Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq hailed Asad Shafiq's defiant century as among the "classiest" he had ever seen after the knock of 137 all but drove Pakistan to a famous victory over Australia in the first Test in Brisbane on Monday.

Cristiano Ronaldo said he had answered his critics in style as he rounded off a "spectacular" year with a hat-trick to win the Club World Cup for Real Madrid and add to his multitude of titles.

India's Karun Nair struck his maiden Test century to keep the hosts on course for a handy first-innings lead against England on day four of the final Test on Monday.

Dries Mertens scored four goals, including a nine-minute first-half hat-trick, as Napoli forgot their scoring problems with a 5-3 win over Torino in Serie A on Sunday.

Australia prevented a world-record, 490-run chase by Pakistan on Friday to win a gripping first Test by just 39 runs and preserve their 28-year unbeaten streak at Brisbane's Gabba ground.

Luis Suarez celebrates his bumper new five-year Barcelona deal in style with a double as the champions defeated Espanyol 4-1 in the Catalan derby to move to within three points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

RB Leipzig's goal-scorer Willi Orban is relishing the prospect of Wednesday's Bundesliga showdown and the chance to stop hosts Bayern Munich topping the German league table at Christmas.

Afif Hossain and Mohammad Rakib took Bangladesh to 230 after 50 overs against Pakistan during the Asian Cricket Council Under-19s Asia Cup, Group B match at Galle International Stadium today.

England's Football Association will study referee Craig Pawson's report before determining whether to take punitive action against Leicester City following their eventful 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

Younis Khan and Azhar Ali batted through the first session as Pakistan stonewalled Australia's push for victory on the fourth day of the day-night first Test at the Gabba on Sunday.

Youngmen's Club Fakirer-pool suffered their first defeat in the Marcel Bangladesh Championship League when they were beaten 0-1 at the hands of Agrani Bank SC at the Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.

These are days of demonetisation and India's hockey players are 'extra cautious' with their hard earned cash with strict disciplinarian Roelant Oltmans imposing a fine of Rs 500 on any player, who is late for their training sessions, get-togethers or official functions.

Bangladesh's German hockey coach Oliver Kurtz is mulling over the idea of taking the national team to South Africa to play a few practice matches as a part of the preparation for the World Hockey League Round-2, which is to be held from March 4 to 12 in Dhaka.

Brazil and Argentina are set to play a South American "Superclassico" gala match in Australia next year, it was reported Tuesday.

Jose Mourinho said he would never stand in the way of a player who requested a move away from Manchester United if the deal was right, even though he would like to keep his squad intact until the end of the season.

West Ham United midfielder Dimitri Payet has been granted extra time off to help the Frenchman recapture the scintillating form he displayed last season and to help cope with the Premier League's demanding festive schedule.

When Chandika Hathurusingha signed up to be head coach of Bangladesh in 2014, he was joining a side that had only won one Test this decade and had lost nearly two thirds of its one-day internationals.

A rampant India will look to create history in the fifth and final Test against England from Friday by piling more misery on Alastair Cook in what could be his last outing as the tourists' skipper.

The Pakistan team, six years in the making and armed with insider knowledge from coach Mickey Arthur, are poised to make history in Australia, veteran skipper Misbah-ul-Haq said Wednesday.

Sevilla strengthened their grip on third in La Liga thanks to captain Vicente Iborra's hattrick in a 3-0 win at Celta Vigo on Sunday.