Football

The euphoria in soccer-mad Colombia is deafening, and wonderfully contagious, ahead of Friday's do-or-die World Cup match against host Brazil.

Diego Maradona has said he could be the next coach of Venezuela, the only South American country that has never made it to the World Cup.

Football fans in Nigeria have expressed disappointment over the exit of the West African country from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Colombia have won all their games so far, scoring 11 and conceding only 2 goals in the football World Cup 2014.

Messi's goals have fired Argentina into the last 16 but they will look for a better all-round performance when they meet Switzerland.

Mexico defender Marquez stuck his foot out and Netherlands Robben went down for an injury-time penalty that took his team into the World Cup quarter-finals.

Mexico's captain Rafael Marquez said Robben had admitted to him that the Dutch forward should not have been awarded the penalty that decided Sunday's last-16 clash.

The shootout penalty win against Chile exposed the Selecao's flaws but also their lion heart.

A total of 32 countries qualified for World Cup Football 2014, of which 16 have been eliminated in the Group Stage and the remaining 16 have advanced to the Round of 16.

Abhiraj Singh will be getting the opportunity of his lifetime when he escorts the star players onto the iconic Maracana Stadium between Colombia and Uruguay.

Manager Marcus Hoefl said in a statement posted via his Twitter feed that FIFA informed Beckenbauer on Friday the ban was lifted with immediate effect.

"They wanted him out of the World Cup. Perfect, they did it. They chucked him out of there like a dog," said Suarez's grandmother.

Bitter foes Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will clash in the season's first local derby in the Calcutta Football League (Premier Division) fixture.

The 35-year-old Pirlo, who plays for Juventus, said before the World Cup that he would quit international football after the tournament in Brazil.

Messi has scored 10 times in his last eight games for Argentina and became the only Argentine apart from Maradona to score four World Cup goals in a row.

Struggling South Korea will need to rediscover the magical spirit of 2002 as they fight to rescue their dismal World Cup campaign against unbeaten Belgium on Thursday.