Known as one of the hardest-working squads in the world, Chile is starting to feel the wear and tear of its all-out style in the Confederations Cup. And things won t get any easier for the South American champions when they face Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in the semifinals. Chile secured its semifinal berth with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Australia on Sunday, and the team will have only two days of rest before facing Portugal on Wednesday in Kazan. The European champions played its last group stage match on Saturday, a breezy 4-0 win over New Zealand in which Ronaldo was substituted with more than 20 minutes left.

Martin Rodriguez salvaged a draw Sunday for Chile against a tenacious Australian side to ensure his team qualified for the Confederations Cup semifinals.

Germany eased into the Confederations Cup semi-finals with a 3-1 win over Cameroon on Sunday as the VAR system was again thrust into the spotlight when the on-field official needed two reviews of an incident to reach the right verdict. Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan consulted the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) after a reckless high challenge by Ernest Mabouka on Germany s Emre Can saw Sebastien Siani wrongly receive a yellow card in a case of mistaken identity.

Zamalek coach Augusto Inacio believes that his team s hopes of reaching the CAF Champions League quarterfinals are still alive despite the shock 2-0 loss to USM Alger in the fourth round of the group stage games in Algiers on Thursday. Late goals on both sides of the interval from Reda Bellahcene and Abderrahmane Meziane condemned Zamalek to their first defeat of their group stage campaign, slipping to the third spot of Group B after initially entering the game on top.

Italian international striker Mario Balotelli is determined to stay at Ligue 1 outfit Nice next season, club president Jean-Pierre Rivere revealed on Thursday. "I can tell you three things - one, he s a player who wants to continue with us; two, he s ready to make a financial effort; three, discussions are continuing," said Rivere.

Egypt s Ahly coach Hossam El-Badry has blamed refereeing mistakes and the defence errors of his team as the main reasons behind Tuesday s 2-0 loss to Morocco s Wydad Casablanca. The Reds lost the away game to the Moroccan team in the fourth round of the CAF Champions League group stage.

Jose Mourinho s advisers have hit back at accusations that the Manchester United manager failed to pay millions of euros in taxes to the Spanish authorities during his time in charge of Real Madrid. The 54-year-old Portuguese, who coached Madrid from 2010 to 2013, has been accused of "two offences against the public treasury", the prosecutor s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was on Tuesday accused of evading 3.3 million euro ($3.7 million) in tax at Real Madrid, the public prosecutor s office in Madrid announced. The 54-year-old Portuguese, who coached Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013, was accused of "two offences against the public treasury," the office said in a statement.

Argentinian footballing legend Maradona said Monday that he preferred compatriot Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo all the while dubbing the Portugal captain an "incredible" player.

Reports linking Champions League winner Cristiano Ronaldo with a possible move to Bayern Munich if the Portuguese decided to leave Real Madrid were a hoax, the German champions said on Monday. Bayern President Uli Hoeness has pledged a big-name signing in the close season and Italian media had reported in recent days the German champions were interested in Ronaldo.

Arturo Vidal brushed off a hotly disputed video review to give Chile a 2-0 win over Cameroon in the Confederations Cup on Sunday. Vidal s 81st-minute header after a pass from substitute Alexis Sanchez gave the South American champion a Group B win which was anything but routine, before another goal was decided by video review.

Cristiano Ronaldo brushed off speculation about his Real Madrid future, although Portugal conceded a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Mexico at the Confederations Cup on Sunday. Ronaldo teed up Ricardo Quaresma to fire Portugal ahead in the first half in Kazan, but the goal was cancelled out before the break by Mexico striker Javier Hernandez s bullet header.

Ahly have completed the signing of Moroccan international striker Walid Azaro for a four-year contract, the Cairo giants announced on Sunday on the club s official website. The Egyptian League Champions showed interest in the 22-year-old before finalising the deal, which will cost the Red Devils $1.4 million as a transfer fee.

Cristiano Ronaldo reacted to accusations that he evaded paying taxes of 14.7 million euros ($16.4 million) by saying that remaining silent was the "best answer". "Sometimes the best answer it s to be quiet," the Real Madrid star forward said on Instagram with a photo of himself in a Portugal polo shirt and right forefinger raised to his lips.

Zamalek will be looking for a much-needed consistency when they face relegation-threatened side Aswan in the Egyptian Premier League on Thursday as they prepare for a much more important African Champions League clash in midweek. Although the White Knights have notably improved of late under Portuguese coach Inacio Augusto, having won their last three league matches, their fans are still worried over some unconvincing displays. They needed a stoppage-time goal to salvage a 1-1 draw at home to USM Alger in Champions League Group B early this month and will be desperate to avoid any stumble in the away clash against the Algerians next week.

For years Adidas has been the go to brand for famous footballers. The brands newest design is “Nemeziz.” Adidas claims the boot s design will increase the players agility, speed, and stability when they play on the field. Leo Messi was the first one to wear the boot at the final match of Copa del Rey. “Disruption is a part of my game. A player must attempt to make moves that their opponent isn t expecting and needs to do so as quickly as possible,” said Messi, adding “to be able to do that, you need complete confidence in your boots and the flexibility to move and adjust easily. The design of these boots is perfect for my game.”

The stadia are ready and there has been a great deal of investment in security and infrastructure ahead of the World Cup warm-up in Russia. The only thing missing so far, is interest in the competition.Russian President Valdimir Putin is not particularly renowned for his love of football or the Russian national side. Once asked about public funding for the sport, he is reported to have answered: “Russian football? I didn t know it existed.” Whether that is true or not, the fact is that neither the president nor the general public are overenamored with the Russian team. Little wonder after a raft of scandals and disappointing showings in recent years. “Hardly anyone would even recognise one of our players in the street,” political scientist Michail Winogradow told DW. “Sport is political of course, in Russia as well. Just not really football.”

Egypt manager Hector Cuper is confident his side will bounce back from their 1-0 defeat by Tunisia in their opening Nations Cup qualifying game on Monday. An unimpressive Egypt side were condemned to defeat in their Group J opener, courtesy of a Yassine Khenissi goal early in the second half. Despite the demoralizing defeat, the Argentinean manager sounded upbeat, saying that he is confident his players will make up for the early loss.

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo was on Tuesday accused of a 14.7 million euro tax evasion through offshore companies, the public prosecutor s office in Madrid announced. The Portuguese footballer was accused of "four crimes against the public treasury between 2011-14... which involves tax fraud of 14,768,897 euros ($16.5m, £12.9m)", the office said in a statement. "The accused took advantage of a company structure created in 2010 to hide income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities, which is a voluntary and conscious breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain," it said.

Qatar s BeIN Sports satellite receivers were blocked from broadcasting in Saudi Arabia amid mounting regional tensions that escalated following a blockade on Doha by neighbouring Gulf states. The decision to ban the popular channel - including its official website - was confirmed by the kingdom s general authority for audiovisual media on Monday, noting its alleged lack of licencing.

Ghana s faint hopes of making the 2018 World Cup have been boosted as qualifying group leaders Egypt were seriously exposed on Sunday when they were defeated 1-0 by Tunisia. Egypt s defensive strategy that took them to the African Nations Cup final earlier this year failed to pay off as Tunisia claimed a 1-0 home victory in their opening group game of the 2019 qualifiers. Yassine Khenissi nipped in between two markers to fire the winner three minutes into the second half at Rades Stadium, giving the Carthage Eagles a perfect start to their Group J campaign.