Football

Alexis Sanchez and playmaker Mesut Ozil are fit for Sunday's Premier League clash with Chelsea, manager Arsene Wenger said.

The Barcelona and Argentina forward can add to his jaw-dropping tally of 479 in 609 official games -- 430 for Barca and 49 for his national team -- in Sunday's La Liga match at home against Athletic Bilbao.

The 40-year-old England footballer receives the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award at the sixth edition of the UNICEF ball. Beckham has been a goodwill ambassador for the Unicef for last 10 years.

The club are close to appointing Luciano Spalletti for a second spell in the Italian capital, according to reports. Roma have slipped to fifth place after one win in their last seven league games.

Jorge Messi says today he (Lionel) is where we never dreamed he could be, a magical place that he started towards in 2007.

United led 2-0 and then 3-2 at St James' Park but Paul Dummett equalised for the hosts in the 90th minute to leave Van Gaal fuming.

The transfer fee was undisclosed but media reports said Newcastle had agreed to pay 12million pounds ($17.31million) for the 23-year-old.

The 25-year-old, Newcastle's first signing of the January transfer window, has made 178 appearances and scored 23 goals for the French club Bordeaux in all competitions.

Atletico Madrid returned to the top of the Spanish league on Sunday after second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco secured a 2-0 win against Celta Vigo.

Defending champions Mohun Bagan easily defeated debutants Aizawl FC 3-1 to begin their campaign with a bang in the I-League football tournament opener at Vidyasagar Krirangan on Saturday.

Indian football team moved up three rungs to occupy 163rd spot in the FIFA rankings issued on Thursday on the back of its SAFF Cup title triumph.

World soccer body FIFA's ethics committee said on Thursday it opened formal proceedings against Secretary General Jerome Valcke, after its investigators recommended a nine-year ban against him.

Champions Juventus continued their resurgence by beating Hellas Verona 3-0 at home on Wednesday for an eighth successive Serie A victory as Inter Milan remained top after winning 1-0 at Empoli.

Arsenal's victory over Newcastle United has left manager Arsene Wenger confident that his team's mental strength will help them mount a strong challenge for the Premier League title this season.

Chelsea displayed some of the swagger from last season's title-winning campaign in beating Crystal Palace 3-0 in the Premier League to continue their resurgence under caretaker manager Guus Hiddink on Sunday.

Jones picked up an injury similar to the ankle problem that forced him to miss five games before Christmas, while Young's withdrawal was a consequence of the busy fixture list.