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قال حازم الحديدي وكيل أعمال محمد الشناوي، حارس مرمى النادي الأهلي، إن حالة اللاعب جيدة، وجاهز لمباراة الزمالك في نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

الأهلي يلتقي مع غريمه التقليدي الزمالك في المباراة المحدد لها الجمعة المقبل في نهائي البطولة القارية والذي يقام على استاد القاهرة.

وقال الحديدي في تصريحات إذاعية عبر أثير “راديو مصر”: “الشناوي بصحة جيدة ويشارك في التدريبات وجميع المسحات السابقة جاءت سلبية”.

وتابع: “اللاعبين جاهزون للمباراة وتم إجراء مسحة كاف اليوم، اللاعبون الكبار يبتعدون عن السوشيال ميديا لأنهم يتعرضون لضغط كبير”.

وأتم: “من الممكن أن تظهر نتيجة مسحة كاف اليوم في السابعة مساء وأتمنى السلامة لجميع اللاعبين”.

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Fernando Llorente proved on Tuesday that he cannot be trusted in big Tottenham Hotspur games.

The Spaniard played the full 90 minutes as Spurs laboured to a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

On the chalkboard

Manager Mauricio Pochettino showed a great deal of loyalty to Llorente on Tuesday evening, playing the striker despite his obvious drawbacks.

He is not a quick player, like Son Heung-Min, nor is he clinical, nor is he, contrary to common belief, any good in the air.

Playing against a team that were set to defend throughout the 90 minutes, utilising a low block, was never set to work out for Llorente.

But, per WhoScored, he turned in a remarkably leaden-footed performance at the worst possible time.

With a clash with Ajax, a Champions League semi-final, looming, this was a chance for Llorente to prove his worth.

Instead, he touched the ball just 23 times, failed to have a shot on goal and completed just 18 passes, the fewest of any Spurs player.

He did win two aerial duels, though he challenged for nine, while he also failed to complete a dribble or a tackle.

It is hard to stand out as a striker at Spurs unless your name is Harry Kane, but with the England captain injured, and the biggest game in the club’s history looming, Pochettino needed Llorente to step up.

He roundly failed.

One moment does not a striker make

Llorente scored the decisive goal in the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City. Challenging for a corner at the near post, he lost Aymeric Laporte and diverted the ball past goalkeeper Ederson, though he may not have known too much about it, as it hit his hip before crossing the line.

That has left Spurs within three wins of the unlikeliest of European triumphs, but emotion cannot cloud judgement of his ability.

Llorente is 34 and lacks the basic mobility Tottenham need, while his goal record does not speak to any lengthy stay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

After his display against Brighton, Pochettino has a decision to make. Lucas Moura should probably lead the line in the first leg against Ajax, otherwise Spurs risk having a deficit to overturn if they are to reach the final.

Rangers legend Ronald De Boer believes he knows the best way for Steven Gerrard to overhaul their rivals at the summit of the Premiership table in years to come, but admits that his plan will not be an immediate fix.

De Boer is coaching the Ajax Under-19 team, and the club has seen a number of its academy graduates emerge as first team regulars — something that Rangers can benefit from, in his eyes.

Mixing youth with player investment is what helped Ajax reach the last eight of this year’s Champion’s League, and the former Rangers star is a big fan of “giving the kids time”.

It may not be ideal for the Ibrox club, as establishing success this way would take patience and time, but De Boer believes that fans would prefer to see local young players winning trophies for the club.

He told the Daily Star: “I am in favour of giving the kids time.

“At the end of the day, when you bring through your own players your club will be so healthy.

“It is also great for the fans to have local boys in their team. That is something special.

“If you put a lot of money into the youth system like we do at Ajax then in the end you will get the results.

“When that is working properly, when you have good youth coaches, then you will always be a very healthy club.”

Of course, when you are in charge of a club where your city rivals are winning titles and trophies year upon year, the need for fans to see instant success is very demanding.

Gerrard has said he wants to have funds available to buy players this summer, that can see Rangers challenging Celtic in the league next year.

To do that, he would need a sizeable budget, and is already trying to cool expectations with comments claiming an inability to pay substantial fees for players like Ryan Kent.

If that is the case, then it would seem a long way from the type of money he will need to mount a realistic title-winning campaign, so De Boer’s long-term strategy may be more prudent.

