The 35-year-old centre-half - who began his senior football career with Manchester United - has won nearly every trophy in football he has competed for during a distinguished career. The Sporting News breaks down Pique’s shock decision and explains why he has hung up the boots after 14 years at Camp Nou. Why has Gerard Pique retired? After a career full of success and trophies, Pique has fallen down the defensive pecking order at Barcelona as father time has caught up with the 35-year-old....

Hermann Historica auction house is due to sell 842 items linked to the Nazis in the German city of Munich on Wednesday. In its description of the “German Historical Collectibles from 1919 Onwards” collection, the company states: “Connoisseurs of edged weapons, decorations or uniforms will be spoilt for choice in this section.” The lot includes a leather-bound edition of Hitler’s antisemitic manifesto Mein Kampf, with a starting price of $3,868 (€3,500), as well as a top hat the Nazi dictator owned, and a cocktail dress worn by his wife Eva Braun....

Sweden’s 3-0 victory over Mexico ensured Germany finished bottom of Group F and were eliminated in the opening round of a World Cup for the first time since 1938. Germany’s failure to progress beyond the group stage mirrored that of three of the previous four world champions: Spain in 2014, Italy in 2010, and France in 2002. The DFB Twitter account posted a message saying: “Dear fans! We are just as disappointed as you!...

David G., from Rimpar, Germany, faces 88 counts of attempted murder. German authorities said he posted advertisements on eBay purporting to be a research scientist studying the human sexual response to electrical stimulation. He offered his subjects, all women, as much as 1,500 euros to take part in an experiment he was running. His last name has not been released because of the sexual nature of the crimes he is accused of....

The news was confirmed by a court in the German city of Bielefeld on Thursday, German media outlets report. The victim was just one of several people thought to have been targeted by a 57-year-old machinist known to the media as Klaus O, who has already been convicted of attempted murder. Klaus O’s modus operandi involved sprinkling lead acetate and mercury powder on colleagues’ sandwiches at the ARI Armaturena metal fittings company in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock in North Rhine-Westphalia, north-west Germany....

Germany has been under a partial lockdown and social distancing rules since November 2. While stopping a growth in coronavirus cases, numbers have plateaued, leading health minister Jens Spahn to call for a “short and comprehensive” lockdown. He also wants a further shutdown in the retail sector. Merkel has backed the recommendations made this week by the country’s National Academy of Science calling for an extension to the Christmas school break and for all but essential businesses to be closed from Christmas Eve to January 10....

Spain entered the match as favourites with the likes of Marco Asensio, Saul Niguez and Gerard Deulofeu - signed by Barcelona earlier in the day - powering their attack, but Stefan Kuntz’s defence held firm. Germany, who have the likes of eligible players Timo Werner, Leon Goretzka and Julian Draxler representing the full national squad at the Confederations Cup, had the better of the chances in the first half and their goal - an improvised header by Hertha Berlin’s Mitchell Weiser - was richly deserved....

The 36-year-old held preliminary talks with the League One outfit over the possibility of replacing Karl Robinson, but both parties decided to move in a different direction. The former Reds and England captain admitted in January that he is not yet ready to take overall charge of a club as he works towards completing his UEFA A license. “I’ve dreams and aspirations of going into coaching and management but at the moment I’m nowhere near ready for management,” he said....

Originally, Davis (20-0, 19 KOs) was supposed to take on former three-division world champion Abner Mares. But Mares pulled out last week to what had been described as an elbow injury. There was more to the story, though, as Mares revealed Sunday on “Inside PBC Boxing” that he suffered a detached retina in his right eye during a training session and that was the real reason for pulling out of the fight....

Every character including the three DLC fighters will have a Friendship that players can use instead of a Fatality. Newsweek has an exclusive look at Sonya Blade’s Friendship in Mortal Kombat 11, which you can watch below. Sonya’s Friendship sees the Earth Realm Force leader play with her robot in a game of fetch. However, what the robot brings back isn’t the stick, but Baraka. This isn’t the first lady of Mortal Kombat’s first Friendship....

