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Nigeria Can Raise Six National Teams – Hart

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The President of Goldashe United Football Club of Port Harcourt, Mr. Fubara Kingsley Hart has said that prospects exist for Nigeria to raise six formidable national football teams that could compete favourably against the leading soccer nations of the world.

Reacting to last week’s international friendly against Venezuela in which the Eagles ran away with a 3-1 win, the Goldashe administrator praised the boys for beating the South Americans but noted that friendlies and qualifiers differed from what transpired at the finals proper.

He charged Coach Stephen Keshi to seriously work on the weaknesses of the boys while also strategising on the strong points.

On the chances of Eagle making it to the 2016 World Cup in Rio Dejenairo, Brazil, Fubara Kingsley Hart said any debate on the issue was uncalled for.

“I think Nigeria currently parades a team that has the capacity and capability to beat any team any day,” he declared, stating that what was of paramount importance now was to have a good outing in South Africa and possibly winning the Nations Cup.

Mr. Fubara Kingsley Hart said: “The Super Eagles have improved tremendously and with the renewed confidence in some of the players like the Chelsea duo of John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses, I see a team that will do well in South Africa.”

The Goldashe chief also charged the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) not to lose sleep over Super Eagles World Cup qualification tasks but to do thorough research and put their house in order.

He argued that Nigeria’s problem was not the absence of good footballers but the inability to fish out the abundant talents which are scattered all over the world.

“We should take maximum advantage of our huge population and do thorough combing to fish out the abundance of soccer talents within and abroad.

“Rivers State alone is capable of producing a squad for the national team, not to talk of the South-South, South-East and the rest of the six geo-political zones.

“Properly harnessed, each of the zones can raise a formidable national team that can represent Nigeria in the World Cup,” he stated.

Taking a retrospective look at the country’s paralympians which excelled above their ‘able’ counterparts at the last London meet, Mr. Fubara Kingsley Hart described the athletes as ‘heroes’ and carpeted the NSC for paying little or no attention to other sports other than football.

“The feat achieved by these paralympians serve as lesson that Nigeria should not cast all her eggs in one basket. Now that our ‘disable’ athletes has brought us glory by removing the shame inflicted on us by the ‘able’ athletes, let’s go back to the drawing board and overhaul the entire sports sector.

“We have good swimmers and canoe paddlers in the Niger Delta. We have great horse riders among the Fulani in the north. With the right training, equipment and exposure to international competitions, Nigeria can produce athletes that can make impact come Rio 2016,” the amiable Goldashe boss 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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