Two of the world’s finest footballers were set to grace the World Cup stage here on Tuesday as Portugal open their campaign against top African hopes Ivory Coast.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba will be the inspirations for their sides as they look to sidestep a forecast last 16 clash with European champions and cup joint favourites Spain.

New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert is positive that his players will not be struck by first night nerves as they play Slovakia on Tuesday.
The All Whites are appearing in the finals for only the second time and, having lost all three matches in Spain in 1982, are still looking for a first point on football’s biggest stage.

A potential cancer drug developed from an Australian rainforest plant is set to progress to human trials after fighting off inoperable tumours in pets, the company behind it said on Monday.

Scientists in Australia’s vast outback on Monday recovered a capsule that they hope contains the first piece of asteroid ever brought to earth, perhaps offering a glimpse into ancient space history.

Forget the noise of the vuvuzela distracting the players, it’s more the Jabulani football that is proving the bane of the 2010 World Cup participants so far.
Chief among the Adidas Fifa-approved football’s detractors unsurprisingly are goalkeepers — though England’s Robert Green cannot put it down to his howler in the 1-1 draw with the United States.

Japan beat a lacklustre Cameroon 1-0 in Bloemfontein on Monday through a Keisuke Honda goal to notch their first ever World Cup victory on foreign soil.
The Blue Samurai, struggling for goals in the run-up to the tournament, took the lead in the 39th minute and held on for the remainder of the match despite increasing pressure from the African side in the second half.

Nine people have been killed when a plane belonging to a politician running for the post of governor in a Mexican state crashed on Monday, his staff said.

Israel’s Cabinet on Monday backed the creation of an internal committee to probe its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, in a move swiftly dismissed by both Turkey and the Palestinians.

Danish defender Simon Poulsen (left) tries in vain to stop the ball from entering his own team’s goal after his header off a harmless cross strayed and took the goalkeeper by surprise during their mat

Lewis Hamilton believes that the pace of the Red Bull team is now under threat and that soon McLaren will be the team to beat.
Hamilton, world champion in 2008, took the lead of the drivers’ championship on Sunday after leading team-mate Jenson Button to a second successive McLaren one-two at the Canadian Grand Prix.