Barcelona defender Daniel Alves joined the chorus of supporters pressuring coach Pep Guardiola to stay on at the European champions, who risk slipping into decline if he leaves.

Alves stated that he expects Guardiola to sign a contract extension with the three-time defending Spanish champions because "without him we are nothing."

England striker Wayne Rooney will miss Manchester United's Europa League match against Ajax at Old Trafford on Thursday with a throat infection, Sir Alex Ferguson said Wednesday.

United lead the last 32 tie 2-0 after a first leg win in Amsterdam last week.

It wasn't a tough choice for convicted bank robber Chiquinho: spend the day in a cell or make money out in the sun helping Brazil build a 2014 World Cup stadium.

Former slave worker Nivaldo Inacio da Silva had another easy decision to make: pick cotton for about $2 a day or make eight times as much as a bricklayer at another World Cup venue.

Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani again dampened English hopes by leading Napoli to a 3-1 win over Chelsea in an entertaining first leg of their Champions League last-16 matchup.

Cavani, who struck a brace against Manchester City to eliminate the Premier League leaders in the group stage, was again in inspirational form as he gave Napoli the lead at halftime, before setting up Lavezzi's second in the 65th minute.

Chelsea captain John Terry is to undergo surgery on his injured right knee and faces several weeks on the sidelines, manager Andre Villas-Boas confirmed on Tuesday.

In a major blow to Chelsea's Premier League and Champions League campaigns, the inspirational defender could be out of action for up to six weeks after his injury failed to heal as expected.

CSKA Moscow equalized from the last kick of the match when Pontus Wernbloom scrambled the ball into the net, giving the Russian club a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Swedish midfielder's debut game for CSKA ended with him poking the ball home in the third minute of stoppage time in the first leg at Luzhniki Stadium.

Carlos Tevez finally apologized to Manchester City on Tuesday following a five-month feud that has cost him close to 10 million pounds ($17 million), and could soon return to action for the club after withdrawing an appeal against his latest fines.

The Argentina striker has not played for the Premier League leaders since September when he refused to warm up during a Champions League match and only returned last week from a three-month unauthorized absence at home.

The global football players' union is backing a campaign to change FIFA's laws of the game by allowing Islamic women to wear hijabs.

FIFPro spokeswoman Frederique Winia said: “The current ban on wearing headscarves for religious reasons is discrimination."

Germany's Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker said Tuesday he is confident of being fit to play at this June's European Championships despite having an operation to repair torn ankle ligaments.

The 27-year-old center back damaged his ankle in the Gunners' Premier League match against Sunderland on February 11, which left Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger saying he would be out for a 'long time'.

Samir Nasri is confident he is starting to prove that Manchester City did not make a mistake when they signed him for £24 million from Arsenal last summer.

The Frenchman, 24, has taken time to settle at Eastlands and has made just 15 Premier League starts since his move.