ZURICH " A day after denying rumors he was considering leaving Barcelona, Lionel Messi cast new doubts about his future at the club on Monday. Messi said at the awards ceremony for the FIFA BAllon d'Or that he doesn't know whether he'll be back at Barcelona next season. SENT. 150 words.
SOC--SPANISH ROUNDUP
MADRID " An own goal by Rayo Vallecano defender Abdoulaye Ba gifted Cordoba a 1-0 win in the Spanish league on Monday. Cordoba raced up the field on a counter-attack and Senegalese central defender Ba's mis-hit his attempted clearance and the ball landed in the back of goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez's net. SENT. 130 words.
SOC--WORLD XI TEAM
ZURICH " All three players shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award were selected by their peers for the 2014 FIFPro World XI team. Lionel Messi, Manuel Neuer and Cristiano Ronaldo were among seven 2013 team members who retained their places in worldwide voting by 23,000 members of national players' unions. 500 words.
SOC--PSG-BLANC
PARIS " Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc has challenged his players to face up to themselves following Saturday's 4-2 defeat at Bastia, citing their lack of mental strength and criticizing their propensity to give up at "the slightest difficulty." By Jerome Pugmire. 300 words.
SOC--ASIAN CUP ROUNDUP
BRISBANE, Australia " Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa helped engineer Japan's 4-0 rout of tournament newcomer Palestine and Iraq edged Jordan 1-0 on Monday as the last two winners of the Asian Cup won their Group D openers. By John Pye. 600 words.
SOC--EXTRA TIME
LONDON " There's a simple way of measuring if there has been any progress at Manchester United under Louis van Gaal: the Premier League position and the points tally. After Sunday's 1-0 loss to Southampton, with United on 37 points after 21 games, it was inevitable comparisons would be drawn with Van Gaal's predecessor. After 21 games, David Moyes had also collected 37 points. By Rob Harris. 600 words.
SKIING:
SKI--SHIFFRIN'S TEAM
FLACHAU, Austria " In the final slalom before her home world championship, Mikaela Shiffrin can become the first American skier to rack up three straight World Cup wins in the discipline. Shiffrin, from Vail, Colorado, has won the night race in Austria the past two years, and starts as a clear favorite again Tuesday after dominating the recent events in Kuehtai and Zagreb. By Eric Willemsen. SENT. 550 words.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL:
FBN--BRONCOS-FOX OUT
ENGLEWOOD, Colorado " Coach John Fox and the Denver Broncos are parting ways following the team's latest playoff meltdown. Fox won the AFC West all four of his years in Denver, but each of those seasons ended in ugly fashion in the playoffs, including Sunday's stunning 24-13 loss to Indianapolis. By Arnie Stapleton SENT.
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