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S’ Africa Becomes First Host To Fail In First Round

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South Africa seemed on course for miraculous progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup but ultimately missed out after a 2-1 victory over France.

Bongani Khumalo gave Bafana Bafana the lead against the run of play, and when Yoann Gourcuff was harshly dismissed midway through the first period the hosts smelled history.

The impressive Katlego Mphela struck before the break, but chances were missed and when Florent Malouda pulled a goal back for their guests, South Africa’s dream was effectively ended.

France started the match not cutting the kind of shape that one might expect of a team in disarray, though they were hardly playing with the fizz that might be anticipated of such a star-studded unit.

A clever pass from Gourcuff, one of six new faces in les Bleus’ starting XI, created an early chance for another newcomer, Andre-Pierre Gignac, though the Toulouse striker finished tamely when well placed in the box after just three minutes.

The Europeans continued to push on, but the best they could manage in their early spell was a headed flick from Djibril Cisse from the edge of the penalty box.

With the passing of the 15 minute mark, Bafana started to push away from their penalty box and offer some threat of their own.

Having not truly threatened in the early stages, the World Cup hosts grabbed the advantage when Hugo Lloris got nowhere near a corner kick, allowing Khumalo to out-jump Abou Diaby to head home.

Although Gignac quickly offered a shot over the bar as a reply from the French, South Africa looked at ease with their lead and were then given a big helping hand by Colombian referee Oscar Ruiz.

Gourcuff leapt for a high ball in the South Africa penalty box and innocuously hit MacBeth Sibaya in the face. Though there was undoubtedly contact, it seemed clear that there was no intent in the midfielder’s action.

Given the circumstances, it was little surprise France grew a little ragged against a fantastically hungry home side. With the crowd right behind their favourites, South Africa found a second goal before the break.

Siphiwe Tshabalala worked his way in down the left impressively, and when he fired into a dangerous area, Mphela scrambled the ball over the line.

Bernard Parker soon had the ball in Lloris’ net once again, but he was correctly ruled offside.

A Franck Ribery free kick at the other end of the field forced Moeneeb Josephs to turn the bouncing ball over his crossbar, though William Gallas might have struck had he made contact with the accurate centre.

Bafana were dominating, and they nearly had a precious third goal when Mphela’s angled drive was touched wide for a corner kick.

Needing goals, it was little surprise to see South Africa bright and breezy after the half-time interval. Bernard Parker shot into the midriff of Lloris before a terrific pass from Siphiwe Tshabalala released Mphela.

With his first touch, the Mamelodi Sundowns striker swept the ball over Lloris but against the outside of the post.

Just before the hour mark, Mphela tried his luck from range, but Lions dived to his right to make a commendable save.

France were not totally impotent. Ribery shot over when he should have instead passed to substitute Thierry Henry, who replaced Cisse, who himself had a snapshot go narrowly over just after the interval.

Such forays were rare, whereas the sight of Mphela running purposefully at the French defence was not.

The striker snuck in down the right channel next, but Lloris made the block when the angle was very much against the Bafana attacker.

Against the run of play, Malouda stuck a dagger in South Africa’s challenge, silencing even the vuvuzelas.

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Tottenham Fight Back To Hold Brighton

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Tottenham fought back from two-goals down to secure a deserved point against Brighton.

The Seagulls were second best for much of the match but found themselves 2-0 up after 31 minutes thanks to Yankuba Minteh’s early strike and Yasin Ayari’s powerful drive.

However, Richarlison halved the deficit just before half-time when he stopped a shot by Mohammed Kudus before slotting in.

Spurs dominated the second half but their finishing let them down as Richarlison and substitute Xavi Simons were both unable to make the most of promising opportunities.

But the equaliser came eight minutes from time when Jan Paul van Hecke turned Kudus’ cross into his own net.

Spurs then pushed for a winner as they looked to continue their impressive start to the season, but Brighton held on for the point.

Bundesliga: Kane Continues Goal Harvest (5)

Harry Kane scored his second hat-trick of the season as Bayern Munich overcame a shaky start to win at Hoffenheim and continue their 100% start.

The England captain, 32, broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time with a clinical first-time finish from a cleverly worked low corner, and doubled Bayern’s lead from the spot after Albian Hajdari was harshly penalised for a handball.

