Spanish World Cup winner David Villa will play a guest stint at newly branded Melbourne City for Australia's A-League next season, the club said on Thursday.

Villa, unveiled by Major League Soccer club New York City as its inaugural player this week, will take the field for Melbourne between October and December this year prior to the start of the American season.

Rafael Nadal won Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008 but faces a new challenge when he returns to the Chinese capital later this year -- beating the city's traffic jams to get to the Great Wall.

The world number one will play the ATP tournament, which he won in 2005, in September but is desperate to see the famed Chinese landmark after being thwarted when he was last in the country in 2013.

If you're intending to score in a World Cup match, should you score the night before?

It's a question that prompts coaches to set rules, players to seek understanding from wives and lovers, and fans everywhere to debate fervently, with many adamantly believing that abstaining from sex improves performance on the field.

Greece and Nigeria battled to a scoreless draw Tuesday in an international friendly match that served as a World Cup warm-up for both teams.

Greece had their fair share of chances, but couldn't get past Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who made a superb double save on Georgios Samaras and Dimitris Salpingidis in the 8rd minute.

The fourth game of the Lebanese Basketball Championship-Final on Tuesday between Riyadi and Sagesse witnessed an unfortunate fight, with a comprehensive 69-61 victory for the latter.

Reports said that on-the-court argument erupted between two opposite team players and tension escalated leading to a fight and fans dashed into the playground.

Veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer on Wednesday said he expects to sign a new deal with Chelsea after manager Jose Mourinho indicated he wanted him to stay for another season.

Schwarzer, 41, joined the Premier League powerhouse on a one-year contract last year and largely played second fiddle to Petr Cech.

With 10 days until the World Cup begins, Brazil was rushing Monday to finish installing seats in stadiums and to deal with threats ranging from violent protests to dengue fever.

The count-down to kick off has been marred by protests -- from striking drivers who abandoned their buses mid-route to indigenous leaders in bright-feathered headdresses shooting arrows at police.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli might not admit it, but in Brazil the pressure is on to finally end the pain of a disastrous 2010 World Cup that plunged Italy into despair and sent the Azzurri into redemption mode.

Yet negotiating safe passage through a "tough" Group D in Brazil, admits Prandelli, remains the priority ahead of bigger tests that could finally heal Italy's World Cup wounds for good.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke on Monday refused to comment on fresh allegations of corruption surrounding the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

FIFA earlier announced its probe into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup host bids would be completed by June 9 as the corruption row over Qatar's controversial winning bid intensified.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday urged his troops to sharpen up a day before their World Cup warm-up with Panama.

Scolari blasted his side after a Sunday training session which he said he "didn't like at all" owing to poor marking and perceived sloppiness.