Markable

Novak Djokovic ended his Grand Slam drought and Roger Federer`s hopes of a record eighth Wimbledon title with a thrilling five-set victory.   The Serb, 27, came through 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-4 to win his second Wimbledon and seventh Grand Slam title.   After letting a championship point slip in the fourth set, he won Wimbledon`s first five-set final since 2009. Djokovic had lost his previous three major finals, and will now reclaim the number one ranking from Rafael Nadal.   "After losing the fourth set it wasn`t easy to go on and win the fifth set, I don`t know how I did it," Djokovic told BBC Sport.   "This is the best tournament in the world and the one I always wanted to win so to be able to compete at such a high level I am so grateful."   Federer, 32, had hoped to surpass Pete Sampras with an eighth title and become the oldest winner in modern times.   The Swiss was willed on by much of the 15,000-strong crowd throughout the final, with chants of "Roger! Roger!" ringing around Centre Court when he reeled off five successive games from 5-2 down in the fourth set.   But Djokovic recovered his nerve to fend off break points in the decider and clinch a dramatic win after three hours and 56 minutes, before kneeling on the turf and eating some grass - just as he had done after winning in 2011.   He then headed into the stands to celebrate with his team, including three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, brought in by Djokovic at the start of the year to help end his run of 18 months without a major win.

The South Americans made a blistering start with left back Pablo Amero scoring with a 5th minute deflected shot. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez extended their lead, stabbing home a 58th minute corner, and midfield James Rodriguez added a late third goal to seal the win. The Group C opener in Belo Horizonte's Estadio Mineirao showed that Colombia remain a force to be reckoned with despite the injury to Falcao, which overshadowed their buildup to the tournament. Greece had plenty of chances themselves. In their best opportunity, veteran striker Fanis Gekas hit the bar with a header when it looked easier to score soon after Colombia's second goal. Vassilis Torosidis put a header just wide, Panagiotis Kone saw a shot well saved and Giorgos Samaras struck just wide for the normally defence-minded Greeks, who were forced to attack after Colombia's early goal. The result pumped up an already pulsating atmosphere among the majority Colombian crowd. The yellow-decked South American fans were thrilled at seeing their team back at football's top table after being shut out since their great sides of 1990s. That joy was in evidence after Colombia's first goal, when the players danced together in probably the most joyous celebration so far of the Brazil World Cup. Defeat continued Greece's dismal record of never keeping a clean sheet at a World Cup finals. They have never gone beyond the group stage either, so will be hoping Group C rivals Ivory Coast and Japan prove easier opponents.

Armero's early goal came after sustained pressure down the right wing, with a lucky deflection squeezing past keeper Orestis Karnezis. Three Colombian players looked offside but were deemed not interfering in play. Gutierrez, with a heavy weight of expectations on his shoulders given Falcao's absence, scored an easy goal after a corner had been flicked on. Then Rodriguez, who had looked lively throughout, hit a low shot in stoppage time to send the Colombian fans delirious. Throughout the game, the Colombians targeted Greek left back Jose Holebas, again and again finding space on the right flank. Greek forward Kostas Mitroglou came off the bench in the second half but was unable to provide Greece's missing spark.

Franz Beckenbauer has been provisionally banned from all footballing activities by Fifa - for "failing to co-operate" with its inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process.   The World Cup winning German legend had been asked to help with a Fifa ethics investigation led by lawyer Michael Garcia.   Beckenbauer, 68, was part of the Fifa executive committee that voted to give the tournament to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.   He has been banned for 90 days.   Beckenbauer captained West Germany to victory as hosts at the 1974 World Cup, and was coach when they next lifted the trophy in Italy 16 years later.   He then managed at Olympique Marseille and Bayern Munich, where he is now honorary president.   Fifa said Beckenbauer ignored "repeated requests" to assist with an independent investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.   No details have been given on what Garcia wanted to speak to Beckenbauer about.   But Beckenbauer said: "I politely requested a meeting in which we could talk about the matter in German. That was apparently not desired. That aside, I wouldn`t be able to contribute anything to clear up the matter anyway."   World football`s governing body said Beckenbauer was asked to supply answers to written questions provided in both English and German.   In a statement, Fifa said: "The apparent breach relates to Mr Beckenbauer`s failure to co-operate with an ethics committee investigation despite repeated requests for his assistance.   "The case is now the subject of formal investigation proceedings being conducted by investigatory chamber member Vanessa Allard as chief of the investigation."   Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce said: "This very much shows once again how the Fifa reform process is working. The independent ethics committee are doing a good job and should have the full support of everybody."   Garcia says he now has "almost all" of the documents referred to by the Sunday Times report.   On Friday, Beckenbauer told German television: "I am the Bayern Munich honorary president. Even if I cannot do this for 90 days it is something the honorary president can survive."  