De Boer added: “Sometimes you have a good generation and you have four or five players who come through to the first team.

“But you are also doing well if you have one or if you are lucky two coming through into the first team. That is a very healthy situation.

“I think Rangers should look to do it more and not just focus on signing players for the first team.

“It always starts with the foundation and the pillars of success are the youth.”

With the talented youngsters starting to knock on the door of the first team, some of who are coming through the reserve side, while others are currently out on loan, it is something that may pay off for Rangers.

Players like Glenn Middleton and Greg Docherty are excelling this year, and could be ready to make the transition after the summer.

If Gerrard can get a good blend of youth and sensible recruitment, maybe Rangers will become the dominant force they once were in Scottish football.

What do you think of De Boer’s comments Rangers fans? Is he right to suggest your club play the long game in your pursuit of league titles? Let us know below…

[ad_pod ]It will certainly be a quiz question in the future – who scored the first official goal in Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium?The answer is Son Heung-min, with the 26-year-old making the breakthrough in the 55th minute of Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.After a cagey first period, Son opened the scoring early in the second period, before Christian Eriksen struck late on to secure the points for Mauricio Pochettino’s team.As if the Spurs fans needed another reason to lavish praise on Son.The attacker – a 2015 arrival from Bayer Leverkusen – is adored by the club’s supporters having gone from strength to strength over the last couple of seasons.

According to WhoScored, as well as his goal, Son had a pass success rate of 88%, whilst he also had four dribbles against the Eagles.

Unsurprisingly, a whole host of the Tottenham fans took to social media after the Premier League match to hail the South Korean – a selection of which can be seen below:

Whether West Ham United really want European football next season is truly mind-boggling at the moment. The Hammers are impressive in some fixtures, whilst in others, they can be rather anonymous at times and look like the side of recent memory.

Understandably, this season was always going to be a transitional year for Manuel Pellegrini and the London Stadium outfit. On the scale of things, they look to have impressed and have significantly improved as a seventh-place finish is well within their grasp, however, their inconsistent performances have truly let them down when it matters.

West Ham spent unheard amounts of money last summer rebuilding their squad and turning it into the team that it is today, however, there are still some improvements that need to be made, especially within the midfield area and the creative side of things.

One rumour that has been circulating recently is that the Premier League outfit are interested in Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa. Turkish media outlet Takvim have stated that the Irons are just one of a couple of clubs thought to be keen on the player who is believed to be available for a figure of around €12.5million (£10.7m).

He might be excelling on loan at Besiktas at the moment, and whilst the £10.7m transfer could appear to be appealing, it is a deal West Ham should look to avoid doing in the summer.

Yes, £10.7m is a very attractive price for a player who has plenty of experience of playing at the highest level, however, the 30-year-old is a player who did not have the best of times during his previous stint in the Premier League.

During his two-year spell at Manchester United, Kagawa was extremely disappointing and failed to replicate any of the performances that made him a star during his first spell with Dortmund. He struggled to make a real positive impression at Old Trafford as he showed that he could not handle the physicality of the Premier League and just could not adapt his game to the fast-paced action that English football has.

Injuries have also been a problem for the experienced playmaker in the past as well, which is an issue West Ham really cannot afford to be dealing with considering how many men they have had on the sidelines this season.

Yes, Kagawa has looked excellent in Turkey, but as a number of players (and clubs) have found out over the years, replicating that form in England is extremely difficult to do and something that rarely appears to pay off.

There’s no doubt that the 30-year-old could bring something to the midfield in terms of his passing ability and the talent he does have going forward, however, whether he would be able to replace Samir Nasri, for example, in the middle of the park would remain to be seen.

West Ham have other areas of the squad that need improving, whilst they might be able to find players with a little more quality than Kagawa available for a little more than the price tag he is believed to have – so avoiding him might just be best for the Hammers this summer.

West Ham fans, do you agree and think Kagawa wouldn’t offer anything new to the club? Or do you think he is a signing that the Hammers should take a risk on? Join in with the discussion below by sharing your thoughts with us.

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Sunderland fans have been reacting on Twitter to a bizarre story involving some sausages, their manager and a selection of players ahead of the Checkatrade Trophy final on Sunday.

