Player Outside Of The Boot has unveiled its 100 Best Young Players to Watch in 2018, with Everton loanee Henry Onyekuru the only Nigerian young star listed by the scouting website.

All players born on or after January 1st 1997 are eligible for the feature; 5 goalkeepers, 30 defenders, 35 midfielders, 30 forwards made the list.

Fifty two different nationalities were represented on the list, and the likes of Victor Osimhen (Wolfsburg), Kelechi Nwakali (Arsenal) and Orji Okonkwo (Bologna) were omitted.

Marcus Rashford, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Joe Gomez, Gabriel Jesus and Justin Kluivert all featured on the list.

”Incredibly fleet of foot, a good technician, and an instinctual finisher, Onyekuru is a prime example of a modern wide player,” Andrew Thompson analyzed on the Super Eagles striker.

”Able to either burst past you, or tuck in and beat you in tight situations, the versatility in his personal game suits the fact that he’s tactically versatile as well.”

The 20-year-old Onyekuru has bagged a combined ten goals from 27 appearances in all competitions for RSC Anderlecht so far this season.

Daily Times

Nigeria international Peter Odemwingie hit cloud 9 with a bang after a surprise re-union with former teammate and Ivorian international Abdul Kader Keïta popularly called ‘popito’

Highly elated Odemwingie who currently plies his trade with Indonesian liga 1 side Madura United posted a photo to celebrate their re-union on social media adding “A catch up with this legend. There is only one popito!”  That was not all however as he recalled apparently with nostalgia that both of them were once perfect team for French Ligue one side Lille adding “ones an unstoppable duo”

Odemwingie played for Lille from 2004-2007 while Popito played for the same club from 2005 to 2007.  Both however appear to have parted ways in 2007 when Popito joined French side Lyon while the Nigeria international headed for Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow.

At the national team levels while Odemwingie made 63 appearances for the Super Eagles scoring 10 goals, while his Ivorian friend made 72 appearances for the Elephants of Cote d Ivoire with 11 goals to his credit.

Odemwingie who joined Indonesia Madura United on 3rd April 2017 is in the list of top scorers of the league with 15 goals to his credit even as the team finished 5th on the 18-team log with 60 points in 34 matches.  The former Stoke and Cardiff City ace 15 goals of the season put him in the 7th position on the top scorers list. Dutch import Sylvano Comvalius who plays for Bali United however tops the chart with 37 goals.

The Nation

England have lined up a Wembley friendly against Nigeria as part of their World Cup preparations.

The Super Eagles will be one of two opponents for England, the other likely to be against Latin American opposition, before they depart for Russia.

The Football Association wanted England to face African opposition ahead of their World Cup opener against Tunisia in Volgograd on 18 June.

They considered facing Ghana or Senegal, who they could face in the last-16 depending on their standings in the groups. But England have chosen Nigeria, with the popular following the Nigerian national team thought to have been a factor behind the decision.

England will make the announcement official once their second June friendly has been confirmed.

After playing the two friendlies, Gareth Southgate and his squad will fly to Russia and to their training base in Repino, a town just north of St Petersburg, towards the Finnish border. Then they will head to Volgograd to face Tunisia, Nizhny Novgorod for Panama and Kaliningrad to play Belgium on 28 June.

Independent

Real Madrid became the first team to retain the FIFA Club World Cup after beating Gremio of Brazil 1-0 in a match played in the United Arab Emirates.

Eight minutes into the second half Cristiano Ronaldo drew a foul just outside of the Gremio penalty box after a rash challenge by Gremio’s Jailson.

Ronaldo then drove the ball through a porous Gremio wall and past goalkeeper Marcelo.

Forbes

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Newcastle will breed the confidence they need to cope with a hectic Christmas schedule.

After seeing his side end a three-match winless run thanks to Mesut Ozil's spectacular first-half goal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, Gunners boss Wenger has no worries about a potential lack of stamina.

"You could see that we had played three games in six days and the third game is a bit more difficult physically. Nobody else had to play Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, but I still think we had plenty of chances to score more goals," Wenger said.

"If you look historically, it happens every year that finishing is a bit cyclic. Sometimes you will score three or four, converting every chance, and sometimes you will have six or seven chances and score only one.

"I know that people are not happy with it, but it's part of the game and you need to live with it."

Ozil's current form had Wenger purring in admiration and more desperate than ever to ensure that the Germany international does not leave the club in January or at the end of the season when his contract expires.

"It was a superb finish. He can deliver that. It's important for him that he takes the risk to do what he did," Wenger said.

"Usually he is a guy who, 99 per cent of the time, in this position, he controls the ball and gives it to somebody else, so I'm pleased he took the gamble to finish and I'm happy as well that he scored a very important goal.

