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Brazil secured their place at the 2010 World Cup with an impressive 3-1 win over arch-rivals Argentina while South America's other candidates jockeyed for the region's other three automatic berths. The defeat left Diego Maradona's side contemplating the dreaded prospect of missing out on the finals but Argentina did cling on to the fourth and final qualifying place after Colombia beat Ecuador 2-0 in another of Saturday's five-match programme.
Five-time champions Brazil qualified for the World Cup finals on Saturday after beating arch-rivals Argentina 3-1. Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano scored twice after Benfica skipper Luisao opened the scoring for the Brazilians in a fast, hard-tackling match.
Argentina's hopes of reaching the 2010 finals in South Africa could be severely limited this weekend, should the results of the South American World Cup qualifiers go to form. Diego Maradona's Argentina face Dunga's South American group leaders Brazil (27 points), who added the Confederations Cup in late June to their 2007 Copa America title.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona would give anything to be able to play in Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Brazil, he said on Tuesday.
Any injuries suffered by Argentina in a friendly in Russia next week could have a "catastrophic" effect on September's World Cup qualifier against Brazil, coach Diego Maradona said on Wednesday.
Former European Footballer of the Year Michael Owen has completed a surprise free transfer move to Manchester United, the Premier League champions said on Friday.
Germany have got physical problems while England's are mainly in their heads as the two old foes prepare to land the first heavyweight knockout blow in the World Cup on Sunday.
Carlos Tevez missed a first-half penalty as Argentina slumped to a 2-0 defeat away to Ecuador in their World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona will have to go back to the drawing board after his team's rudderless performance in their 1-0 win over Colombia.
World number one Rafael Nadal faces a potentially treacherous task in his bid to win a fifth consecutive French Open title following Friday's draw for the tournament starting on Sunday. The top seed, unbeaten at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, is in the same half of the draw as Briton Andy Murray and Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco, who gave him a rough time in the Australian Open semi-finals.
Off-form Ronaldinho was left out of Brazil's squad on Thursday for next month's World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup. Striker Ronaldo, who has not played for his country since the last World Cup, was also overlooked despite a promising start to his latest comeback with Corinthians. Brazil face Uruguay in Montevideo on June 6 and host South American group leaders Paraguay in Recife four days later.
World number one Rafael Nadal began his campaign for a fifth successive Barcelona Open title with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil on Wednesday.
World number one Rafael Nadal and fourth seed Andy Murray bagged two wins apiece on Friday to set up a mouth-watering Monte Carlo Masters semi-final. Nadal, gunning for his fifth consecutive title in the principality, swept past Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-3 in his quarter-final while Murray battled past Russian eighth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 6-4.
World number one Rafael Nadal charged into the quarter-finals of the rain-hit Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-3, 6-0 demolition of Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti on Friday. The four-times champion won his match held over from Thursday in 93 minutes and will next face Ivan Ljubicic, who dismissed Italian Simone Bolelli 7-5, 7-6.
Marat Safin brought Lleyton Hewitt down to earth on Tuesday when he won the battle of the former world number ones by beating him 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Luis Fabiano scored twice as Brazil strolled to a 3-0 win over demoralised Peru in a hopelessly one-sided World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. Brazil, who have 21 points from 12 games, moved up to second in the South American group and cut the gap between themselves and leaders Paraguay to three points. Peru, with seven points, went five adrift at the bottom of the 10-team table and have no realistic hope of ending their 24-year wait for a World Cup finals appearance.
Brazil drew 1-1 away to Ecuador in their World Cup qualifier on Sunday thanks to an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Julio Cesar. Brazil have 18 points from 11 games in the 10-team South American qualifying group, five behind leaders Paraguay, while Ecuador have 13.
Top seeded Grandmaster Koneru tried her best but could not breach Zhao Xue's defence and drew a tense game to remain joint third after the ninth round of the IS Bank Ataturk Women Grand Prix chess event in Istanbul.
