World Cup-bound teams continued their miserable start to the African Nations Cup on Wednesday with Cameroon suffering an embarrassing 1-0 defeat by neighbours Gabon in their Group D opener.

Serie A leaders Inter Milan ground out a 1-0 victory at Chievo and Juventus ended their bad run with a similarly battling 2-1 win at Parma on Wednesday.

Striker Luca Toni will start for new club AS Roma at Cagliari on Wednesday, when Serie A returns from its mid-season break.

England's national team faces a bleak future, Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce warned after Wednesday's game between Portsmouth and Arsenal became the first in the top flight not to feature an English player in the starting line-up. Wednesday's match, which Arsenal won 4-1, featured players from 15 countries among the 22 starters with seven French players on the field.

India's seven-member boxing contingent the first sports delegation to travel to Pakistan after last year's Mumbai terror attacks on Thursday brushed aside security concerns after arriving in Karachi for an international boxing championship starting on Friday.

Frank Lampard scored from the penalty spot as Chelsea restored their three-point lead in the English Premier League with an unconvincing 2-1 home win against bottom club Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge in London, on Wednesday. Champions Manchester United had pulled level on points after beating a weakened Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 on Tuesday in manager Alex Ferguson's 900th league game in charge.

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho admitted he verbally abused a journalist after Sunday's 1-1 draw with Atalanta but denied that there was physical contact.

Comviva (formerly Bharti Telesoft) is in talks with several telecom service providers, including group company Bharti Airtel, to launch a SIM (or Subscriber Identity Module) card that allows up to 10 users to share the same mobile phone with their own specific numbers.

Claudio Marchisio blew open the Serie A title race when his superb goal gave 10-man Juventus a 2-1 win over leaders Inter Milan in an enthralling game on Saturday.

The 2010 football World Cup draw pits Brazil with Portugal, Ivory Coast and N Korea in the same group.

Striker Luis Suarez scored one goal and missed two second-half penalties as Ajax Amsterdam beat nine-man FC Timisoara 2-1 in Romania on Wednesday to reach the knockout stage of the Europa League.

France, World Cup winners in 1998 and finalists in 2006, missed out on a place in the eight top seeds for Friday's draw, announced by FIFA on Wednesday.

Whatever surprises the draw for South Africa 2010 provides in Cape Town on December 4, the path to glory at the first African World Cup will be a familiar one.

Barcelona will decide on Tuesday whether to risk Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi in their Champions League clash with Inter Milan at the Nou Camp, coach Pep Guardiola said on Monday.

India jumped three places to 135th in the latest FIFA rankings. In global rankings, Spain dethroned Brazil from number one spot. The Netherlands, Italy and Portugal complete the top five.

Cameroon and Nigeria reached the World Cup finals on Saturday but the last available African berth for the 2010 finals was left hanging by a dramatic last-gasp goal in Cairo.

Villarreal romped to a 5-0 home victory over promoted Tenerife on Sunday, continuing their revival after a poor start to the La Liga campaign.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, the last two winners of the World Player of the Year award, have been included in a FIFA shortlist for this year's accolade. The 23-man shortlist was drawn up by FIFA's Football Committee and will be voted on by the captains and head coaches of the world's national teams with the winner to be announced on December 21.

Leaders Inter Milan moved four points clear in Serie A after a remarkable 5-3 win over Palermo on Thursday when the champions went 4-0 up by halftime before almost throwing victory away.

President Pratibha Patil has said that bringing back Mahatma Gandhi''s memorabilia to India would be the most exciting occasion of her visit to the United Kingdom. The memorabilia includes signed letters and a signed khadi cloth spun by Mahatma Gandhi.

Depleted Real Madrid ended a disappointing week with a 0-0 draw at Sporting Gijon on Saturday, handing champions Barcelona the chance to open a three-point lead at the top of La Liga.

Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o is a doubt for Tuesday's Champions League visit of Dynamo Kiev despite being included in the squad, coach Jose Mourinho said.

Last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi were among the 30 players on the 2009 Ballon d'Or award shortlist released on Sunday but Italian and German players were conspicuous by their absence.

Brazil remain in first place in FIFA's latest world rankings, released on Friday, while Portugal's rise back into the top 10 ensured they will be seeded for their forthcoming World Cup play-off. Just three ranking points separate Brazil from second-placed Spain while the Netherlands, Italy and Germany complete an unchanged top five.

Talisman Didier Drogba came off the bench to secure Ivory Coast a place in the World Cup finals with a 1-1 draw against Malawi on Saturday.

Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday as winger Jesus Navas and midfielder Renato stuck with headers in each half.

Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpai, who first shot to fame in Ram Gopal Varma's Satya, was present on Day Three of Lakme Fashion Week.

Belgian comeback queen Kim Clijsters knocked out Serena Williams in a wildly controversial finish on Saturday to advance to the final of the US Open and become the poster girl for working mothers.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's last journey in Hyderabad on Friday took him from his home to the Congress Bhavan where party workers paid their last respects. Then the body was taken to the Lal Bhahadur Stadium for the public to pay homage.

European champions Barcelona will quickly renew acquaintances with their former striker Samuel Eto'o when they begin the defence of their trophy at Inter Milan in their opening Champions League match next month. The draw also brought together AC Milan and nine-time European champions Real Madrid in another mouthwatering Italian versus Spanish clash with Brazil forward Kaka facing his old club at his new Bernabeu home on Matchday Three.

European champions Barcelona will face Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine and Russian newcomers Rubin Kazan when they open the defence of their crown following the draw for the Champions League group phase on Thursday.

Samuel Eto'o coolly converted a penalty on his league debut but champions Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 home draw by Bari in their Serie A opener on Sunday.

Two headers by Marouane Chamakh led champions Girondins Bordeaux to a 3-2 win at Sochaux in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Here's a sneak peek.

If newly rich Manchester City wanted to rile Manchester United during the close-season they certainly went about it the right way -- and not just by spending over 100 million pounds on new players. The arrivals of Carlos Tevez from United, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal, Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn and Gareth Barry from Aston Villa should certainly see City improve in the new Premier League season starting this weekend.

India, which sends the second largest number of women police officers annually to the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, may soon have opportunities to send more women police personnel to the world body.

Italian Cup winners Lazio stunned Serie A champions Inter Milan with two goals in two minutes early in the second half to win the Super Cup 2-1 in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium on Saturday.

Gisele Monterio speaks about her film Love Aaj Kal and Brazil.

Samuel Eto'o is desperate to give his new club Inter Milan instant payback when the Serie A champions take on Italian Cup winners Lazio in the Super Cup at the Bird's Nest on Saturday.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic moved to Barcelona from Inter Milan and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o went the other way on Monday in a swap deal worth more than 66 million euros ($94.14 million). With Eto'o being valued at 20 million euros, Barcelona announced they were paying a separate 46 million euro fee and loaning Belarus midfielder Aleksandr Hleb to Inter for the season.