"I am confident that he will stay here, but what does that mean? I don't know."

With Newcastle slipping into the bottom three for the first time this season, manager Rafael Benitez will no doubt be grateful for Wenger's support.

- Mutual respect -

The Frenchman and Spaniard exchanged a warm greeting pitch-side before kick-off and that mutual respect was echoed afterwards.

Wenger said of his Newcastle counterpart: "I think he is doing a good job because Newcastle is not one of the teams who invested hugely to compete at the top when they came up.

"His team overall looks to me to be organised, they look mobile and they look to have a good spirit.

"The job of a manager is to take the best from the potential of his team and I believe Benitez does that very well."

Because it is unlikely the mooted takeover of Newcastle can be sanctioned and completed before the transfer window closes at the end of January, Benitez is aware he faces a tough task to keep the club from dropping back into the Championship.

First, he must halt a run of results that has reaped just a solitary point from the last nine games.

"Obviously, the last results haven't given us confidence but I always said that coming back from the Championship, this team would be in the bottom half of the table," Benitez said.

"We didn't win games when we had them against teams around us in the table. Now we have to put everything right, playing better if we can, and hopefully bring in one or two additions in January to give a lift to everyone.

AFP

"The main thing is to stay calm, do our jobs properly and give ourselves the chance to move up the table if the team continues to work like they did today."

Spain were in danger of being thrown out of the World Cup on Friday over alleged government interference in its football association.

Fifa wrote to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) warning it would be in breach of the world governing body’s statutes if the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), the Spanish government’s national sports council, forced it to stage a presidential election following the arrest and suspension of Angel Maria Villar Llona.

The letter followed a complaint allegedly lodged by Villar Llona himself, who resigned as the senior vice-president of Fifa and vice-president of Uefa following his arrest in July but who is still de facto president of the RFEF despite pressure from the CSD for the federation to elect a successor.

Fifa confirmed on Friday its letter expressed “concern” about the situation and reminded the RFEF it must manage its own affairs independently of third-party interference.

Any member association which fails to do so can be suspended, causing its national team to be banned from playing.

Spain were previously at risk of being thrown out of the 2008 European Championship – the first of their hat-trick of major tournament triumphs – also over alleged government interference in RFEF electoral business.

Fifa and acting RFEF president Juan Luis Larrea both confirmed on Friday talks would take place over the controversy after Christmas.

Larrea told AS: “The meeting will be informative and, in no case, punitive. No-one is going to take Spain out of the World Cup. It’s impossible and never been talked about. It’s the final straw when people say things like that.

“It won’t happen. What do these people want: that Spain are withdrawn from the tournament so Italy can get in?

“The federation is functioning normally, the national team earned their place on the pitch, and Fifa agree with us on that.”

Villar Llona, who was acting president of Uefa prior to Aleksander Ceferin’s election last year, was arrested in July on charges of corruption over alleged misuse of RFEF finances to help secure his own re-election. He denies any wrongdoing.

Fifa has previously suspended national associations over government interference, last week lifting one such ban on Kuwait.

Meanwhile, Friday also saw its ethics committee ban Brazil's football federation (CBF) president for 90 days amid an investigation into charges against him in the United States.

Marco Polo Del Nero had previously remained as head of the CBF despite being indicted in 2015 over money laundering allegations.

He appeared at last summer’s Olympics when he welcomed Fifa president Gianni Infantino to the CBF’s offices.

Telegraph

Jose Mourinho must decide whether now is the time to recall Zlatan Ibrahimovic to his starting line-up as Manchester United prepare to visit West Brom in the Premier League on Sunday.

The former Paris Saint-Germain striker has played 73 minutes in five substitute appearances since returning from cruciate knee ligament damage against Newcastle in November.

There were fears that Ibrahimovic's career may be finished after he suffered the injury during a Europa League quarter-final victory over Anderlecht in April.

The 36-year-old's return to fitness came sooner than most expected, although it is clear that Mourinho is wary of asking him to do too much too soon.

United's manager suggested a week ago that Ibrahimovic, who has yet to score since his comeback, is not yet ready to play a full 90 minutes, but the form of Romelu Lukaku may cause a rethink soon.

Lukaku did score the first-half winner on Wednesday as United beat Bournemouth, 1-0, at Old Trafford, but has looked below par for the past two months, with just three goals in 15 games.

"There will be a bit of rotation," said Mourinho without directly addressing the Lukaku situation.

"I'll change a few players from match to match, because I think it is almost impossible for players to play all these matches in December and the beginning of January."

- 'Pressure to win games' -

Lukaku's goal did at least lift the mood at United, which was pretty low after last Sunday's home defeat by neighbours Manchester City.

It was a result that left Mourinho's side still second in the league but now 11 points behind Pep Guardiola’s leaders and with diminishing hopes of getting back into the title race.

