Italy midfielder Riccardo Montolivo saw his dreams of World Cup glory ended cruelly in a nondescript friendly against Ireland and he may not be the last big star to suffer a similar fate.

Colombia are praying that their talismanic striker Radamel Falcao will win his battle to be fit, Spain have concerns over their Brazil-born marksman Diego Costa, Uruguay too are waiting on last season's leading scorer in the English Premier League Luis Suarez and France on winger Franck Ribery.

When Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded last year’s Ballon d’Or in recognition of his dazzling achievements over the course of 2013 he naturally had plenty of reason to celebrate although one could forgive him for feeling apprehensive about his country’s hopes at the World Cup in Brazil.

Portugal will go the tournament as dark horses heavily reliant on their captain and talisman Ronaldo, who will need to defy the odds if he is to avoid becoming another footnote in a cautionary tale.

Roger Federer surveyed the wreckage of his worst French Open in 10 years and despite his optimism that a record eighth Wimbledon title is within his grasp, history and time are conspiring against him.

In the immediate aftermath of his 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 defeat to Ernests Gulbis, which was his earliest loss in Paris since 2004 when he was demolished in the third round by Gustavo Kuerten, Federer was talking a good game if not necessarily playing one.

Experienced strikers Fernando Torres and David Villa were both included in Spain coach Vicente del Bosque's final 23-man World Cup squad on Saturday as he sought to cover Diego Costa's injured hamstring.

Brazil-born Atletico Madrid striker Costa has battled an ongoing hamstring problem that limited him to just nine minutes in the Champions League final defeat to city rivals Real, a week after he was forced off 15 minutes into his side's La Liga title decider with Barcelona.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer passed four-set tests to reach the French Open last-16 Friday where they were joined by outspoken Ernests Gulbis who whipped up a sexism row.

Second seed Djokovic, the 2012 runner-up, stretched his career streak over Croatia's 25th seed Marin Cilic to 9-0 after a topsy-turvy 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 win.

Wesley Sneijder is back from the World Cup wilderness and he may have to thank world heavyweight kick-boxing champion Gokhan Saki for rescuing him.

Less than a year ago, Sneijder was dropped by Dutch coach Louis van Gaal. A few weeks ago doubts were being raised whether the temperamental but brilliant midfielder would be on the plane to Brazil.

England manager Roy Hodgson said that he was satisfied with Wayne Rooney despite the Manchester United striker producing a subdued showing in his country's 3-0 friendly win over Peru.

Goals from Daniel Sturridge, Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka enabled England to sign off with victory in their final pre-World Cup game on home soil on Friday, but Rooney played a peripheral role.

The NBA set the stage for the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer on Friday, halting its efforts to strip Donald Sterling of the club.

Sterling's wife Shelly Sterling negotiated the sale of the club to ex-Microsoft chief executive Ballmer on Thursday in a deal that still must be approved by the league's board of governors.

LeBron James and Chris Bosh scored 25 points each as the two-time defending champion Miami Heat clobbered the Indiana Pacers 117-92 Friday to reach their fourth consecutive NBA finals.

Miami used a game six blowout Friday to join an elite NBA group by becoming the first team to reach the championship four straight times since the Boston Celtics did it from 1984-87.

David Luiz said Friday he was happy to start a new phase of his career at Paris Saint-Germain, after they reached a deal to buy the Brazilian defender from Chelsea.

"I made a point of wrapping everything up before coming to train with the national team," he told journalists at Brazil's base camp outside Rio de Janeiro, where they are preparing to launch their World Cup campaign on June 12.