Argentina conceded after just 37 seconds in their must-win game against Ecuador - but Lionel Messi came to the rescue as his side booked their place at next summer's World Cup.

Arsene Wenger admits allowing Alexis Sanchez to see out the final year of his contract could cost Arsenal as much as £140m (€153.2m).

Everton were left counting the cost of another injury during the international break after Argentina defender Ramiro Funes Mori was carried off.

A Bolivian judge has ordered the detention of the head of the airline whose plane crashed in the Andes last week while authorities investigate him for possible charges of manslaughter and other crimes.

The Bolivian Civil Aviation Authority is indefinitely suspending permission for LaMia airline to operate following the deadly crash of one its charter planes in Colombia.

Trust in politicians was at a very low ebb when attempts were made insensitively and brusquely to impose water charges.

Arsenal have announced the signing of Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina from Nice on a long-term contract.

Bolivia’s leftist government is turning back the clock. Or, more precisely, turning it backward.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes Gerard Deulofeu is ready for his return to the Barcelona first team, but admits he will miss having the exciting forward in his Toffees squad.

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.

Diego Costa and Fernando Torres have been included in Spain’s final squad for the World Cup, but Manchester City pair Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas were left out.

President Barack Obama could take care of the appointment of a new US Ambassador to Ireland, if he played just one less round of golf, a former holder of the post said in an interview.

Former Republic of Ireland international central defender Peter Murphy is having to get used to life as a footballer on the dole — and he doesn’t like it one bit.

Former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has not yet formally accepted asylum in Venezuela, the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said after a Russian lawmaker posted a statement to that effect on Twitter and then deleted it.

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has called the rerouting of his plane over suspicions that National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden was aboard a provocation to Latin America and urged European countries to “free themselves” from the United States.

Bolivia’s president yesterday left Europe for home amid escalating diplomatic drama after his flight was rerouted and delayed overnight in Austria, allegedly because of suspicions he was trying to spirit NSA leaker Edward Snowden to Latin America.

Luis Suarez once again hit the headlines for the wrong reasons as Chile put themselves back on track for a World Cup berth with a 2-0 home win over Uruguay.

Republic of Ireland exile Darron Gibson has revealed the thought of Champions League nights at Goodison is driving him to help Everton reach Europe’s elite competition.

In football’s catechism of cliché it is customary to claim that some one-season wonder is “frighteningly good”.

Argentina’s takeover of its formerly state-owned energy company from Spanish shareholders won easy approval from legislators.

THE TV series currently being shown on BBC4, Illuminations; the Private Lives of Medieval Kings, featured an item on the production of vellum.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and other leaders in the left-leaning ALBA bloc have backed Argentina in its long-running dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands.

Leonel Alvarez has been sacked as Colombia coach after four months at the helm.

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez is facing the prospect of yet more disciplinary action after tensions between him and the club were increased by his failure to report for training.

An adviser to Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega said that his government would consider giving asylum to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi if he asked for it, but acknowledged it would be difficult to arrange.

ARSENAL have turned to South America to sign promising Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell but three established Gunners look set for the exit door.

Manchester United winger Nani will be under the spotlight as he looks to fill the void left by injured captain Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal host Chile in an international friendly on Saturday night.

FIFA today opened disciplinary proceedings against six match officials in relation to a possible match-fixing charge following an investigation into two international friendly games.

THE family of an Irishman who may have been lured to his death in an anti-terrorist shoot-out in Bolivia hope to meet the Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin again this month as part of their campaign for an international enquiry into his death.

Expectations for the latest round of UN climate talks had been low in the run up to the conference, but negotiators have managed to keep the show on the road towards an ultimate deal on global warming.

More than 190 countries have struck an agreement at the latest round of UN climate talks that puts efforts to secure a new international deal to tackle global warming back on track.

Bolivia’s government is seeking to negotiate an end to a weeks-long protest that cut off road access to a region popular with tourists.

The UN General Assembly declared access to clean water and sanitation a “human right” in a resolution that more than 40 countries including the United States did not support.

WITH a tattoo of revolutionary Che Guevara on his arm, one of Fidel Castro on his calf and a long history of controversy as a player, it didn’t take much to predict what type of manager Diego Maradona was going to be.

AFTER the early shadow boxing it seems as though this could turn out to be the World Cup of upsets.

A district court judge has convicted a newspaper editorial writer of insulting the head of the Ecuador government’s National Financial Corporation and sentenced him to three years in prison.

US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday she “deeply resents” foreign criticism of the US response to the earthquake in Haiti, saying the US was doing as much as it could.

The UN climate conference in Copenhagen ended today having approved a deal described by world leaders as a “first step” to tackling global warming.

Cuba’s President Raul Castro declared the global climate summit in Copenhagen a failure from the start and urged left-wing Latin American leaders to devise their own plan on how to cope with climate change.

President Evo Morales easily won re-election, according to unofficial results, getting an overwhelming mandate for further revolutionary change on behalf of Bolivia’s long-suppressed indigenous majority.

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is poised to hand a first Barclays Premier League start to striker Christian Benitez in Sunday’s Second City derby with Aston Villa at St Andrew’s.

ARGENTINA boss Diego Maradona claimed he isn’t alarmed by his side’s precarious qualifying position after Saturday’s 3-1 loss to rivals Brazil at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito in Rosario, a result for which he took full responsibility.

FROM high in the south terrace or Curva Sud of the Stadio San Paulo, Napoli’s ultras hang a bespoke banner at every game. Stitched carefully into the sky-blue fabric is the poetic epithet: “I have seen him, now I can die”. The tifosi need not say who they mean.