Cristiano Ronaldo scored a record equaling goal before exiting to injury as Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 on Wednesday to take a big step toward the Champions League semifinals.
Ronaldo netted his 14th goal of the season in Europe's top competition to give Madrid a clear advantage ahead of next week's quarterfinal return leg in Germany. But it came at a price as the Portugal forward, who came into the first-leg nursing a sore left knee, came off in the 80th minute.

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke has again raised concerns over Brazil's World Cup preparations, saying "we are not ready" and that the stadium for the opening game is one of two venues that worry him most.
Just two months before the showpiece tournament starts, Valcke told The Associated Press at a joint FIFA-Confederation of African Football conference in South Africa on Wednesday that the stadiums in Sao Paulo, where the opening game will be played June 12, and Porto Alegre in the south were "where we have more work to do than in the other 10."

FIFA on Wednesday banned Spanish giants Barcelona from buying or selling players for the next two transfer windows for "serious" breaches of rules on under-age players.
FIFA's Disciplinary Committee found Barcelona and the Spanish Football Association (RFEF) guilty of making or allowing illegal deals.

FIFA says people in the United States have bought more than three times more World Cup tickets than any other nation except for tournament host Brazil.
Football's governing body said Tuesday that of the 2,577,662 tickets allocated for this year's tournament, 1,041,418 have gone to people in Brazil.

Manchester United confounded grim pre-game predictions by drawing 1-1 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday, with Bastian Schweinsteiger equalizing for the holders before being sent off.
Floundering in the English Premier League, United has delivered better performances in Europe this season and stunned Bayern by taking the lead against the run of play through Nemanja Vidic's header in the 58th minute.

An equalizer from Neymar saw Barcelona salvage a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday after a stunning opener by Diego Ribas in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
Atletico's chances were dealt a major blow half an hour in when striker Diego Costa came off injured, while Barcelona had lost defender Gerard Pique to injury before that.

German authorities will allow late-night public viewing during the World Cup in Brazil.
Environment minister Barbara Hendricks said watching football together outdoors "simply is part of a World Cup."

Inter Milan wasted a two-goal lead when a glaring error from Fredy Guarin led to a late equalizer by relegation-threatened Livorno in a 2-2 draw Monday.
Five minutes from time, Guarin's ill-advised pass back to defender Walter Samuel was intercepted by Livorno forward Innocent Emeghara, who then did well to beat goalkeeper Samir Handanovic with a long shot.

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Diego Costa could miss the Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona on Tuesday.
Costa left Atletico's training at the Camp Nou on Monday with an apparent knock to his right leg, and Simeone told Spanish public broadcaster TVE after speaking to medical staff that "if he came out of training early, it looks difficult for him to play tomorrow."

Boxing teams from Russia and Ukraine put aside political tensions Monday to contest a World Series of Boxing quarterfinal in Moscow, with the hosts landing most of the blows in the ring.
The Russian Boxing Team took a 4-1 lead against the Ukraine Otamans ahead of the return meeting in Donetsk next weekend in a contest that received added attention following Russia's annexation of Crimea and escalated military buildup on the Ukrainian border.
