Antonio Valencia, who is on World Cup duty with Ecuador, has signed a new three year deal with Manchester United, the English club announced Saturday.

The 28-year-old Valencia skippered the side that beat Honduras 2-1 on Friday to boost their hopes of qualification for the second round.

They'll never earn six figure salaries or be sporting heroes. They play in the rain and to empty stadiums. But amateur footballers -- and their loyal fans -- are every bit as passionate about the game as the professionals.

As the World Cup competition in Brazil gets into full swing and heads towards its final next month, non-professional players all over the world carry on turning out to play just for fun.

Winning a Wimbledon junior title should, in theory, be the springboard for a life at the top in tennis -- but few manage to convert such early success into a stellar career.

For every top 10 player on the All England Club junior honors board, there are several more circuit journeymen -- and others who sank without trace.

Ecuador kept their last 16 qualification hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Honduras at the World Cup in Curitiba on Friday.

Enner Valencia scored a brace to give the South Americans victory after Carlo Costly had given the Central Americans the lead.

France is striking at the World Cup again, this time in a way the fans back home will approve of.

Four years ago to the day, France's players shamed the nation by going on strike at the last World Cup. On Friday, the team put on a striking attacking display, blowing Switzerland away with a 5-2 win on Friday to take total control of Group E and put themselves in position to avoid a showdown with Lionel Messi's Argentina in the next round.

Costa Rica upset Italy 1-0 on Friday to seal England's exit from the World Cup and reach the second round of the tournament for the first time since 1990.

Fulham striker Bryan Ruiz scored the Group D game's decisive goal as Costa Rica clinched a famous win which left Italy's World Cup hopes finely balanced.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will fly to Brazil next month for the final game of the football World Cup, the Kremlin confirmed Friday.

"The president is scheduled to attend the final match of the World Cup as Russia is the host of the next world championship in 2018," top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters.

Brazil's Julio Cesar on Thursday jumped to the defense of fellow goalkeeper Iker Casillas, after the Spain captain was heavily criticized for his part in the World Cup holders' shock early exit.

A Spain side whose recent successes were built from their solid defense have crumbled at this World Cup, losing to both the Netherlands and Chile and conceding seven goals in the process, some of which were blamed on Casillas.

Ivory Coast World Cup stars Yaya and Kolo Toure were mourning the death of their brother Ibrahim on Friday after the 28-year-old was found dead in Manchester, the country's football federation announced.

Ibrahim, who was also a footballer plying his trade with the al-Safa club in Lebanon, passed away just hours after Ivory Coast had lost 2-1 to Colombia at the World Cup in Brazil.

Andy Murray will start the defense of his Wimbledon title against David Goffin of Belgium and could face top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Murray, who became the first British player to win at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936 last summer, has never played the 104th-ranked Goffin.