Brazil was bracing Saturday for a first wave of nationwide demonstrations against staging the World Cup after activists from the radical protest group Anonymous went on social media calling for action.

With less than five months to go before the June 12 kick-off -- when the five-time champions and hosts take on Croatia -- Brazil is again facing the social rumblings which marred last year's Confederations Cup dress rehearsal.

Juan Mata is on the brink of becoming the most expensive player in Manchester United's history after Chelsea accepted the Spain midfielder's request to leave Stamford Bridge.

Mata will undergo a medical examination with United ahead of a club-record 37 million pound ($61 million) move to the Premier League champions, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said Friday.

Rafael Nadal continued his dominant streak over Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final for the third time, beating the 17-time major winner 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 Friday night to set up a championship decider against No. 8-seeded Stan Wawrinka.

Nadal now has won 23 of his 33 matches against Federer, including nine of 11 in the majors. The 27-year-old Spaniard is one victory away from being the first man in the Open era to win all four majors at least twice, and from joining Pete Sampras in second place on the list of all-time Grand Slam winners with 14.

Women's ski jumping will finally make its Olympic debut in Sochi — 90 years after the men competed in the sport for the first time at the Winter Games. For the best female jumpers in the world, Feb. 11 will be a momentous day after years of fighting for the right to compete, including an unsuccessful court case to be included in Vancouver four years ago.

The International Olympic Committee finally decided in April 2011 to add women's jumping to the Sochi program. The delay can be partially blamed on Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, whose terrible form and questionable bravado at the 1988 Calgary Games brought the wrong kind of publicity to the sport and persuaded the governing body to introduce tougher qualifying restrictions which ultimately affected female jumpers. The growth in elite women's jumping was evident in the first women's World Cup event of the season in December at Lillehammer, Norway, when 70 women jumpers from 15 countries — the largest start list ever — competed.

FIFA says Jennifer Lopez will team with rapper Pitbull and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte to perform the official World Cup song for this year's tournament.

Soccer's governing body made the announcement Thursday but didn't say when "We Are One (Ole Ola)" will be released.

Monaco announced that Colombia striker Radamel Falcao will have surgery on his left knee, putting him in danger of missing the World Cup.

Falcao was stretchered off the field after damaging his anterior cruciate ligament during a French Cup match on Wednesday when he was tackled by Chasselay center half Soner Ertek.

Barcelona said its board of directors is calling an "extraordinary" meeting, fueling Spanish media reports that club president Sandro Rosell is under pressure to consider stepping down due to the lawsuit regarding Neymar's transfer.

Barcelona added in a statement that the meeting will take place on Thursday afternoon, a day after a judge agreed to hear a lawsuit brought by a Barcelona club member over the cost of Neymar's signing.

Stanislas Wawrinka backed up his upset of four-time champion Novak Djokovic by reaching his first Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4) win over Tomas Berdych in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday.

Wawrinka ended a 14-match losing streak against Djokovic with a dramatic five-set, four-hour win in the quarterfinals, then followed that with a dominating performance against Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist.

When Li Na talks about not tripping up as being the key to converting her third Australian Open final appearance into a major title, she means it literally.

No. 4-seeded Li advanced to her third final in four years at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-4 win over 19-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard on Thursday. No. 20-seeded Cibulkova later trounced 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 to reach her first Grand Slam final.

Oklahoma City took over as top dog in the NBA's Western Conference by winning 111-105 at nearest rival San Antonio on Wednesday, as Kevin Durant continued his remarkable scoring run.

The Thunder moved half a game ahead of the Spurs in the West, while the overall league leader Indiana suffered its heaviest defeat of the season at the hands of Phoenix.