Source: BBC

With the World Cup just days away from kicking off, Facebook and Twitter are both taking steps to serve as the platform for conversation and news about the games. Facebook launched a new Trending World Cup page on Tuesday that aims to serve as a central hub to "experience the action in real-time." The page will include scores and highlights from the various games as well as updates from friends, players and teams. 

See also: The Complete Guide to World Cup Team Nicknames 

At the same time, Twitter introduced a Match timeline and World Cup timeline to make it easier for users to keep up with tweets related to the games and updates from the matches. Twitter is also bringing back hashflags, a feature first introduced in 2010.  

If you want to show off your sports knowledge to friends this World Cup, we've got you covered.

ESPN commissioned Brazilian artist Cristiano Siqueria to create posters for all 32 teams competing in the World Cup. They display each team's unique and oftentimes poetic nickname, so impress your friends by saying "La Furia Roja" instead of "Spain."

The nicknames range from the simple, such as Switzerland's "La Nati," which means "the national team," to more elaborate ones, such as England's "The Three Lions," an homage to the Royal Arms of England. All of the names provide interesting bits of trivia about their respective countries.

Check out Siqueria's posters and a brief background on the teams' nicknames, below:

Edinho is a retired footballer who played goalkeeper for Pele's old club, Santos. He was first arrested in 2005 and served a sentence for drug trafficking offences and links with a notorious drug dealer in the city of Santos.  Edinho said he was a drug addict but denied the trafficking charges. The ruling was issued by a judge in the nearby coastal city of Praia Grande, in Sao Paulo state, according to BBC report. Brazilian media have not been able to contact Edinho, whose real name is Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, but they say he is expected to appeal. Edinho, 43, works as a goalkeeping coach at Santos.

They have already met three times this season, but there remains a sense that Kings XI Punjab versus Kolkata Knight Riders hasn't really happened yet. The tournament hasn't yet witnessed a genuinely explosive meeting between its two best sides. Sunday's final might just prove to be that match.

None of the three previous meetings had a comparable context. Seven seasons into the IPL, Kings XI Punjab have finally put together a truly formidable side and have reached their first final. Kolkata Knight Riders, after a lukewarm start, have pulled off eight successive wins to reach their second final. It's a massive day for both sides. There's no way, you'd think, that this match will have the low-key feel of their previous meetings.

Knight Riders hadn't really kicked into gear or even figured out their best combination when they lost a low-scoring game in Abu Dhabi. Kings XI weren't really themselves either in Cuttack or even during the first Qualifier in Kolkata, particularly when they were chasing with one eye on the Duckworth-Lewis equation.

Those three meetings, however, established one thing: Knight Riders were consistently keeping Kings XI's batsmen in check. Knight Riders didn't let Kings XI score 150 even once, and were the only side to successfully defend a total against them.

How long can that continue, though? After his 122 in Friday's Qualifier against Chennai Super Kings, Virender Sehwag joined Glenn Maxwell and David Miller on the list of Kings XI batsmen with more than 400 runs for the season. Between them, these three have only scored one half-century in three games against Knight Riders; in their last meeting on Wednesday, none of them got into double figures. Something, surely, has to give.

Something, you feel, must give, considering the venue for the final. Batsmen love the true bounce and the tiny boundaries at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and Kings XI, despite not being at their very best, made 198 the last time they batted here. That 198 was one of seven 190-plus totals, including four in excess of 200, for Kings XI this season.

Knight Riders, on the other hand, have only one 170-plus total this season. It is a stat that would normally show a batting side in poor light, but in this case it's a reflection of how good their bowling has been, since Knight Riders have chased 10 times in 15 matches and they haven't had to chase too many massive targets.

Given their opposition, however, there is always a chance they will be called upon to do so, or called upon to post a mammoth first-innings total on a flat pitch. How will they respond to such a call? How will the rest of their batting cope if Robin Uthappa - who has made ten successive 40-plus scores at the top of the order - doesn't give them the start he usually provides?

