Uruguay followed their shamed striker Luis Suarez out of the World Cup as the furore over his lengthy ban for biting was eclipsed by a goal of spectacular beauty by Colombia’s young star James Rodriguez.

Italy 0 Uruguay 1

England 1 Uruguay 2

World Cup 2014 kicks off in nine days so Ger McCarthy looks at how some of the contenders and outsiders are shaping up ahead of their final friendlies before boarding the plane to Brazil.

Two early goals helped the Czech Republic heap more problems on struggling Turkey with a 2-0 friendly win at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium tonight.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini will accept Carlos Tevez’s apology and the Argentinian could be back in action in “two or three weeks”.

CESC FABREGAS scored a brilliant volley to keep Barcelona’s non-stop victory parade going with a UEFA Super Cup triumph over Porto last night.

FALCAO struck four second-half goals to help Porto battle back from a half-time deficit against Villarreal and leave the Portuguese giants all but through to the Europa League final in Dublin.

Braga capped a historic night for Portuguese teams in the Europa League as all three Primeira Liga representatives booked their places in the semi-finals of the competition tonight.

Spartak Moscow 2 Porto 5 (Porto win 10-3 on aggregate)

CONTROVERSIAL French coach Raymond Domenech remains unrepentant about his side’s controversial qualification for the World Cup as they prepare for tonight’s opener against Uruguay.

Arsene Wenger has called on his young Arsenal side to focus on eliminating their own “weak moments” rather than get obsessed with the chance of revenge against Manchester United or Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Arsenal 5 Porto 0 (Arsenal win 6-2 on aggregate)

ARSENE WENGER’S determination to banish all negative thoughts ahead of tonight’s crunch Champions League clash with Porto at Emirates Stadium has extended to a refusal to practise penalties or wallow in the absence of talisman, Cesc Fabregas.

Porto 0 Chelsea 1

SERENITY has been in short supply at Stamford Bridge in recent years, but Chelsea are appreciating the tranquility that has accompanied Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival.

Chelsea 1 Porto 0

Aston Villa booked a place in the final of the Peace Cup, after seeing off Porto 2-1 tonight.

PORTO coach Jesualdo Ferreira insists he would not swap places with Alex Ferguson and has vowed to go for Manchester United’s jugular tonight.

PORTO ensured Atletico Madrid followed their city neighbours Real out of the Champions League after playing out a goalless draw against the Spanish side at the Estadio do Dragao.

ATLETICO MADRID will attempt to transfer their recent impressive domestic form onto the European stage tonight when they make the short hop across to Portugal to take on Porto in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

ATLETICO MADRID were indebted to Leo Franco for keeping their Champions League hopes alive as the Spanish side claimed a barely-deserved draw against Porto in the first leg of their last-16 tie last night.

ATLETICO Madrid captain Antonio Lopez has told his team-mates to forget about their poor league form as they prepare to face Porto tonight.

JERMAIN DEFOE has trained with his new Tottenham team-mates but the finishing touches are still being put on his return to White Hart Lane from Portsmouth.

Porto 2 Arsenal 0

Arsenal 4 Porto 0

Celtic 1 Benfica 0

Benfica 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 1