, when the teams meet in their final group game on Thursday.
Images from day one of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on Monday.
Mark Gonzalez cracked open Switzerland's record-breaking defence to give Chile a 1-0 victory on Monday, moving the South Americans clear at the top of Group H.
Six-times champion Roger Federer came back from the brink of a dramatic first-round exit at Wimbledon on Monday, recovering from two sets down to beat gritty Colombian Alejandro Falla 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-0.
European champions Spain will enter their final group match against DPR Korea as the firm favourites, looking to secure a Round of 16 berth in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, in Kochi, on Friday.
Holders Italy were gifted a goal and a lifeline in their 1-1 Group F draw with Paraguay on Monday where they again took their slow starter tag to extremes.
Wednesday's impressive, albeit unexciting 1-0 friendly win away to Germany showed Argentina coach Diego Maradona's team is at last taking shape.
Argentina have reached three major finals in three years but the team who came so close to winning the 2014 World Cup face crunch games against Peru and Ecuador that will determine if they miss out on the global showpiece event for the first time since 1970.
The new International Olympic Committee president will be elected in Buenos Aires after the Argentine capital on Wednesday beat Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur for the right to host the 2013 IOC session.
Champions Barcelona moved five points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win at Getafe, while Real Madrid fell to a 2-0 defeat by Real Sociedad.
Third-party ownership of footballers will become illegal in Brazil from May 1, the country's domestic governing body CBF) said in new transfer regulations published on Tuesday.
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Judge said that she was not persuaded by the argument from Assange's legal team that it was not in the public interest to pursue him for skipping bail.
Rafa Nadal kept alive his chances of ending his 11 month title drought by taming tenacious Argentine David Nalbandian 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday.
2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winner Diego Forlan struck a brilliant hat-trick, the first of the season, to power Mumbai City FC to the top of the Indian Super League table with a 5-0 demolition of Kerala Blasters in Mumbai on Saturday.
Manchester City conceded four goals in 36 hapless minutes on Saturday as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat by VfB Stuttgart in a pre-season friendly.
Mehuli had topped the qualifying with a score of 628.8 earlier in the morning and led the eight-woman finals field after 10 shots with a score of 104.3, 1.1 ahead of Stephanie.
'The World Cup in five years and the Olympics thereafter will be the call for Brazil to resurrect Rio to its full glory,' says B S Prakash, India's ambassador to Brazil.
It could prove to be a major breakthrough in the protracted standoff between 44-year-old Assange and Sweden, where he is wanted in relation to a 2010 rape allegation.
Diego Forlan and Martin Palermo scored last-gasp goals as Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador switched places on a dramatic Saturday of South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Diego Maradona's Argentina, having beaten Peru 2-1 at home in torrential rain, go to Montevideo on Wednesday to defend an automatic berth in the South Africa finals against a Uruguay side that turned the tables on Ecuador.
Asia's representatives are once again heading home before the business end of the World Cup gets going.
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