That broke Hoffenheim’s resistance and Kane completed his ninth Bundesliga hat-trick with another penalty, given for a foul on substitute Michael Olise after a video assistant referee (VAR) check.

This time Kane sent home keeper Oliver Baumann the wrong way for his 13th Bayern goal in seven matches across all competitions this season, adding to his Champions League double against Chelsea last Wednesday.

“Hat-trick Harry is what they called me in school,” Kane told Tidesports source after the match. “That one kind of stuck when I was younger.”

“Any ball in the box, whether penalty or not, I back myself to hit the target.”

Hoffenheim had the better of the first 45 minutes, Fisnik Asllani only able to hit the post after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer passed straight to the Kosovan.

They eventually got some reward for their efforts, former West Ham full-back Vladimir Coufal’s deflected free-kick beating Neuer to earn the Czech his first goal for the club.

Ex-Liverpool winger Luis Diaz hit the top of the bar late on as he failed to continue his record of scoring in every Bundesliga game this season, but Serge Gnabry added a fourth for Bayern with the last kick, converting a rebound from a tight angle after Baumann saved from Joshua Kimmich.

Nicolas Jackson made his first start since joining Bayern on an initial loan deal from Chelsea, but the Senegal striker had a very quiet game before being replaced in the 62nd minute.

In Italy, Lorenzo Pellegrini fired Roma into the Serie A top four as Lazio had two players sent off in a fiery derby.

The midfielder found the bottom corner in the 38th minute as Roma extended their unbeaten run to four games against their city rivals.

Lazio have lost three of their opening games of the season and had Reda Belahyane and former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi dismissed in late drama.

Roma started well and Rome-born Pellegrini claimed the vital goal – his fourth in a Rome derby after being available for transfer in the summer – following good work down the right by Matias Soule.

But the hosts will rue missed opportunities as Boulaye Dia, Mattia Zaccagni and Alessio Romagnoli all had openings.

With four minutes left substitute Belahyane was shown a red card for a late studs-up challenge on Manu Kone.

Danilo Cataldi struck the outside of the post for Lazio in a last-gasp effort to snatch a point, while team-mate Guendouzi was sent off for dissent after the final whistle.

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Zidane’s Son Switches Allegiance To Algeria

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Luca Zidane, the son of France’s World Cup-winning playmaker Zinedine, has switched his international allegiance from France to Algeria.

Born just outside Marseille, the 27-year-old goalkeeper had appeared for France at various youth levels.

The move, which was approved by Fifa, may enable Zidane to follow in his father’s footsteps by appearing at a World Cup, with Algeria expected to secure a place at the 2026 finals in North America in their qualifier against Somalia next month.

Zidane, who is the second of four brothers, all of whom came through the Real Madrid academy, currently plays for Spanish second tier side Granada.

He played two matches for Madrid and has La Liga experience at Rayo Vallecano, but dropped a level in 2022 to play for Eibar before heading to Andalusia in 2024.

Zidane qualifies for the North African country through his father, whose parents hailed from the Kabylie region of Algeria.

Zinedine Zidane, who is regarded as one of the games greatest players scored twice for France in their 1998 World Cup final victory over Brazil, but was famously sent-off in the 2006 final, which was won by Italy after a penalty shootout.

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Man Utd Beat Chelsea To Ease Pressure 

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Manchester United capitalised on Robert Sanchez’s fifth-minute red card to secure a crucial victory over Chelsea in torrential rain at Old Trafford.

The first match in Premier League history to see two or more goals, red cards and substitutions in the first half was settled by goals from United skipper Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, who was the other player sent off before the break.

It was Sanchez’s dismissal that set the course of the game though.

The Spain international raced from his goal to meet Bryan Mbeumo as the striker ran beyond the Chelsea defence.

Sanchez then upended the forward outside his area rather than allow him past to tap the ball into an empty net.

Enzo Maresca’s response to the red card was to take off both Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian and, as Cole Palmer had to be replaced after suffering a recurrence of a groin injury, Chelsea had lost three attacking players in the space of 20 minutes.

Trevor Chalobah pulled one back for Chelsea with a header 10 minutes from time but United kept their nerves at bay to make it to the final whistle with their lead intact.

The victory was United’s second of the season and came in front of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who gave head coach Ruben Amorim assurances over his future 48 hours earlier.

It also means Chelsea have still not won at Old Trafford since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson was United manager.

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