Mourinho tried to put the 38 points his side have accrued into some perspective

"We are second. The number of points could be first in other seasons, but we are second," said Mourinho.

"We go one match at a time and let's see at the end of the season how many points we have and where we are."

A further setback off the pitch came with Mourinho’s confirmation that centre-back Eric Bailly, who has not played since November 5, needs ankle surgery and is likely to be out for the next three months.

Sunday’s visit to The Hawthorns may not necessarily offer an easy way to lift the mood.

Albion are on a club-record run of 16 matches without a victory, and have not scored in three games since Alan Pardew took charge, but they drew 0-0 at Liverpool on Wednesday with a disciplined display.

Prior to that they dropped five points against fellow strugglers in a 0-0 home draw against Crystal Palace and a 1-0 defeat at Swansea.

"They (the fans) understand the opposition is different this time (to Crystal Palace), they'll probably give us a bit more licence," said Pardew.

"That's natural when you come up against top opposition, our players should gain confidence that there's no massive pressure on them.

"There is a pressure in terms of where we are in the league. It's a pressure to win games."

AFP

Wladimir Klitschko has tipped Anthony Joshua to unify the heavyweight division. The now-retired Ukrainian believes the British star could dominate boxing for the next decade. 

Klitschko, who was beaten by Joshua at Wembley Stadium in April, says that if Joshua does go on to win all the heavyweight belts it would put a better “shine” on his defeat.

Speaking to The Sun, Klitschko said: “I’d say the more Joshua shines, the better I shine. If I lost, I want to make sure I lost to the better man. 

“I wish, from the bottom of my heart, he continues to carry this torch for a long time and is very successful just like I was.

“I have passed the torch to the younger lion. Joshua is capable of unifying the division, absolutely.”
For Joshua to do this he will have to beat WBO champion Joseph Parker and WBC holder Deontay Wilder. He will also potentially face British rival Tyson Fury.

While praising Joshua for an “incredible fight” at Wembley, Klitschko was not as complimentary about Fury, who he also lost to in 2015.

“Listen, I don’t want to bring any attention to him – it doesn’t make sense,” Klitschko told The Sun. “Fury was announcing he would fight a rematch. Then he was using drugs, cocaine or steroids.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Fury has declared that he’s “the king” of heavyweight boxing. 

The 29-year-old is free to return to the ring after this week accepting a backdated two-year ban from UK Anti-Doping. He has set his sights on Joshua, Parker and Wilder.

Fury said: “Someone labelled it the four kings right now, four undefeated heavyweight fighters in myself, Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker and Deontay Wilder. But I labelled it ‘three peasants and a king’. There’s only one king of the division and that’s me.”

The Week

Spanish striker Alvaro Morata cannot be compared to Chelsea icon Didier Drogba, the Premier Leaguechampions' coach Antonio Conte said on Friday.

Morata - who is likely to return to the first team on Saturday against Southampton after missing the win over Huddersfield Town due to a bad back - revealed this week he has been watching old film footage of Drogba in his pomp at Chelsea.

The Ivory Coast great scored 164 goals - including the equaliser against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final and the decisive penalty in the shootout - in 381 appearances over two spells at Stamford Bridge.

Conte, who has effectively raised the white flag in terms of defending the title with Manchester City 14 points clear of his team, said 25-year-old Morata was not yet the finished article.

"Two different players, different characteristics," said Conte.

"Didier Drogba, I think, he wrote the history of this club. He's a wonderful player, a wonderful striker.

"I think he's more powerful than Alvaro, but Alvaro, don't forget, has a lot of space for improvement.

"He's strong physically, is a technical player. I see a great future for Alvaro."

Conte was not sure whether Morata - who has scored nine goals in 15 appearances this season -- and his team-mates will find Southampton as easy pickings as Leicester City did in their 4-1 away win on Wednesday.

Timesofindia

Eduardo Berizzo is set to return to Sevilla's bench for Friday's LaLiga clash with Levante less than three weeks after prostate cancer surgery.

Berizzo's illness was confirmed shortly after Sevilla's 3-3 draw with Liverpool in the Champions League on November 21, when the Spanish side heroically battled back to secure a point after being 3-0 at half-time.

The Argentine coach remained in charge of the team for their 3-2 win over Villarreal five days later, before then leaving them in the hands of his assistant, Ernesto Marcucci.

Sevilla won their first two games under Marcucci, but a 1-1 draw with Maribor and a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Real Madrid have since highlighted problems.

But Sevilla announced on Friday that Berizzo surprised his players at training and delivered a technical talk with the expectation of being in charge of the team for Levante's visit later that day.

The club have not confirmed whether Berizzo is returning permanently or just temporarily.

Fourfourtwo