Football

Florentino Perez had words of high praise for star forward Ronaldo, calling him the world's greatest player and one of the best of all time.

The German Football Federation says team captain Philipp Lahm and the rest of the players quickly agreed to keep the same incentive scheme that was in place for last year's European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.

Blatter condemned the Betis fans who directed racist chants at their own player Paulao after he was sent off in 4-0 derby defeat at Sevilla.

The Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper suggested that strikers Mario Balotelli and Robinho were among the five latecomers.

Hamsik played for only nine minutes as a substitute in Saturday's 0-1 loss to Parma before limping off.

Lionel Messi said his favourite teams to win the 2014 Brazil World Cup are Germany, Brazil, Spain, France and Argentina.

The early signs are that the keeper, who is set to leave after this campaign when his contract ends, will miss Saturday's La Liga visit of Granada.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is confident of Brazil's chances at the 2014 World Cup, guaranteeing the team will win the tournament at home.

Sunil Chhetri found the net once but Philip James Younghusband neutralised within a minute as Philippines held the hosts to a 1-1 draw.

Sweden coach also said Portugal are favourites but added that Sweden, who will host the second leg, would put in the sort of top performance.

Colombia handed Belgium their first setback in a year with a 2-0 friendly win thanks to goals by Falcao and Victor Ibarbo.

Searching for its first win in an international friendly this year, the Indian football team takes on Philippines without a quartet of senior players.

Belgium and Colombia are not usually considered heavyweights in world football yet their meeting is arguably the most attractive of the friendlies being played this week.

The final 11 spots for next year's finals in Brazil are about to be filled with matches taking place across the globe.

Manchester United's victory over Arsenal was the most significant moment yet of the Scotsman's Old Trafford tenure.

Barcelona lost Lionel Messi to another leg injury but still had more than enough firepower to win 4-1 at struggling Real Betis.