MADRID: Real Madrid star Kaka, who has been ruled out through injury for three to four months, said he had a problem with his left knee even before the World Cup. "This knee has been bothering me for quite some time. But I didn`t know that it was so serious. I was the first to be

PONTIAC: Italian defender Daniele Bonera scored the deciding goal in a penalty-kick shootout for AC Milan after playing a goal-less draw Friday with Greek side Panathinaikos in a football friendly. The shootout was deadlocked until the fourth Panathinaikos shooter, Antonios Petropoulas,

SYDNEY: New Zealander Alan Isaac says he is not a puppet and does not feels like a third-rate choice after his nomination as vice-president of cricket`s global governing body, reports said Saturday. Isaac is Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket`s nomination behind former Australia

SAN DIEGO: French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur of Australia was ousted from the 700,000-dollar WTA San Diego Open on Friday, losing a quarter-final 6-4, 6-3 to Italian fifth seed Flavia Pennetta. Second seed Stosur joined Serbian top seed Jelena Jankovic and Russian third seed Vera

COLOMBO: Venkatsai Laxman overcame back spasms to hit an unbeaten 103 as India defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in the final Test on Saturday to draw the three-match series 1-1. Sachin Tendulkar chipped in with 54 and Suresh Raina made 41 not out to help India surpass a challenging

STOCKHOLM: World record holder and Olympic champion Usain Bolt crashed to his first defeat in two years on Friday when America`s Tyson Gay won their eagerly-awaited 100m clash at the Diamond League meeting.Gay clocked 9.84sec to edge Bolt, who was second in 9.97sec, while Trinidad`s

IRVINE: World record-holder Ryan Lochte seized a rare 200-meter individual medley victory over Michael Phelps on Friday, winning the title at the US Swim Championships in a blistering 1min 54.84sec.Lochte boasts impeccable medley credentials and set the world record of 1:54.10 in winning

BIRMINGHAM: James Anderson and Stuart Broad took four wickets apiece as Pakistan collapsed to 72 all out - their lowest total against England - on the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston on Friday.England were 112 for two in reply when bad light forced an early close -- a lead of

SAN DIEGO: California teenager Coco Vandeweghe rallied to upset Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA San Diego Open. Qualifier Vandeweghe, ranked 205th in the world, shook off her poor start to topple the ninth-ranked Russian,

  WASHINGTON: US second seed Andy Roddick was eliminated by France`s Gilles Simon while Czech top seed and Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych struggled into the ATP Washington Classic quarter-finals on Thursday. Simon, sidelined nearly three months by a right knee injury, ousted Roddick

TOKYO: Japan will host Paraguay in a friendly match in September, the Japan Football Association said on Friday, just over two months after the South American side knocked them out of the World Cup.The association also said Japan will take on arch rivals South Korea the following

AKRON: Tiger Woods carded his career worst score at Firestone, a shocking four-over-par 74 in the opening round at the Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday.Woods has dominated the World Golf Championships event, winning it seven times at Firestone Country Club, but he was completely off

BERLIN: Bayern Munich have rewarded Germany international Thomas Mueller, top scorer at the World Cup with five goals, with an improved two year contract extension, the Bundesliga champions announced.The new deal ties Mueller to Bayern until 2015.The 20-year-old`s starring role in helping

LONDON: Cesc Fabregas has confirmed he will stay at Arsenal this season after conceding he won`t get his wish to rejoin Barcelona.Fabregas met Arsene Wenger before the World Cup to ask the Gunners boss to let him move to Spanish champions Barca.But the Spain midfielder, who quit the Nou

  IRVINE: Michael Phelps won the 100m butterfly at the US swimming championships on Thursday, nabbing the 50th national title of his career with a time that put a smile on his face. Phelps clocked 50.65sec, fastest in the world this year, and said he was pleased with the effort a day

  SYDNEY: The chief of the Federation of International Cricketers` Associations on Friday called for the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) to be applied throughout all Test series. The referral system is being used in a Test series in Britain for the first time during the current

COLOMBO: India`s renowned batsmen were handed a stern challenge to secure a series-levelling win in the final Test after Sri Lanka fought hard with both bat and ball on Friday.India, set a victory target of 257, ended the rousing fourth day`s play on 53-3 in their second innings,

Chicago: Landon Donovan and Tim Howard are among 14 players from the USA`s FIFA World Cup™ squad named for next Tuesday`s friendly against Brazil in New Jersey. More than 55,000 tickets have already been sold for the Americans meeting with the five-time FIFA World Cup champion at the

COLOMBO:Defiant batting by India`s tailenders and twin blows by part-time spinner Virender Sehwag left the third and final cricket Test against Sri Lanka evenly poised on Thursday. India, chasing Sri Lanka`s first innings total of 425, were reduced to 321-6 in the post-lunch session of

AKRON: Extra spice has been added to this week`s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational where Tiger Woods is in danger of being dethroned as world number one by either fellow American Phil Mickelson or Britain`s Lee Westwood.Mickelson would take over at the top for the first time with victory at