It looked like the same sad old story at the World Cup for Africa, the continent which still hasn't quite done it on the big stage.

Africa has never had a semifinalist — never mind a real contender for the title — and initially appeared out of its depth again at the start in Brazil.

Tim Duncan has resisted the temptation to retire on a title-winning high and at age 38 has signed on for another season with the San Antonio Spurs.

Duncan has decided to exercise the option on his contract for 2014-15 and will return next season, the team announced Monday. Since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 1997, Duncan leads all NBA players in wins and has won five titles, two MVP awards and three NBA Finals MVPs.

Niko Kovac expects to remain as Croatia's coach, even though his side was unable to advance out of the group stage of the World Cup.

"Why not? We qualified for the World Cup and that was a success for us," Kovac said Monday, following his side's 3-1 loss to Mexico. "I have a contract ... and it will continue. I do not see any reason why it shouldn't. I said before, this was a tough group."

Neymar scored twice as Brazil thrashed Cameroon 4-1 to reach the World Cup knockout rounds just ahead of group rivals Mexico on Monday.

A thrilling finale to Group A saw the hosts surge past Cameroon in Brasilia while Mexico downed Croatia 3-1 in Recife. The Netherlands beat Chile 2-0 to take top spot in Group B.

Five-time champion Venus Williams said she was hungry to add to her Wimbledon trophy haul after starting her 2014 campaign Monday with a three-set win.

The 30th seed, who missed last year's Championships through injury, beat Spain's world number 53 Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on the Court Two show court.

The Netherlands defeated Chile 2-0 on Monday to win their group and likely avoid a World Cup showdown with Brazil.

Super-subs Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay grabbed the late goals to settle a hard-fought clash in Sao Paulo. 

Dethroned champions Spain bowed out of the World Cup with a 3-0 win over Australia thanks to goals from David Villa, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata in Curitiba on Monday.

Villa, who is next set for a three-month spell in Australia with Melbourne City, became the fourth Spanish player to score in three World Cups when he backheeled home Juanfran's cross for his 59th international goal in his 97th and final appearance for La Roja nine minutes before half-time.

After three games at the World Cup, it could come down to a lottery to decide which of two teams advances to the second round.

Because of their previous results in Brazil, and the quirks of the FIFA tiebreaker system, there's a possibility that Iran and Nigeria will face exactly that scenario after their last group games on Wednesday.

Former U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur and 18th-seeded American Sloane Stephens were among the early losers Monday on the opening day of Wimbledon.

Stosur, the 17th-seeded Australian, fell in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to Belgium's Yanina Wickmeyer.

Portugal are not good enough to win the World Cup their world footballer of the year Cristiano Ronaldo admitted after Sunday's thrilling 2-2 draw with the United States.

The 29-year-old Real Madrid superstar -- whose fitness has been a hot source of debate -- kept his country's slim hopes of reaching the second round alive with a sublime cross which was headed home by Silvestre Varela in the dying seconds of time added on.