Sports

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has compared the club's situation to that of Chelsea, who won the League Cup in 2005 — their first season under Jose Mourinho — to spark a decade of success domestically and in Europe.

All five FIFA candidates darted across Zurich in a final push to secure votes in Friday's presidential election.

Messi has sent not one, but two jerseys to the five-year-old Afghan boy who became an Internet sensation last month when he was pictured wearing a plastic bag with "Messi" scrawled on it in marker pen.

Blatter, who will turn 80 next March, was at the helm of FIFA for 17 years. He said that his fate would have been different if the United States was granted the honour of organising the 2022 World Cup and not Qatar.

"The performance was good, with a lot of high pressing, 3-1 is a good result and we are happy with it," Manchester Cuty captain Vincent Kompany said.

Real Madrid star striker Ronaldo has made social media history by becoming the first athlete to reach 200 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

In his quest to take City further than they have ever gone before in Europe's top club competition, Pellegrini sacrificed the club's chances of winning world football's oldest cup competition, the FA Cup.

Indian midfielder Bikash Jairu, who has been in rich form over the past few months, says the Indian Super League (ISL) experience is now helping him succeed at various levels of the game.

Martin Kelly was Crystal Palace's unlikely goal-scoring hero as they knocked Premier League high-flyers Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 fifth-round win at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Manchester United's hopes of salvaging their season in the Europa League suffered a stinging setback when they lost 2-1 at Danish side Midtjylland in the first leg of their last-32 clash on Thursday.

Juventus can't afford to underestimate Bologna on Friday.

Frenchman Jerome Champagne said he raised the issue with the electoral committee because he was concerned some voters were under pressure to photograph their ballot papers to prove they had taken part.

Man United fans are planning to protest against being asked to pay 71 pounds per ticket for their Europa League away match against Danish league winners Midtjylland.

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink says Diego Costa broke his nose in training but still expects the striker to be available for the English Premier League game against Newcastle on Saturday.

English Premier League (EPL) giants Arsenal will face the best of Major League Soccer in the MLS All-Star game in San Jose, California this summer, MLS announced on Thursday.

Messi missed Wednesday's 1-1 Copa del Rey semi-final second-leg draw with Valencia, with the Catalan side prevailing 8-1 on aggregate.