Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi lifted Africa's fallen giant to the continental title after two decades of underachievement, and lived up to his "Big Boss" nickname by retaining control even after the national federation threatened to fire him midway through the tournament.

When Keshi led Nigeria to last year's African Cup title, he became only the second man to win it as a player and coach. For Nigeria, it ended a 19-year trophy drought and enshrined Keshi — the 1994 African Cup-winning captain — as a football savior who delivers titles whether playing or coaching.

A strengthened Oklahoma City beat the Los Angeles Clippers 107-101 in Wednesday's clash of NBA divisional leaders, with Russell Westbrook scoring 30 points in his return to the lineup.

The Thunder opened a two-and-a-half game lead on its Western Conference rival on a day of playoff-shaping results.

Atletico Madrid finally got the better of Spanish rival Barcelona on Wednesday as Koke's early goal guided his team to a 1-0 win and into the Champions League semifinals with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Adrian Lopez filled in for injured striker Diego Costa and created the fifth-minute goal after hitting the post, as the Atletico forward headed an ensuing cross on to Koke to fire home.

Bayern Munich needed a bit of a wake-up call against a surprisingly resilient Manchester United team. Once it came, there was no stopping the defending champions from reaching a third straight Champions League semifinal.

Bayern came back quickly after falling behind in its home stadium, equalizing within two minutes and then scoring two more goals to win 3-1 in the second leg of their quarterfinal Wednesday and go through 4-2 on aggregate.

Surveying the state of the sport he dominated for so many years, running great Haile Gebrselassie sees a bleak future.

Despite the super-star status of Usain Bolt, Gebrselassie is deeply concerned about the shortage of elite-level events with true global appeal for fans and, just as importantly, sponsors.

James Hellwig, better known as former pro wrestler The Ultimate Warrior, has died, the WWE said. He was 54.

The WWE said Hellwig died Tuesday. Scottsdale, Arizona, police spokesman Sgt. Mark Clark said he collapsed while walking with his wife to their car at a hotel, and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Portugal coach Paulo Bento has signed a new contract to keep him in the job until 2016, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old, who replaced Carlos Queiroz as coach in 2010, was initially due to be out of contract after this year's World Cup in Brazil but will now stay through to the end of Euro 2016, which will be held in France.

Germany have never been so well prepared to win the World Cup, according to former coaches Jurgen Klinsmann and Berti Vogts, who are now working with rivals the United States.

Vogts told the daily Bild in an interview published on Wednesday that the German national team "have never been so pampered" by the German federation.

Borussia Dortmund has signed Colombian striker Adrian Ramos from Bundesliga rival Hertha Berlin for next season.

Dortmund said the 28-year-old Ramos, who scored 32 goals and set up 18 more in 89 league appearances for Hertha, has agreed a four-year deal effective July 1.

There was the Mario Balotelli-inspired 2-1 win over Germany in the 2012 European Championship semifinals. And long stretches of dominance over Spain in last year's Confederations Cup semifinals — even though Spain eventually won in a penalty shootout.

More than any others, those two matches epitomize the transformation that four-time winner Italy has undergone since its embarrassing first-round elimination from the 2010 World Cup as defending champion.