Deadline day across much of Europe overshadowed some other contract news on the soccer front. Gianni Infantino, FIFA's new Swiss president, finally agreed to the salary terms of his contract.

It seems like only yesterday, but it's been more than a week, that the Olympic finals wrapped up a busy summer of international soccer that included the Copa America Centenario and the European Championship. The break ends on Wednesday, the first of seven days of 120 national team games.

Whether new owner Frank McCourt knows it or not, few soccer clubs have the history of French club Olympique de Marseille, or OM for short. OM's first great president, Marcel Leclerc, who made the club a French power in the early 1970s, quit in 1972 after being accused of embezzlement. Successors Bernard Tapie and Robert Louis-Dreyfus were both convicted of OM-related corruption.

One game into the 2016-17 Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich looks unstoppable, a dead certainty to lift the Meisterschale for a fifth straight season. Premature hyperbole it may be but a crushing victory in front of a frenzied sellout crowd leaves little doubt the defending champion looks to be miles ahead of the chasing pack.

Like Warren Buffett, when Wang Jianlin speaks, people listen. Wang is China's richest man, and his Dalian Wanda Group is a major sports investor. Earlier in the year, the Wanda Group made news as the first Chinese company to sign up as a top-level FIFA partner. That doesn't mean Wang is hot on the European market, which has been flooded with Chinese investors.

Robbie Keane will play one more game for Ireland against Oman in Dublin next Wednesday and then retire from international soccer. In a career that has spanned 145 games over 18 years -- the last six bouncing back and forth between MLS with the LA Galaxy and his international commitments -- Keane has scored 67 goals for Ireland.

Christian Pulisic burst on the scene earlier this year as few American teenagers ever have, leaving hungry U.S. fans savoring what they hoped was his impending stardom, but Borussia Dortmund's newfound depth could make playing time hard to come by for the precocious Pennsylvanian this season.

Brazil just ended one streak -- never having won the gold medal in Olympic men's soccer -- but must get back to work keeping another streak alive -- having advanced to the finals of every World Cup. The bad news: If World Cup 2018 qualifying ended today, Brazil wouldn't qualify.

After several seasons of nightmares at the Theatre of Dreams, aka Old Trafford, the darkness is starting to brighten. Manager Jose Mourinho -- coupling his name with that of Manchester United will take some time to digest -- saluted the crowd in triumph after a pair of goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic propelled United past a stubborn Southampton, 2-0, on Friday. Ibra shared the spotlight with debutant Paul Pogba, who showed enough in spurts while playing the full 90 minutes to suggest his billing as the all-time priciest player (transfer fee $136 million) is at least somewhat founded in merit. Ibra’s double …

The new Laws of the Game were distributed in April by the International Football Association Board, which claims it made the changes so the laws are more appropriate for the modern game for all levels.

Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez, the 2016 Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year, signed a new four-year contract, ending talk that the Algerian star will be lured away by one of the giant English clubs after helping the Foxes win their improbable English Premier League title last season.

Before he was the godfather of soccer, Joao Havelange was the godfather of Brazilian sports. And before that he was a two-sport Olympian. In a career that spanned 16 years and World War II, he swam for Brazil in Berlin in 1936 and played water polo in Helsinki in 1952.

Dalian Atkinson, who died at the age of 48 on Monday of heart failure after being Tasered by police on Monday, was the proverbial journeyman, playing at 10 clubs in six countries over a 16-year career. The most games he played for a club was 85 for Aston Villa, but he is forever remembered by English fans for the goal scored for Villa in 1992, the first year of the English Premier League.

The USA's record in women's soccer at the Olympics is unparalleled. Even with Friday's exit, it will leave Brazil with a haul of four gold medals in six competitions and a record of one defeat after regulation in 32 games. There was nothing shameful about how the USA played against Sweden, just how Hope Solo reacted when the chips were down.

Brazil has advanced to the quarterfinals of both soccer competitions at the Rio Olympics. The men recovered from a pair of scoreless draws to pound Denmark, 4-0, with an impressive display of jogo bonito. On the women's side, Marta and company have been one of the hits of the Olympics, drawing huge crowds for their games in Brasilia and Manaus.