Kings XI Punjab: WLWWL (completed games, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders: WWWWW

Akshar Patel had a fantastic Ranji Trophy season for Gujarat, with bat and ball, but no one expected he would play anything more than a bit-part role for Kings XI Punjab. As it has turned out, Akshar has been one of only four players who have featured in every single match for them, and has performed so well he is now in India's ODI squad. Akshar has easily been Kings XI's best bowler - with 17 wickets and an economy rate of 6.19 - and, when called upon, a composed presence in the lower middle order. He bowled brilliantly in the first Qualifier against Knight Riders - taking two wickets and giving away just 11 runs in his four overs - and a strong finish to the season could put him among the frontrunners for the Emerging Player award.

Sunil Narine has given up a chance to be part of West Indies' squad for their Test series against New Zealand just to play this one match, and get through four overs of bowling. Those four overs, though, always make a huge difference to Knight Riders' fortunes. Against Kings XI, however, he's not been as much of a force this season, apart from their first meeting in Abu Dhabi, where he had figures of 3 for 24. In his other two matches against Kings XI this season, he had combined figures of 8-0-60-1. Having made a difficult decision to play the final, Narine will hope he can make a big impact.

Capital Dhaka has been covered with flags. Now it becomes a city of flags. Colourful flags are being flying in most rooftops of office, residence, clubs and wherever in the city. City dwellers, mostly students, are also buying such flags and adoring their houses. Flag traders are making brisk business even in the lanes and bi-lanes of the city and its outskirts. All are busy with welcoming the world’s mega football event World Cup Football 2014. The festivity is going on 22 days ahead of the event. The capital Dhaka is gripped with world cup fever. The football playing kings Brazil, Argentina, England, Italy, French, Korea, Japan, Spain, Irelands and other giants will perform their art of football. Flags of Bangladesh are also showing a lot though Bangladesh has failed to qualify to play. More than 30 makeshift flags and jersey shoppers have been selling flags of different countries at Gulistan and its adjacent areas. Apart from Gulistan, other busiest places Sadarghat. Gabtali, Farmgate, Mirpur, Sutrapur, Bangsal and Gulshan the makeshift traders are selling the products. Sustaining severe hot spell and bad weather the selling of flags are better, told a trader near press club premises. They are selling flags between Tk 200 and 500. Shahin, a trader in Gulistan said, though profit is marginal but selling is high. He sells flags round the year in the city. Flags of Brazil and Argentina are selling most. Enamul Haque, a fan of Brazil said, I collect big flag every world cup session. In the current year the price is higher than that of previous years. I don’t care about high price

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has named Sarwar Imran as Assistant Coach of the National Team for the three-match ODI series against India in June. Imran is one of the most respected coaches in the country with three decades of coaching experience. He has previously performed the roles of the head coach, assistant coach and bowling coach of the national team, head coach of the A Team, Bangladesh Under 19 and National Academy teams and the national pace bowling coach of the BCB during different terms. The training camp of the Bangladesh preliminary squad will start at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur on Monday, a press release from BCB said on Saturday.

A phenomenal knock from Yusuf Pathan, who blasted his way to a 22-ball 72, catapulted Kolkata Knight Riders to the second-place in the point table as the hosts hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets in their final IPL match, here on Saturday. Pathan made full use of the two lives to smash the fastest fifty in IPL history as KKR knocked off a 161-run target in 14.2 overs when they were required to overhaul it in 15.2 to make it to top-two. Pathan enthralled the packed Eden Gardens crowd with his exceptional knock which featured seven sixes and five fours. After being dropped on nought and 15, he completed his half-century in just 15 balls. The result pushed Chennai Super Kings to third place and KKR will now clash with table toppers Kings XI Punjab in the first Qualifier on May 27 at Eden Gardens. Leading run-getter Robin Uthappa (41) and Gautam Gambhir (28) set up the chase before Yusuf`s blitz. Yusuf was on his way back to dug out before he could open his account after hitting straight to midwicket fielder Anirudha, who dropped the sitter. It would have been a second wicket in the Karn Sharma`s over after the leggie dismissed Manish Pandey but the breather turned around KKR`s fortunes as they were reeling 78/4 in 9.4 overs after Uthappa (41) and Ten Doeschate were dismissed in the same over. Yusuf made his intention clear in the next over when he slammed Parvez Rasool one six and a boundary and even got a second life when Steyn dropped him at the square leg boundary, that went over the rope. The J&K spinner leaked 22 runs in that over. Steyn had to bear the brunt of dropping Yusuf as the biggest onslaught from the Baroda hitter came only against the South African speedster who conceded 26 runs in his last over with two sixes and three fours. Such was Yusuf`s fury that he made the world`s no 1 bowler look sorry with the bowling sequence of 4-6-6-4-4-2. Late flourish from skipper Darren SRH skipper Darren Sammy (29) had guided Sunrisers to a 160 for seven after being invited to bat. Shikhar Dhawan (29 from 31 balls) and Naman Ojha (26 from 23 balls) also contributed in team`s total. 

