SPORTS

Sunday's race gave riders another grueling test with a series of tough climbs. Monday's race will be even more excruciating as they take on a 163-kilometer mountainous stage with a summit finish waiting in its end.

Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira brought her son Milan on stage during the finale performance of the 20-minute show at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony in Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

India defeats China, 65-58. One would think that’s a cricket match but look again, that’s in basketball, a sports where the Chinese have dominated the region for a number of years. The gigantic upset happened at the 5th FIBA Asia Cup, and adding insult to injury, right at the Chinese homecourt, in Wuhan, China.

NBA NEWS - This is not exactly what Pat Riley in mind before the offseason but he’s moving forward to try to salvage the next season for the Miami Heat. After extending star Chris Bosh to a max deal, the Riley and the Heat have now signed veteran forward Luol Deng to a $20 million contract for two years.

Lionel Messi even after failing to bring home the coveted World Cup has been selected as the recipient of the Golden Ball after being adjudged the best player of the tournament.

If the commencing ceremony of 2014 World Cup was dominated by Latin beauty Jennifer Lopez and rapper Pittbull, the closing ceremony had none other than Colombian singer Shakira grooving to the tunes of La La La (Brazil 2014) song alongside Brazilian percussionist and singer Carlinhos Brown. The gorgeous singer looked sizzling in a figure revealing bright red sparkly outfit as she gave her best performance at Maracana Stadium in Rio De Janiero on Sunday.

Who is Mario Geotze? And why is he better than Lionel Messi? IBT Sports Australia already did a profile of him here: Mario Goetze: The Man Behind Germany’s 2014 World Cup Win but the world can’t get enough of the relatively unknown super sub.

The German National Football Team have won their fourth FIFA World Cup title in Brazil against Argentina with a 1-0 score line after extra time. This is Germany's first FIFA World Cup title since the reunification of Germany.

TV presenter Joe Hildebrand has been called insensitive after tweeting a joke about Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe’s coming out.

Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, who won multiple gold medals at the Olympics for his country, has admitted to being a homosexual.

Almost the entire world seemed engrossed in the FIFA World Cup Final 2014, that took place on July 13, one man from space too was hoping too catch it.

Germany have won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil with a stunning extra time goal by Mario Götze. Die Mannschaft has defeated South American giants Argentina 1-0 at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Rio De Janeiro to take their fourth FIFA World Cup crown.

Who is Mario Goetze - The 22-year old attacking midfielder from Germany made his team the first European team to ever win a World Cup at a South American soil with a goal on the 113th minute of the final match

Tweets from FIFA Corruption include “There will be a goal in the second half of” the extra time,” “Gotze will score” and “Germany will win at ET.”

Rafael Nadal's legacy as a great tennis player is being undermined by his adamant stance against the rules purposely placed to foster fair-play in the sport.

World Cup Records - This wasn't the dominating performance like their 7-1 semi-final win over hosts Brazil; but it was still clinical and efficient as the European squad won the 2014 World Cup over Argentina, 1-0 at the Estadiodo Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Now it can be told. Seems German Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's prayers worked better than Argentinean Pope Francis. And sourgraping Brazil is very much elated that archrival Argentina didn't win the coveted World Cup 2014 title.

Paul Pierce and the Wizards agree upon a two-year deal roughly above the midlevel exception annually. The second year will be a player option for the all-star small forward.

Only one team ended up winning the title as always but there were several who stood out with their performance. There can be a few other versions of the “Dream Team.” Here is ours.

The Netherlands have dashed Brazil's hopes of redeeming themselves at the end of their home campaign at the 2014 FIFA World Cup by dealing the host nation a 3-0 loss at their play-off for third place.

An anti-gambling advertisement in Singapore appears to have correctly predicted the outcome of the Wednesday, July 9, game between Germany and Brazil which ended with the score of 7-1 as well as the finals on Sunday between Germany and Argentina with the score of 1-0. The advertising campaign covers both video and posters.

In confirming that he will have a rematch with Argentinean boxer Marcos Maidana on May 13, unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather also made a U-turn and opted for MGM Grand as venue for the fight, not at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York as he previously hinted.

NBA Australia - The danger of drafting Dante Exum of Australia was that he was too much of an unknown and his game was too much unfamiliar to the NBA scouts who have never seen him play in an actual high-competitive game against real high-quality opponents.

Sunday's World Cup finals will be a battle between a squad whose quality is sky-high in the form of Germany, but still plays as a unit, and a team with the best player on earth in Argentina, which just needs that moment of magic to determine a match.

Brazil's 2014 FIFA World Cup has well and truly ended and any chance of redemption has also evaded the home team and their tournament has ended on a bitter note despite having surged all the way to the semi-finals. The battle for third was the saving grace that the Seleção were looking for after having been dismantled by Germany 7-1 in their semi-final clash. Instead of finding redemption, a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands has sunk Brazil into a deeper hole which ends their tournament on back-to-...

NBA NEWS - After missing out on Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh in free agency the Houston Rockets are settling for Trevor Ariza signing the 10-year veteran to a multi-year contract worth $32 million.

NBA NEWS - Pat Riley and the Heat fans are still seething about LeBron James’ decision so they decided to offer Chris Bosh the maximum salary worth $118 million over five years.

NBA NEWS - Pau Gasol has apparently made his choice and he wants to play with in Chicago where he’ll join Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and the rest of the Bulls.

Tour de France Stage 8 gives the first real test for the bikers. After sprinters' dominance through the first seven stages, the Tomblaine to Gérardmer La Mauselaine race will showcase the ability of the general classification contenders this coming Saturday.