When Wayne Rooney turned his ankle playing for Manchester United against Bayern Munich in the Champions League earlier this year, the whole of England flinched.
A broken metatarsal suffered against Portugal in the quarterfinal ruined his Euro 2004. A broken metatarsal suffered in the build-up hampered him at the 2006 World Cup.

Brazil and Spain are the bookmakers’ favourites for the forthcoming 19th World Cup in South Africa. But as the saying goes there is many a slip between cup and lip. Recent World Cups have shown that pre-tournament favourites can falter and teams that build momentum during the tournament, like Italy in 2006 or Brazil in 2002 are

Mumbai FC registered a 2-0 win over Mohun Bagan to avoid relegation in the I-League match at the Cooperage here on Friday.
Skipper Abhishek Yadav scored a brace and was awarded the man-of-the-match award.

The Football Players’ Association of India is determined to give an international feel to its annual awards ceremony this year, which is likely to be held during the first week of August either in Goa or Mumbai, and former Portugal and Real Madrid star Luis Figo could grace the event.

It was the same old story for East Bengal, who squandered easy chances to play out a 1-1 draw against a mediocre Viva Kerala in their last I-League 3 encounter at the Howrah Municipal Stadium here on Thursday.

Mahindra United bid adieu to professional football in style, defeating JCT 2-1 in their final I-League encounter at the Cooperage here on Thursday. First half goals from Sukhwinder Singh (33rd minute) and Paresh Shivalkar (43rd) gave the Mumbai outfit a 2-0 advantage at half time.

From a very young age it was clear that Lionel Messi had a gift for football, and his early skills are engraved in public memory at La Bajada, a humble neighbourhood in the Argentine city of Rosario where his family still lives.

The curtain will fall on one of the premier football clubs in the city as Mahindra United, who will disband after the match, take on JCT in their last I-League encounter here on Thursday.

Germany’s rising star Thomas Mueller was left needing stiches to a chin injury after falling off a mountain bike at his team’s World Cup training camp in northern Italy on Wednesday.

The United States fell 4-2 to the Czech Republic on Tuesday in their last friendly football match before coach Bob Bradley names the 23-man squad for the World Cup finals.