Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is rarely seen in public and known mostly for the group's military exploits -- but he's also a football fan.

In an interview published by al-Akhbar newspaper on Thursday, Nasrallah spoke at length about Israel, Syria and the Palestinians, but also revealed a few personal tidbits, including his longtime love for the beautiful game.

Defender Eric Abidal, who underwent a liver transplant in 2012, has become the latest French player to announce his retirement from international football.

Abidal, 34, capped 67 times for his country, follows Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri in bringing down the curtain on his international career.

Neymar has returned to team training with Barcelona for the first time since fracturing a vertebra in his back at the World Cup.

Barcelona says Neymar completed his first full training session with the rest of the team on Wednesday, although he has not yet been cleared by team doctors to play games.

San Lorenzo of Argentina, Pope Francis' favorite team, defeated Paraguayan side Nacional 1-0 to win the Copa Libertadores title for the first time Wednesday.

Nestor Ortigoza converted a penalty in the 36th minute to give the club its first major international title in its 106-year history. It clinched the title 2-1 on aggregate. The teams drew 1-1 last week in Paraguay.

Donald Sterling's latest effort to block the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was rejected Wednesday by a California appeals court.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal issued a brief order Wednesday saying it couldn't halt a sale that had been completed.

Seattle Sounders and U.S. national team defender DeAndre Yedlin has signed a four-year deal with Tottenham but will remain in the United States through the remainder of the Major League Soccer season.

Both clubs announced the deal on Wednesday. Yedlin spent last weekend in London visiting with Tottenham officials and the sides were able to finalize the deal. Tottenham said Yedlin would join the club ahead of the 2015-16 season.

Roger Federer won his opening match at the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday, a three-set victory over Vasek Pospisil that was his 300th career victory during a Masters tournament.

He's the first player to reach the mark — Rafael Nadal is second with 281 such wins.

Gerardo Martino has been hired as coach of Argentina, less than three months after leaving Spanish club Barcelona.

The Argentine Football Association said the 51-year-old Martino will replace Alejandro Sabella, who stepped down after Argentina's loss to Germany in last month's World Cup final.

Luis Suarez damaged the reputation of English football with his serial offending and his departure to the Spanish league is not being mourned, the head of the Premier League said on Wednesday.

"He's done his time here ... I can't say I'm sorry to see him go," was the frank assessment of Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the world's most lucrative league, about one of the best players to have played in England's top division.

Moving on from a frustrating World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo began the new season as the last one ended for Real Madrid — with goals and a trophy.

The Portugal forward netted both goals as the European champions convincingly overcame Europa League winner Sevilla with a 2-0 victory to collect the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday.