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.

Never before has England traveled to a World Cup better prepared — for the post-tournament inquest.

The search for answers to England's long-standing struggles began while the team coached by Roy Hodgson was still qualifying for its fifth straight World Cup.

Diego Forlan recorded a television commercial recently wearing a T-shirt that read: "We're not the favorites, nor will we be a surprise. We are the team that no one wants to draw."

That sums up Uruguay, the small South American country that finished fourth at the 2010 World Cup.

When hiring Alberto Zaccheroni, the Japan Football Association was convinced the Italian coach's calm demeanor and European know-how was the perfect combination to take the national team to the next level at the World Cup.

Under coach Takeshi Okada, Japan advanced beyond most expectations in 2010 with wins over Cameroon and Denmark before losing on penalties to Paraguay in the knockout stage. Japan also reached the second stage when it co-hosted the World Cup in 2002.

Oscar Pistorius testified at his murder trial on Wednesday that girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp died in his arms after he shot her in his home last year.

The double-amputee runner was testifying for a third day, returning to the witness stand after weeping and wailing a day earlier while describing the moments he said he realized he had fatally shot his girlfriend by mistake. He said he thought an intruder was in the house.

Growing up, Demba Ba dreamed about scoring big goals for Paris Saint-Germain. With the team he supported as a child on the verge of reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time in 19 years, Ba instead scored the goal that knocked them out.

Now it is Chelsea joining European football's elite in the last four for the seventh time in 11 years.

Brazil striker Fred warns there could be "another tragedy" in Brazilian football if fan groups follow through with their threats against his club this week.

In a lengthy letter posted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, Fred said he is concerned about what could happen to him and his teammates if Fluminense doesn't advance to the second round of the Brazilian Cup on Thursday.