Sports

Maradona is urging fellow Argentines to leave Lionel Messi alone over the current star's decision to retire from Argentina's national team following its loss to Chile in the Copa America championship match.

Portugal's coach Fernando Santos will leave his final decision on team selection for the quarter-final clash against Poland until Thursday morning because of injuries to at least two players, he told reporters.

Poland have an impressive defensive record at Euro 2016 but standing in their way to a semi-final spot is arguably one of sport's greatest-ever athletes, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi is set to join Chelsea from Ligue 1 club Olympique Marseille, French sports daily L'Equipe reported on Wednesday.

Like neurotic parents, Argentines swung from criticism to unconditional love for their star footballer Lionel Messi this week, providing the soccer-mad nation's many therapists with rich material for psychoanalysis.

Outgoing England manager Roy Hodgson on Tuesday denied reports that his players questioned his selection decisions before the embarrassing 2-1 defeat by Iceland which sent the team out of Euro 2016.

German football legend Franz Beckenbauer has said he would prefer two-time defending champions Spain rather than Italy as his country’s opponent in the high-octane European Championship quarter-final.

Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi retired from international duty after missing in a penalty shootout as Chile won the Copa America final.

The shockwaves felt after Britain voted to leave the European Union are set to have a dramatic impact on the transfer fees splashed out by cash-rich Premier League clubs for leading European players.

Playing two days after his 29th birthday, Messi lost a final for the third year in a row and the fourth time overall with Argentina.

The 25-year-old, who joined the club from Real Sociedad in 2014, has flourished under manager Diego Simeone, scoring more than 50 goals in his two seasons at the Vicente Calderon.

Euro 2016 upstarts Hungary have steadily improved during the group stage of the tournament and played their best football in Wednesday's pulsating 3-3 draw against Portugal, coach Bernd Storck said.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique insisted he was merely crossing his fingers after being accused of raising his middle finger during the Spanish national anthem before his country's Euro 2016 game against Croatia.

Argentina striker Lionel Messi became his country's all-time top goalscorer on Tuesday when he scored in the Copa America semi-final against the United States to take his international tally to 55 goals.

The appointment of Coppell comes close on the heels of the consortium of Chiranjeevi, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Allu Arvind and Nimmagadda Prasad joining Sachin Tendulkar as co-owners of Kerala Blasters.

Rested from India's silver medal winning Champions Trophy campaign, Sardar Singh was on Monday named captain of the 18-man squad for the 6 Nations Invitational hockey tournament to be held in Valencia from June 27.