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Obi May Not Play For Nigeria …2012 Olympics Qualifiers

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The national under-23 men

            football
team is not likely to have the services of Inter Milan midfielder Joel Obi at
the upcoming 2012 Olympics qualifiers, a team official has disclosed.

Team head coach Austin Eguavoen, who
disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, however said he was sure about the
availability of five other foreign-based players.

The Tidesports gathered reports that the
team also known as the Dream Team V is to play at the qualifiers dubbed the CAF
U-23 Championship.

The eight-nation championship is scheduled
for Morocco, from November 26 to December 10, 2011, with the top three sides
qualifying automatically for the Olympic Games in London.

“Obi won’t be available because his club’s
Technical Director discussed with me at length about their situation.

“However, while I can take the risk of
putting him in the team, it is certain that he will not be available for us in
the first one or two games which are important for us,” Eguavoen said.

The coach said the situation could only get
better if Inter’s position in both the UEFA Champions League and the Serie A
improves.

“If Inter qualifies on time, then they will
let him come but if they are struggling to qualify, then they won’t let him
come.

“But I can understand and see reasons with
them because this is the first time in many years that the club has found
itself in the lower side of their league table. So, we must understand.

“So, to me, he can either be included on
our final list or we can completely forget about him.

“While it’s not that we can’t do without
him, but it is also a fact that if we have him it’s going to be a plus for us,”
he said.

Tidesports reports that the Dream Team V
are in Group A of the championship, alongside Morocco, Algeria and Senegal,
with their opening game on Nov. 26 against the hosts.

Eguavoen who just returned from a trip to
four European countries to discuss the release of players for the team with the
players’ clubs was however optimistic on other players.

“Obiora Nwankwo, Ahmed Musa, Nnamdi
Oduamadi, Uchebo Okechukwu and Ekigho Ehiosun, are expected while Rabiu Ibrahim
is outrightly out because his club gave us their own reasons and we have to
respect that,” he said.

Eguavoen who said he was still optimistic
his team has a very bright chance of doing well in Morocco said his visit to
the European clubs was not a wasted trip.

“The need to sit across the table with the
clubs’ Technical Directors and coaches is very important. It’s not something
you do over the phone.

“Some may see it in either a positive or
negative way, but it was very necessary because we couldn’t have risked sending
e-mails or any other thing which would have made our request to be dropped in
the trash can,” he said.

On whether the Dream Team V had missed some
quality time of preparation while he was away, Eguavoen said his team had
missed nothing.

“If you look at it, we have the assistants,
who are the technical hands who handled this team when I was away. Moreover, it
was just about seven days. I don’t think we’ve lost anything.

“The coach has to be very proactive when
taking decisions such as this. The problem we have had were the dates of
availability.

“This is because we wanted them to come
earlier while some of the clubs are busy with the Champions League and some
other league competitions.

“Now all we have to do is to put our
preparations in shape by sending on time the letters for these players to be
released,” he said.

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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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