Lazio saw its four-match winning streak broken with a 1-1 draw at Hellas Verona in Serie A on Thursday.

Bosnia midfielder Senad Lulic put Lazio ahead in the 43rd minute at Verona's Bentegodi stadium, redirecting a cross from Antonio Candreva.

Spanish striker Raul, Real Madrid's all-time leading goalscorer, has signed for the New York Cosmos, the club announced Thursday.

Raul, 37, who remains the top Champions League scorer with 71, will join the Cosmos for next year's North American Soccer League campaign, one level below Major League Soccer, and serve as technical advisor for the team's youth academy.

Czech Republic number one Tomas Berdych is one win from sealing his ticket to the World Tour Finals after easing into the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.

Following a first round defeat at the Valencia Open last week, the 29-year-old Berdych evened his record against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez at six wins apiece with a 7-5, 6-3 victory behind the back of a 70 per cent first serve percentage and eight aces.

Manchester City's defense of the League Cup was ended by a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle in the last 16 on Wednesday, with an injury to playmaker David Silva completing a miserable night for the out-of-form English champions.

Tottenham and Southampton also won to reach the quarterfinals, where Chelsea and Liverpool — the biggest teams left in the competition — face away matches at second-tier opponents Derby and Bournemouth, respectively.

A spectator ran onto the pitch and hit Franck Ribery with a scarf in stoppage time of Bayern Munich's 3-1 victory at Hamburger SV in the second round of the German Cup on Wednesday.

The man ran the width of the field before hitting the French winger, who had secured victory for the cup holders. The intruder also made insulting gestures before being caught by guards and escorted from the pitch.

Pau Gasol scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds in his Chicago debut to help the Bulls spoil Derek Fisher's first game as an NBA coach by beating the New York Knicks 104-80 on Wednesday.

Reserve Taj Gibson finished with 22 points to lead the Bulls and Derrick Rose scored 13 points after missing most of the last two seasons. Rose, the former Most Valuable Player, took only seven shots and had five assists in 21 minutes in a game Chicago led by as much as 35.

English and Spanish cup competitions could be completed in June 2022, after a World Cup in Qatar, under proposals being presented to FIFA next week by leading European clubs.

The European Club Association is proposing an April-May timeframe for the World Cup, arguing it would be less disruptive to the season than FIFA President Sepp Blatter's favored November-December solution for avoiding playing in the fiercest summer heat in Qatar.

From her wheelchair, Maryam Samimi punched the air as the referee's whistle signaled her basketball team's win in an Afghan national tournament, a moment of joy in a country often unkind to those missing limbs.

Many amputees in Afghanistan languish without access to care and become depressed and isolated. And with mines and unexploded ordinance still scattered across this country ravaged by decades of nonstop war, more will be maimed or lose limbs from explosions.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has launched a stinging attack on FIFA president Sepp Blatter as he backed Cristiano Ronaldo's case to win a second consecutive Ballon d'Or in January.

Ronaldo headed a 23-man list for the award announced on Tuesday including four-time winner Lionel Messi and six German World Cup winners.

Real Madrid has joined forces with an Abu Dhabi state investment fund to promote the club internationally and transform its Santiago Bernabeu stadium into the "greatest sporting venue in the world," the European champions said Tuesday.

Club president Florentino Perez signed a long-term "strategic alliance" with International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), represented by Khadem al-Qubaisi.