Defending champion Carlos Sainz has vowed to show respect and modesty as he sets about his hunt for a second triumph in the grueling 13-stage Dakar Rally which starts on Saturday.

The 48-year-old Spaniard, the world rally champion in 1990 and 1992 who converted to cross country rallying in 2005, led last year's Dakar from the fifth stage to finish ahead of Volkswagen teammates, and chief rivals, Nasser al-Attiyah and Mark Miller.

Defending champions Egypt are teetering on the brink of elimination from the African Nations Cup going into the new year while Botswana are just one win away from a fairytale first appearance.

The struggle for 14 places at the premier national-team football competition on the continent will dominate 2011 with four rounds of qualifiers starting in March and ending seven months later.

Clearer of mind and fitter of body than for some time, Serbian glamor girl Ana Ivanovic is confident she can climb back into the top 10 in 2011.

Ranked no.1 in the world in 2008, when she won her only Grand Slam singles title at the French Open,

Rafa Benitez's spell as Inter Milan coach ended after just six months on Thursday.

The Serie A champions announced that they have reached a "mutually satisfactory agreement" with Benitez to terminate his contract, which ran until the end of next season.

Roger Federer took the upper hand against Rafael Nadal on Tuesday with a two set to one win in a charity exhibition match in the Swiss city of Zurich.

After losing the first set 4-6, Federer broke back against the world number one early in the second set to take a 6-3, 6-3 lead, watched by a capacity home crowd including Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, ski-ing champions Lindsey Vonn and Didier Cuche.

Retired tennis star Martina Hingis has married French showjumper Thibault Hutin in Paris, Swiss celebrity magazine Schweizer Illustrierte said.

According to the magazine's website, the 30-year-old former Grand Slam champion and the 24-year-old rider held their civil wedding on Friday in the presence of close family.

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez said Sunday he wanted to leave the English Premier League high-flyers as his relationship with "certain executives and individuals" at the club "has broken down beyond repair".

But City captain Tevez, in a statement issued by his agent Kia Joorabchian, stressed he had "no personal issue" with manager Roberto Mancini despite their seemingly fractious relationship, and thanked owner Sheikh Mansour for his "understanding and support".

UEFA president Michel Platini says he's OK with the idea of shifting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter from summer to avoid extreme desert temperatures.

After a UEFA executive committee meeting in Prague on Friday, Platini said it would be easier to organize the World Cup in January, instead of June.

Sebastian Vettel became the youngest champion in Formula One history Sunday, clinching the title when he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Fernando Alonso faltered in the season-ending race.

The 23-year-old Red Bull driver started from the pole trailing Alonso by 15 points in the standings. While Vettel had a fairly trouble-free race, Alonso finished seventh after Ferrari made an ill-advised decision to pit early and the Spaniard got stuck behind Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov for nearly 40 laps.

The first 'clasico' match of the season between Real Madrid and Barcelona has been postponed by one day to avoid clashing with regional elections in Catalonia, the Spanish football league said Thursday.

"The Professional Football League (LFP) has set the Barcelona-Real Madrid match for Monday 29 November at 9pm due to the ... parliamentary elections in Catalonia and the security problems that the concurrence of both events on the same weekend could have in Barcelona," it said.