MADRID: Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola, who has led the club to seven trophies in two seasons, will sign a one-year contract extension on Wednesday, the Spanish champions revealed."The expected announcement of Guardiola’s continued presence on the bench is a reality," said the club in

MADRID: Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta, who scored the extra-time winner for Spain in the World Cup final against the Netherlands, said Tuesday he always believed his side could win the trophy."I always had faith and confidence. I had a lot of confidence in this team from the very

PARIS: Adidas is world champion, but Nike scored the tournament`s winning goal: for the World Cup`s official suppliers and sponsors, the planet`s most-watched sporting event is an unmitigated success.Adidas, which supplies the Spanish team`s kit, congratulated itself on the "rojas" 1-0

LONDON: World Cup final referee Howard Webb arrived home in England on Tuesday insisting he had done a tough job in difficult circumstances to the best of his ability.The English official has come in for criticism from some quarters, notably from some Dutch players, over his handling of

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa is to make an official bid for the 2020 Olympic Games after the country hosted a successful World Cup, governing Olympic body chief Tubby Reddy announced Tuesday.A bid for the Olympics is regarded as a way of maintaining South Africa`s new international profile

LONDON: Australia were 43 for one when play resumed following a 12-minute stoppage for bad light shortly after lunch on the first day of the first Test against Pakistan at Lord`s here on Tuesday.Only two overs had been bowled after the interval when, with Pakistan seamer Umar Gul

MADRID: A Spanish town which celebrates an annual Octopus Festival has requested that Paul, the "psychic" octopus who predicted Spain`s World Cup win, be allowed to join them as a guest of honour this year.Carlos Montes, major of O Carballino, in the northwestern Galicia region, said they

AMSTERDAM: Thousands of fans turned the canals of Amsterdam into a sea of orange Tuesday, honking vuvuzelas and throwing confetti at the defeated Dutch football team after their nailbiting World Cup final defeat to Spain.The team, casual in shorts and T-shirts, floated along the

WELLINGTON: New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert, who guided his unheralded side to three defiant draws at the World Cup, declared Tuesday he has rejected a host of lucrative offers to move overseas. Herbert confirmed he had been tempted by big money contracts from European, Asian and

MADRID: Spain`s victorious World Cup squad returned to a heroes` welcome in Madrid with hundreds of thousands of fans cheering the team as they paraded through the capital`s streets on an open top bus. People chanted "Campeones! Campeones! Campeones!" and waved red and gold Spanish flags

WASHINGTON: The World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands was the most-watched football game in US television history, drawing 24.3 million viewers, The Nielsen Co. said Monday.The final on the ABC network and Spanish-language Univision outdrew the June 26 US-Ghana match, which

JOHANNESBURG: A Spanish football fan who ran onto the pitch before the kick-off of the World Cup final and tried to put a hat on the trophy has been slapped with a fine, media reported Tuesday.Jaume Marquet Cot, who calls himself "Jimmy Jump", was fined 2,000 rands (260 dollars, 210

PARIS: President Nicolas Sarkozy damned the shamed French football squad on Monday, saying the team had been "disastrous" for their country`s image at the World Cup in South Africa."The image shown by the French team in South Africa? Disastrous. I said: `Those in charge must go`. They are

CAPE TOWN: rritable? Sad? Feeling empty? It could be post-World Cup withdrawal.The post-mortem on South Africa`s World Cup drew a near perfect score but locals are now grappling a once far-off question after a month of celebration and rare unity: How are you going to get your life

BIRMINGHAM: England captain Andrew Strauss revelled in the growing competition for places in the one-day side after "leading from the front" as his team wrapped up a series win over Bangladesh."We are going to need a squad of players at the World Cup (in Asia next year)," said Strauss

MADRID: Spain`s King Juan Carlos on Monday thanked the country`s national team for winning the World Cup for the first time at a reception for the 23-man squad at his palace in Madrid."Thank you champions, in the name of all of Spain and all Spaniards," he said after personally greeting

AMSTERDAM: The Dutch football team returned home Monday after their 1-0 World Cup defeat at the hands of Spain, their plane escorted by two F-16 fighter jets.The team landed at 5.20 pm (1520 GMT) at Amsterdam`s Schiphol airport, where they were kept away from the public, an AFP journalist

sCOLOMBO: Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said on Monday he was disappointed that the umpire review system would not be used for the upcoming three Test series with India."As a player and a team, we are very much for the umpire decision review system," skipper Kumar Sangakkara told

MADRID: Spain gave its football team a heroes` welcome Monday as their World Cup triumph over the Netherlands inspired a red and gold fiesta after years of dashed hopes.As the South African hosts prided themselves for defying pessimistic predictions, up to a million people were expected

JOHANNESBURG: FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Monday said he was saddened by the Uganda bombings that killed 64 people while watching the World Cup final."I am very sad. I was really, really touched this morning when I heard about this news," the head of the football governing body told