Argentina

Referee Cüneyt Çakır has been assigned to officiate the World Cup semifinal match between the Netherlands and Argentina, reaching a new high in Turkish footballing history.

Çakır, who became only the second Turk to officiate a World Cup game following Doğan Babacan’s assignment in 1970, will work alongside fellow assistants Bahattin Duran and Tarık Ongun.

Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul was the hero as the Netherlands beat Costa Rica to seal a showdown with Argentina in a heavyweight World Cup semi-final lineup Saturday.
      

Argentina will once again turn to Lionel Messi for inspiration when the team tackles star-studded Belgium in Brasilia on July 5 in a World Cup quarterfinal haunted by ghosts of yesteryear.

By Jonathan Stearns

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said his country will avoid Argentina’s fate of staying mired in economic troubles more than a decade after defaulting on debt.

Argentina scored in the 118th minute to beat Switzerland and Belgium clung on to defeat the United States in another heart-stopping period of extra time to reach the World Cup quarter-finals amid more extraordinary drama on July 1.
 

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov notched yet another memorable win in his career and reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament.

In his 1/8 final match, the 23-year old from Haskovo defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in 3 sets (6:4, 7:6, 6:2) to reach his best ever round of the oldest tennis Grand Slam.

Lionel Messi's goals have fired Argentina into the World Cup last 16 but they will look for a better all-round performance when they meet Switzerland Tuesday.
      
The diminutive four-time player of the year has finally sparked for his country, hitting four of their six goals as Argentina qualified top of Group F.
      

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is set to announce its presidential candidate in Ankara on July 1 with a presentation featuring special 3D technology. Current Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the most likely contender for the ruling party. 

“After a historic appearance in Brazil, the Dragons will arrive in Sarajevo today,” said a headline in Bosnian newspaper Klix as fans prepared to welcome the team home on Friday.

Despite defeats to Argentina and Iran, which saw them eliminated from the 2014 tournament, the ‘Dragons’ ended their first World Cup adventure with a fiery display, beating Iran 3-1 on Wednesday.

June 26 marks the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria’s first ever win in a World Cup match, 4:0 against Greece.