This came after Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie revealed that Black Cats boss Jack Ross is planning to take some of his stars to a butcher’s in Sunderland.

Stirks Butchers in the city has been selling sausages inspired by the Scot and his stars, and they will visit the family-run establishment before vying for silverware against Portsmouth at the weekend.

Ross himself has had a sausage comprised of sweet chilli and Irn Bru created and some of his players have enjoyed the same honour.

Examples include captain George Honeyman and his Honeyman and mustard sausage, Will Grigg and his Will Grigg’s on fire sausage and Aiden McGeady and his McGeady Guinness and blackpudding sausage.

The story has been met by mixed reaction from the club’s fan base, some supporters are “horrified” while others seem amused.

You can check out the best of the reactions below…

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

Blackburn Rovers fans will look back on the era of Roque Santa Cruz fondly as the days before the dawn of their collapse.

The exotic talent that was Roque Santa Cruz is something Blackburn fans scantly enjoy nowadays stuck in midtable Championship purgatory, which is why this douse of nostalgic relief will come as a welcome surprise.

Before making his reported £3.5 million switch in 2007 (as per The Guardian) Santa Cruz had accumulated quite an extensive trophy collection at Bayern – consisting of six domestic cups, five Bundesliga titles and a Champions League winners medal.

So it may have come as a bit of a surprise when former manager Mark Hughes recruited him to work alongside the likes of Benny McCarthy, Jason Roberts and a young Matt Derbyshire (appreciate McCarthy was a player in his day).

Hughes said at the time (The Guardian): “Santa Cruz is a young player, an international with a good reputation who is playing at a top European club.

“The good thing from our point of view is that his fitness levels are fine as he has been playing in the Copa America.”

And Hughes was not wrong. Santa Cruz bagged 19 goals in 37 Premier League games earning the Lancashire a 7th placed finish in the Premier League – something they have not managed since.

Indeed, it is no coincidence that their form deteriorated following his big-money move to Manchester City in 2009 – who were just beginning to flex their muscles in the transfer market at the time.

Despite his move, however, the Paraguayan was unable to replicate his earlier form and after just 24 appearances for the club was quickly shipped off to Real Betis on loan, which was shortly followed by a loan and permanent move to Malaga CF.

26 goals in 109 appearances later Santa Cruz found himself on a plane to Mexican outfit CD Cruz Azul, but, in a bizarre turn of events, was returned just half-a-year later on loan.

Now 37 and back playing in his native Paraguay, the forward is a distance relic of the good and bad times for all those clubs he represented.

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Loads of Leeds fans have been running the rule over Saturday’s dramatic draw at Middlesbrough, and they’re not too happy with the performance of Jack Harrison.

When Harrison and Izzy Brown joined last summer, Leeds fans were delighted to secure two “big six” talents for the season.

The pair have not had the desired impact though, as Brown is yet to play a Championship game due to injuries and Harrison has managed just two goals and one assist in 22 league appearances.

Check out Neymar’s controversial new haircut for 2019 and Xherdan Shaqiri as you’ve never seen him before in the video below…

Harrison was once again given the nod on Saturday as the Whites travelled to the Riverside Stadium to take on the league’s sternest defence, and the match went exactly how you’d expect it to, with the visitors dominating the ball but creating very little.

Lewis Wing then put Boro in front just after half time, and it wasn’t until the 110th minute that Kalvin Phillips popped up with the equaliser, after an issue for Jack Clarke caused a lengthy stoppage.

Harrison completed just 55 per cent of his passes in the match, and fans are absolutely crucifying the 22 year-old’s display.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Gulam Bodi scored a vital half-century for Lions•AFP

