New France coach Laurent Blanc Friday has punished the country's farcical World Cup squad by dropping each of the 23 players for a friendly against Norway next month.

The 2010 World Cup trophy was handed over to Spain captain Iker Casillas following his side‘s 1-0 victory Sunday over the Netherlands.

Germany finished third at the World Cup on Saturday after beating Uruguay 3-2 in the play-off in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

Germany hopes to beat Uruguay for third place on Saturday after Spain's 1:0 victory over 'Die Mannschaft.' The Spaniards now must defeat Holland on Sunday to win the trophy. It would be their first.

The Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2 on Tuesday to reach their third football World Cup final. They now face the winner of Wednesday's match between Germany and Spain.

No one can say Germany's World Cup loss to Spain last night was unexpected. Paul the octopus, after all, predicted as much on Tuesday. Now, football fans are calling for Paul's head.

Germany demolished hapless Argentina 4-0 at the Green Point stadium in Cape Town on Saturday to reach the World Cup
semi-finals and send Diego Maradona‘s team home.

Germany crushed
long-standing rival England 4-1 in a controversy-filled World Cup encounter on Sunday

Germany beat Ghana 1-0 after a second-half goal from Mesut Ozil to win Group D and set up a second-round World Cup clash with traditional rival England.

Serbia brought Germany back to reality on Friday with a 1-0 victory over the former world champions to keep their hopes alive in Group D.

The Swiss shocked Spain, 1-0, despite getting outplayed throughout. It's easily the biggest upset so far, one that might reverberate for the rest of the tournament.

Three-time world champions Germany warned doubters
they are real title contenders with a 4-0 victory over Australia on Sunday for the perfect start to their 2010 World Cup
Group D campaign.

English football club Chelsea has declined to renew former German national soccer team captain Michael Ballack's contract, leaving the star midfielder up for grabs.

Central defender Heiko Westermann is the latest player to be ruled out of the soccer World Cup. He fractured his left foot on Saturday against Hungary.

Austria and Germany have launched a bitter war of words over soccer after controversial statements by the coach of the Austrian national team.

Photo: Former national team captain Andreas Ivanschitz

After weeks of rumor and speculation, Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher has come out of retirement and will race for Mercedes next season.

German World Champion Kathrin Hoelzl notched the first World Cup win of her career with a giant slalom triumph in Aspen. Austrian Kathrin Zettel came in second.

German prosecutors and European soccer body UEFA have revealed the magnitude of a continent-wide match-fixing scandal, which they said involved as many as 200 matches in competitions including the Champions League.

Germany was in shock on Wednesday after football player Robert Enke, who was set to represent his country at the 2010 World Cup, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train aftersuffering years of depression.

Legendary Austrian ski ace Hermann Maier, a two-time Olympic champion, unexpectedly announced on Tuesday that he would officially end his 13-season professional career.

Germany managed a 1:0 win against Russia in Moscow on Saturday and will now play in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Germany's woman's soccer team has cemented its reputation as the "unbeatable squad" by winning the European Championships for the fifth time in a row.

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The biggest track and field event of the year kicks off today at Berlin's Olympic Stadium featuring the world's fastest man and several German medal hopefuls.

Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer has become the first man in tennis history to secure 15 grand slam titles after winning the Wimbledon men's singles final on Sunday.

Germany's Under 21 players won the European soccer crown on Monday after crushing archrivals England 4:0 with an impressive performance in Malmo, Sweden.

Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been sacked after only eight months in charge at the Allianz Arena. The German giants lost 1-0 to Schalke on Saturday, a result that leaves them third in the league and in danger of missing Champions League qualification.

Barcelona thrashed Bavaria's Bayern München 4:0 on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in Barcelona; Liverpool struggle against Chelsea losing 3-1 at Anfield.

Germany maintained their all-but flawless push for World Cup qualification with a 2-0 victory over a gutsy Wales side at the Millennium Stadium.