MORE: Get NFL Draft info, analysis The “Cheech and Chong”-like video gave ESPN’s old-school NFL analyst Jon Gruden the opportunity to fulminate about the evils of “social media” to a national TV audience Thursday night. The video of Tunsil smoking the bong, with a Confederate flag in the background, no less, appeared on his verified Twitter feed just before the 2016 NFL Draft started at 8 p.m. ET. Tunsil took it down, but not before the video spread like wildfire....

Some experts say the company’s aim for the Deluxe line, which is priced at upwards of $2 and targeted to adults, is not to make best sellers out of the new offerings but to whet the public’s appetite for higher-priced menu items. The company has been moving away from heavy discounting, discontinuing its 99-cent Big Mac in some markets and increasing the price to around $1.89. The big question is just how much the Arch Deluxe has cannibalized sales of other products....

Health ​update on Ric Flair The wrestling legend remains in critical condition in an Atlanta area hospital following surgery earlier this week. Wendy Barlow — his fiancée — posted a message on social media that she took the 68-year-old to the hospital over the weekend due to “severe abdominal pain”. MORE: Drew McIntyre on his journey back to WWE SI.com’s Justin Barrasso is reporting that Flair had part of his bowel removed and the surgery “led to further complications” and he may have to remain in the hospital for over a month....

And who are these wise men whom Clinton called in his hour of need? The toothy, perfectly coiffed Robbins pushes a wildly successful line of books and videocassettes on his widely aired infomercials. He purports to teach instant success through “concentration of power” – that is, thinking really hard. At corporate seminars he walks barefoot over hot coals and then gets paper pushers to follow suit. Robbins, who won’t comment on the specifics of his meeting with the president, says he wasn’t surprised to get the big call – a lot of his southern California-based business is geared toward helping “people who are already good at what they do get better....

Among the frontrunners are Stoke City, whose manager Mark Hughes has publicly stated his desire to bring the 27-year-old to Bet365 Stadium for a reported fee of £2.5million. Two other Premier League sides Everton and Watford have also shown interest in the Ghana international, who joined the Black Stars in 2007. Serie A giants AC Milan, Sevilla in Spain and French club Marseille want the player as well, according to reports....

The Black Stars will begin their campaign for qualifying to Cameroon 2019 in June 2017. According to Caf, the winners of each group will join the host country in the Final Tournament as well as the best 3 runner-ups in all 12 Groups. Meanwhile, the Black Stars will hope to end their 35-year trophy drought when Gabon 2017 kicks off this weekend. Ghana have been drawn in the same group with Egypt, Uganda and Mali....

South Korea’s 2-1 win over Portugal in the corresponding group-stage decider saw them leapfrog both Uruguay and Ghana in the table, meaning they’ll progress to the Round of 16, and send both of these sides home. The build-up to the match had been dominated by memories of Luis Suarez’s deliberate handball right at the end of extra time in their 2010 knockout match. Asamoah Gyan’s miss that day proved fatal for Ghana, but Andre Ayew, the only remaining player from that squad, couldn’t vindicate it 12 years on....

Sony Pictures Television and Eleventh Hour Films have bought the adaptation rights to Hunting Ghislaine Maxwell, according to U.K. radio station LBC which launched the show in November. Netflix series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich previously brought the testimony of the pedophile’s accusers to a global audience. However, this new podcast turns the spotlight on Maxwell, exploring her family history including the death of her father, British newspaper Tycoon Robert Maxwell....

Infantino attempted to address the wide-ranging aspects of the tournament that have come under heavier and more frequent unfavourable scrutiny in recent weeks. The speech was met with a mix of confusion and condemnation by many. Campaigners Amnesty International said Infantino was guilty of “brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms” and “dismissing the enormous price paid by migrant workers” to make the tournament possible. Here’s a look at what Infantino said and some of the reasons why....