One minute, Renata Glasner is watching the waves crash on Leblon beach from her wheelchair. The next, she's plowing through the turbulent waters, riding the choppy waves on a specially adapted surfboard.

Glasner, a 35-year-old graphic designer who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis four years ago, is one of dozens of disabled people on this special strip of Rio de Janeiro beach who are conquering the waves. Men and women with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, people missing a limb, the blind, the deaf and even the paralyzed all hit the waves here.

Spain put its World Cup defense back on track Tuesday by beating France to seize control of their qualifying group, while Germany and the Netherlands claimed big victories to push them closer to the finals in Brazil.

Pedro Rodriguez scored the Spain goal that secured a 1-0 victory in Paris and lifted the reigning champions out of a slump following back-to-back draws.

The New York Knicks extended their winning streak to five games as J.R. Smith scored 32 points and Carmelo Anthony added 29 in a 100-85 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

The win moved the Knicks into second place in the Eastern Conference, percentage points ahead of the Indiana Pacers. The Celtics, who could face the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs, lost their fifth game in a row and remained in seventh.

Asafa Powell will find the crowd smaller and the surface a whole lot different when he competes this weekend in the Stawell Gift, a century-old handicap race held in a small town in western Victoria state.

Powell, who announced he's fully recovered from the left hamstring injury which caused him to pull up in the 100-meter race at last year's London Olympics won by his countryman Usain Bolt, will start from scratch.

With the backing of the Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom and the cash to buy the world's top players, Zenit St Petersburg must have hoped the 2012-2013 season would be their best ever.

But despite the support of the world's largest energy firm, last year's Russian champions failed to progress in both of Europe's main club tournaments and are third in the country's Premier League.

Brett Holman's 85th-minute equalizer helped Australia save a 2-2 draw against Oman on Tuesday, and narrowly avoid a shocking upset in an Asian qualifier for the 2014 World Cup.

Holman's 25-yard strike capped a remarkable rally, after Australia had fallen 2-0 behind to Omani forward Abdul Mubarak's early strike and an own goal by Mile Jedinak just after half time.

A new-look New Zealand side beat the Solomon Islands 2-0 on Tuesday to complete their Oceania group World Cup qualifying campaign unbeaten.

Blackburn Rovers' versatile Tim Payne netted both goals, in the opening and closing stages of the match, to give the All Whites six wins from six matches.

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova, who has been undergoing cancer treatment in New York since January, arrived back in Spain on Tuesday, the Catalan giants announced.

"Tito is in Barcelona," the Spanish league leaders said on their website fcbarcelona.com, adding that he would ease himself gradually back into running the side.

Barcelona announced coach Tito Vilanova is due back at the club after 10 weeks in the United States receiving treatment for a throat tumor.

The club said: "Vilanova will be returning home this week after being in New York for the last two months."

Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany will return from a two-month injury layoff and start for Belgium in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Macedonia.

Kompany has been training with the main team since Belgium's 2-0 victory over Macedonia last Friday and should regain his spot on the starting lineup at the expense of Bayern Munich veteran Daniel Van Buyten.