Real Madrid won the Champions League for the 10th time thanks to extra time goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo as they came from behind in dramatic circumstances to beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 in Lisbon on Saturday.   Atletico seemed set for their first ever European crown as they led deep into stoppage time thanks to Diego Godin`s first-half header, but Sergio Ramos took the game into extra time with a towering header in the 93rd minute.  And for the second time this season having already scored the winner to hand Real the Copa del Rey against Barcelona last month, Bale scored the crucial goal when he headed into an empty net after Thibaut Courtois had parried Angel di Maria`s effort.  With Atletico committed to finding an equaliser, Real were able to counter-attack at will and Marcelo killed the game off when his low shot had too much power for Courtois before Ronaldo sealed his return to Lisbon with a fourth from the penalty spot. Cristiano Ronaldo "It is the most important goal I have scored," said Ramos.  "It is an incredible feeling. We kept fighting until the end for the fans. It is not my goal, but one for all Madrid fans, my family and all those that have supported us until the end. We deserved it after so many years."  Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, becomes the first man since Bob Paisley to win the competition three times.  "We have done it with a lot of suffering and difficulty, but in the end we have done it and we deserved it," said the Italian.  "I am very happy for this because we have won a trophy that for Real Madrid is very important. We have worked hard all year for this."  Atletico captain Gabi admitted that his side had been well-beaten in extra time after suffering the body blow of Ramos` equaliser.  "They managed to equalise and that is football," he told Television Espanola.  "After the extra time they were deserving winners. We have competed for a year like animals and we have gone as far as we could."  However, Atletico boss Diego Simeone said no tears should be shed given his side`s amazing success in winning La Liga and reaching the final for just the second time in their history. "This match doesn`t deserve a single tear," said the Argentine.  "When you give everything you cannot ask for more. There is another team and other players out there and that is football.  "Now we have to rest, relax and prepare ourselves to compete and bother the big teams again next season."  Atletico`s top scorer Diego Costa had been surprisingly included in Diego Simeone`s starting line-up despite suffering a hamstring injury just seven days ago as Atletico clinched the La Liga title against Barcelona.  However, the Brazilian-born striker lasted just nine minutes as he hobbled off to be replaced by Adrian Lopez.  Bale had the first clear chance of the match when the Welshman pounced on Tiago`s errant pass in midfield and scampered forward into the area but side-footed wide on his favoured left foot.  Three minutes later it was Atletico who took the lead as Juanfran headed a cleared corner back into the box and Godin took advantage of indecision by Iker Casillas to loop the ball over the Spanish captain and just over the line.  Ronaldo had a couple of half-chances to level at the start of the second-half as Courtois awkwardly tipped another free-kick from distance over before the Portuguese captain headed just wide from a corner.  As Real took more risks to find the equaliser, though, Atletico were also becoming more dangerous on the break and Adrian was unfortunate to see his goalbound effort deflected just wide by Sami Khedira.  Bale wasted another good opening as he sprinted onto Ronaldo`s pass, but chose the wrong option in trying to squeeze the ball home at the near post and dumped the ball into the side netting.  Just when Atletico thought they had the trophy won, though, Real got their reward as Ramos rose to power Luka Modric`s corner past the helpless Courtois.  Atletico`s tiredness then showed in the second period of extra time as Real had too much pace and power and finally went in front 10 minutes from the end when Di Maria burst into the area and despite his effort being saved by Courtois, Bale was on hand to head in at the back post.  Courtois also got a hand to Marcelo`s low drive eight minutes later, but the Belgian international couldn`t keep it out.  And Ronaldo got the goal he craved back in his homeland when he was clipped by Gabi moments later and got back up to slam the resulting penalty home.