Italian Matteo Trentin won the seventh stage of the Tour de France on Friday to pile the agony on Peter Sagan.

OPQS rider Trentin beat the Slovak by barely an inch in a thrilling sprint finish at the end of the 234.5km stage from Epernay to Nancy.

Argentina and Brazil, South America's rival giants, have been getting over their mutual mistrust in recent years, but their newfound spirit of friendship definitely does not extend to football.

Fans from both sides had dreamed the World Cup would end with a mega-showdown against the team they most love to hate.

Thousands of Argentine fans are expected to attend Sunday's World Cup final but President Cristina Kirchner will not be among them as she is sick with throat trouble.

Kirchner disclosed the news Thursday in a letter to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Barcelona announced Friday they had struck a deal to sign Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez from Liverpool, sealing the transfer despite the uproar over him biting a World Cup rival.

Suarez "will be traveling to Barcelona next week for a medical, to sign his five-year contract and to be officially presented to the media and fans as an FC Barcelona player," the club said in a statement.

Real Madrid says former captain Fernando Hierro will replace Zinedine Zidane as assistant to coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Hierro returns to Madrid 11 years after surprisingly exiting alongside former coach Vicente del Bosque. The former defender made 601 appearances for Madrid, scoring 127 goals and winning the Champions League three times. He also earned 89 caps for Spain.

A trial that could determine the fate of the Los Angeles Clippers was delayed Thursday until after a deadline to conclude a $2 billion sale — and a scheduled NBA vote on the deal — but there is hope for more time.

Donald Sterling has vowed never to sell the team and he's trying to block his wife's single-handed deal with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Attorneys for Shelly Sterling have accused his side of stalling tactics.

Brazil football great Zico says coach Luiz Felipe Scolari must be replaced if his country is to move past its disappointing World Cup performance.

"We should thank him (Scolari) and thank (assistant coach Carlos Alberto) Parriera too. But we need to choose new people with new thoughts about how to play the Brazilian way," the three-time World Cup veteran said Thursday, just two days after Brazil's humiliating 7-1 semifinal loss to Germany.

The wife of Michael Schumacher believes the former Formula One champion is getting better after emerging from his coma and being moved to a Swiss hospital last month, she told a German magazine.

In her first public comments since Schumacher's horrific ski accident on December 29, 2013, Corinna Schumacher told Neue Post that the improvement in the health of her famous husband was encouraging.

FIFA has dismissed appeals by the Uruguay Football Association and Luis Suarez over the striker's four-month global ban for biting, it was confirmed Thursday.

"The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to reject appeals lodged by both the Uruguayan player Luis Suarez and the Uruguayan FA," a statement said.

Louis van Gaal's luck finally ran out at the World Cup.

The Netherlands coach appeared to have a golden tactical touch in Brazil. He switched systems during matches to force victories, brought on substitutes who scored within minutes, posted a striker in defense and — most amazingly of all — swapped goalkeepers for a penalty shootout victory.