Koneru Humpy defeated lowly placed Zeinab Mamedjarova of Azerbaijan to stay in title race as Zhao Xue of China defeated overnight leader and compatriot Yifan Hao to emerge on top after the eighth round of the Is Bank Ataturk women's Grand Prix chess tournament in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Top seed Grandmaster Koneru Humpy went down to Yifan Hao of China in what was perceived as the title match in the seventh round of IS Bank Ataturk Women Grand Prix event in Istanbul on Sunday.
Top seed Koneru Humpy remained in the hunt for top spot with a hard-fought victory over former world champion Maia Chiburdanidze of Georgia in the sixth round of the IS Bank Ataturk Women's Grand Prix chess tournament in Istanbul. Registering her fourth win in the tournament apart from two draws, Humpy took her tally to five points out of a possible six and remained in the joint second spot.
Top seed Koneru Humpy could not get the better of Shen Yang's defence and settled for her second draw on the trot to slip to the joint third place after four rounds in the IS Bank Ataturk Women Grand Prix chess tournament now in progress in Istanbul.
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy could not breach Betul Cemre Yildiz's defence and settled for a draw against the lowest ranked local favourite in the third round of the IS Bank Attaturk Fide Women's Grand Prix chess tournament now underway in Istanbul.
Top seed Grandmaster Koneru Humpy scored a crushing victory over Elina Danielian of Armenia to jump in to the sole lead in the second round of IS Bank Ataturk FIDE Grand Prix chess tournament in Istanbul.
David Ferrer crushed Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to fire depleted champions Spain into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup on Sunday and set up a clash away to nine-times winners France.
World number two Novak Djokovic fired Serbia to a 2-0 lead over the United States in Belgrade with a 6-2, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Sam Querrey, after compatriot Viktor Troicki's hard-fought win over John Isner, also in four sets.
Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez, club mates at Barcelona, sparkled as Argentina and Chile put behind them a weekend to forget with victories in the South American 2014 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.
The seventh edition of Aero India 2009, billed as Asias largest biennial air show, which begins today, will focus on business-to-business (B2B) deals that involve both Indian and foreign vendors as well as government organisations.
Somdev Devvarman made a shock first round exit from the US $50,000 ATP Challenger series in Carson, United States, in both singles and doubles. Somdev, seeded eighth, lost his opening singles match 1-6, 4-6 to unseeded American Scoville Jenkins. In the doubles event, Somdev and Ashutosh Singh went down fighting to the American pair of Brendan Levine Jesse 3-6, 5-7.
India had a fruitful day at the Australian Open as Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi stormed into the quarterfinals while top seeds Leander Paes and Zimbabwean Cara Black advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles in Melbourne on Sunday.
Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles advanced to the Australian Open men's doubles third round after a straight-set victory but it was curtains for Rohan Bopanna and his Finnish partner Jarkko Nieminen who lost their second-round match in Melbourne on Saturday.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza entered the second round of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open after a hard-fought 6-2, 6-4 victory over sixth seeds Kveta Pleschke and Pavel Vizner of Czech Republic in Melbourne on Friday.
The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding "an immediate, durable and fully respected" ceasefire in the troubled Gaza Strip, leading to withdrawal of all Israeli forces.
Manchester United's players had already switched their body clocks back to GMT before beating Ecuador's LDU to capture the Club World Cup in Japan. The Premier League champions became the tournament's first British winners when a Wayne Rooney goal gave them a 1-0 victory over LDU in Sunday's final in Yokohama.
Already an English, European and now world champion with Manchester United, Wayne Rooney is hungry for international glory. Rooney smashed United's winner in Sunday's Club World Cup final against Ecuador's LDU in Japan to complete an unprecedented treble for Alex Ferguson's side.
Wayne Rooney's superb 73rd-minute strike gave 10-man Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Ecuador's LDU in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.
Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has the potential to become as great a player as Pele or Diego Maradona, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said on Saturday. Ferguson's lavish praise comes during the latest war of words between United and Spanish giants Real Madrid over the future of the Ballon d'Or winner.
Cristiano Ronaldo studiously avoided talk of Real Madrid after Manchester United booked their place in Sunday's Club World Cup final.
Manchester United hit three goals in a pulsating five-minute spell to overpower Japan's Gamba Osaka 5-3 in their Club World Cup semi-final on Thursday.