Gulam Bodi said at the half-way stage that his team, Lions, may have fallen around 15 short of their desired total but a spirited performance with the ball in favourable conditions was too much, even for a power-packed Delhi Daredevils batting line-up. Following up on Bodi’s half-century and Neil McKenzie’s death-over surge, Lions’ Chris Morris bowled an outstanding spell and, backed ably by his spinners, helped knock out the only remaining IPL team from the Champions League. In doing so, Lions also kept alive the possibility of an all-South African finale in this diverse franchise tournament.Lions managed a fighting 139 but Daredevils would have felt justified in their decision to bowl first in overcast conditions amid plenty of breeze. Their bowlers found swing, movement and good bounce, and the assistance lasted through the game. But Daredevils had the batsmen to counter that and they’d infused their line-up with more power up the order, with regular captain Mahela Jayawardene, surprisingly, sitting out again to make way for David Warner in the opening slot. Warner did attack, but briefly, and the early departure of Daredevils’ openers was key in Lions being able to keep the pressure on.They were helped by Virender Sehwag, who fell first ball trying to loft Sohail Tanvir over mid-on only to be caught, though Warner and Kevin Pietersen staged a counterattack. Both targeted Dirk Nannes, who was squeezed through extra cover for two boundaries from Warner and thrashed down the ground by Pietersen. But Morris, brought on first change, with his high-arm action, accuracy, minimal but unsettling movement and encouraging bounce tightened one end up. The bounce accounted for Warner, who top-edged a catch back to the bowler while attempting to jab one on the leg side, and that began a phase of stagnation.It coincided with the introduction of spin, and Unmukt Chand found it difficult to get a move-on. While Morris was probing away at one end, Aaron Phangiso and Jean Symes, both left-arm spinners, gave little away, slowing it up often as the batsman found it hard to connect desirably when often swinging across the line. Overs six to ten yielded just 17 runs, Chand tied down at one end before he went down holing out to long-on, desperately seeking a lift. Instead of Ross Taylor, out came Irfan Pathan and his promotion failed. Nannes returned in the 14th over, attacking Taylor at No. 6 with a slip and the captain followed that over, as Nannes reacted swiftly to his right to pluck a one-handed catch.Miscalculation was the feature of Daredevils’ game, as Pathan’s promotion followed the decision to send in Pawan Negi ahead of Ajit Agarkar. This, despite Agarkar’s spunky batting that helped his team beat Perth Scorchers in their previous completed game. Pietersen, stranded at one end, lost five of his partners in one over after another before there was too much for him alone to achieve. With 48 needed off 24, he perished in the sixth over after the collapse began, dismissed fittingly by Morris who had begun the choke with his miserly spell. With Pietersen’s fall, Daredevils’ fate was sealed.Bodi and McKenzie played influential roles after their team was put in. Bodi, the in-form batsman, was scratchy to begin with. His initial movement across gave him a hard time against the bounce from Morne Morkel and swing from Pathan.The innings was set back by a wicket-maiden from birthday boy Umesh Yadav and Daredevils had edged ahead with Lions 63 for 3 at the end of the 11th over. In the interim, Bodi had started to get going, playing to his strengths against Pietersen’s slow ones by lofting them past extra cover. He swung against Negi with the turn to launch him over deep square leg and built a solid association with the experienced McKenzie, who stayed on till the end. The pair ran well, McKenzie scored boundaries on both sides of the wicket, even pulled Morkel for six, in a stand worth 59 in 44 balls.Though the attempted surge in the final overs was curtailed by Yadav’s discipline, some indiscipline in the field earned Lions crucial runs. Yadav himself dropped a straightforward catch, so did Pietersen, and McKenzie squeezed as much as he could out of those two reprieves, eking out 46 off the last five. It proved more than sufficient.

A large number of Premier League footballers are now enjoying their winter break and stars are rather ‘busy’ posting images from their holidays on social media.

Interestingly enough, while many would naturally decide to go sun-bathing somewhere hot and exotic, Andrew Robertson took a different approach altogether.

The Liverpool star decided to go back home to Scotland and play some golf instead.

And he was quick to post a hilarious

/B8O9K0GBcvj/” data-lasso->Instagram snap to reveal his preferred winter break destination.

Robertson joked about the strength of the Scottish sun and mentioned that the fans don’t have to worry about him since he’ll be using factor 50 to protect himself.

Of course, he’ll be lucky to catch any sun in early February back in Scotland and it didn’t take long for some of his friends to respond to the hilarious post and rinse him in the process.

The likes of Kevin McDonald and David Meyler were among the first ones to the scene but were quickly followed by Jamie Redknapp as well.

McDonald remarked how Robertson must be the only guy willingly going to St Andrews to play golf at a time when any other sane person would be sun-bathing in Dubai.

Still, the immensely popular Liverpool left-back always was special, wasn’t he?

In other news, many Liverpool fans reacted to Matthew Upson’s rather harsh verdict on their FA Cup victory…