Brazil claim first spot in FIFA rankings
JUL 3rd: World champions Brazil have dislodged fallen giants France from the top of the FIFA world rankings released today by football's world governing body.

Brazil goes nuts as heroes return
JUL 3rd: Euphoria broke out in Brazil's capital yesterday as hundreds of thousands of ecstatic fans screamed and danced for the national soccer side returning home with the World Cup for a record fifth time

Spanish coach Camacho resigns
JUL 2nd: Jose Antonio Camacho, who led Spain to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, has stepped down.

Sousa hangs up boots
JUL 2nd: Portugal international midfielder Paulo Sousa has announced his retirement from football.

Oliver Kahn (© Reuters)

Kahn wins top player award
JUL 2nd: German captain Oliver Kahn today became the first goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball as the World Cup's best player.

Linke retires from international football
JUL 2nd: German defender Thomas Linke revealed on German television today that he is retiring from international football.

Völler's defeated squad get a warm welcome
JUL 2nd: With Brazil's victorious squad en route home last night, Rudi Völler and his defeated German squad received a generous welcome in Frankfurt's Roemer Square last night.

Japanese left with an empty feeling
JUL 2nd: Japanese taxpayers have been warned that their new World Cup stadiums will continue to cost them billions of yen.

Maradona dismisses World Cup as "mediocre"
JUL 1st: The World Cup was mediocre, Germany was a shadow of its former self and Rivaldo or Roberto Carlos was the tournament's best player, not eight-goal hero Ronaldo, according to former great Diego Maradona.

Still the greatest show on earth
JUL 1st: Tom Humphries argues that it wasn't the greatest tournament ever, but we will see it as a watershed. Things will change.

Old order survives revolution
JUL 1st: Emmet Malone argues that the shocks of the last month will not shift the powerbase of soccer away from Europe.

Ronaldo (© Reuters)

Double ends the pain
JUL 1st: Brazil 2 Germany 0 : And so, for Ronaldo, the cycle is complete. Four years after one World Cup final was lost because, legend will have it, of his inability to perform when it mattered most, another has been won thanks to his brilliance.

Ronaldo restores World order
JUL 1st: Curious that a tournament of such novelty should have such a traditional ending. It was as if it ended with a formulaic "and they lived happily ever after". Curious but fitting.

Main man enjoys moment
JUL 1st: He’s wearing a blue sweatshirt and a great gappy smile when he comes into the interview area. The smile is wonderful. The shirt is out of date.

Menton says FAI not ready for Saipan crisis
JUL 1st: Speaking on RTÉ's World Cup review last night, Brendan Menton, the general secretary of the Football Association of Ireland, admitted the FAI had been caught out by the Roy Keane "affair" in Saipan and also spoke about a possible return to international football for Keane.

Carlos and Cafu point to team spirit
JUL 1st: The best "no comment" ever delivered by players to journalists came from the Brazilians, most of whom thumbed their noses at their large and sceptical press corps by appearing in the mixed zone behind a samba band which led them dancing through the media minefield, eyes front, knees up, having a high old time.