Kim Kallstrom, who won 131 caps for Sweden, announced on Friday that he was hanging up his boots at the age of 35.

The left-sided midfielder had returned to one of his first clubs, Djurgardens, in Stockholm, on a two-year deal before the recently Kallstrom won national league titles with Djurgardens and Lyon and also played for Rennes, Spartak Moscow, Grasshoppers and Arsenal.

"That adrenaline rush that you experience in every on-field duel is a big part of what I've built my career on. If you do not have that any more, you're in danger. It's best to stop," he told a press conference.

"I still have so much pleasure playing at the weekend but it's also necessary to work during the week and I'm beginning to lack the energy and strength for that," he added.

Kallstrom said he told the club he wanted to quit after the season ended in November but sporting director Bo Andersson told him to take a holiday first.

Kallstrom did not change his mind.

"I'm sitting here a very grateful man. I feel I'm done. I feel I've done what I can do as a football player," he said.

Kallstrom started his professional career with BK Hacken in 1999 before joining Djurgardens in 2002, winning league titles in both seasons before leaving for France.

He played three seasons for Rennes and joined Lyon in 2006, playing more than 200 games over six years and collecting a pair of winners' medals each in Ligue 1 and the French Cup and French League Cup.

He featured sparingly over 18 months at Spartak Moscow who loaned him for half a season to Arsenal where he made just four appearances. After a stint with Grasshoppers in Zurich he returned to Sweden.

Kallstrom retired from international football after Sweden were eliminated at the end of the group stage in Euro 2016 in France. He scored 16 goals for the national team.

AFP

Nigeria have forfeited their 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Algeria and handed a 3-0 walk-over defeat for fielding an ineligible player in the match, world football ruling body FIFA ruled.

The fixture on Nov. 10 had ended 1-1, but FIFA on Tuesday added that the decision did not affect the final standings in African Qualifying Competition Group B.

It said the decision also did not affect Nigeria’s qualification for FIFA World Cup in Russia, as they had finished six points clear of Zambia.

The player involved in the match played in Constantine was Mr Shehu Abdullahi, and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is also receiving a fine of CHF 6,000.

The sanction relates to Abdullahi failing to serve the automatic one-match suspension imposed on him as a result of receiving a caution in two separate matches of the same competition.

FIFA, in a statement, also said East Timor had forfeited seven games in the World Cup qualifiers for fielding a total of nine players who were ineligible because of nationality.

This was based on a decision previously taken by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Reuters/NAN

Manchester United have to quickly move on from their derby defeat to City if they are to keep their slim Premier League title hopes alive, says Juan Mata.

United suffered their first Premier League defeat at home since City's last visit in September 2016, with Jose Mourinho's side beaten 2-1 on Sunday.

Goals from David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi secured all three points for City, a record 14th successive win in a single top-flight The players will have to motivate themselves at home to Bournemouth on Wednesday after manager Jose Mourinho suggested their Premier League title challenge was probably over

Goal

Egypt and Liverpool forward, Mohamed Salah, has beaten in-form Nigeria and Super Eagles star, Victor Moses, to the 2017 BBC African Footballer Of The Year Award.

Salah picked up the prestigious award on Monday to further elongate Nigeria’s long wait to have one of her players win the award.

Austin Okocha is the last Nigerian male player to win the award having won it in 2003 and 2004.

This is also the second time that Victor Moses will be getting a nomination but won’t be winning the top prize.

Aside from Moses, Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Guinea’s Naby Keita, and Sadio Mane of Senegal were the other beaten finalists for 2017.

“I am very happy to win this award,” Salah told BBC Sport.

“It’s always a special feeling when you win something. I feel like I had a great year, so I’m very happy.”

Salah, the current Premier League top scorer with 13 goals, has enjoyed a stellar year for both club and country.

In early 2017, the forward was the central figure for Egypt as they finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations.

He also helped his country secure a ticket to the world after almost 20 years of absence.

It is yet to be seen if Salah will make it a double over Moses and his other rivals as the 25-year is also nominated for the African footballer of the year award.

Huddersfield - Chelsea's powers of recovery will be tested as Antonio Conte's side attempt to bounce back from a painful weekend defeat when they visit Huddersfield on Tuesday.

Conte claimed Chelsea were no longer in the Premier League title race in the wake of the 1-0 defeat at struggling West Ham on Saturday. 

That was the reigning champions' fourth league defeat of the season and has, for now, retrained their focus on the fight to retain a top four position. 

The trip to Huddersfield presents an early opportunity to show they can put the West Ham loss behind them. 

But while Conte concedes his side's defeat to Manchester City was understandable, their losses to Burnley, Crystal Palace and West Ham, the latter two both in relegation danger, have given the Blues boss major cause for concern. 

The inquest following the visit to the London Stadium was clearly painful. 

"We just didn't play our stuff. It's frustrating," said Chelsea captain Gary Cahill. 

"We were just not at the races - for whatever reason that is. It's disappointing to come off and feel like that. 

"I'm not one to make excuses. We do have loads of games - but if we played to our levels today we get something out of the game. But we didn't. 

"We have been in good form of late which is why it's so disappointing to put in a performance like that. 

"We have to reflect, we have to pick ourselves up and go again. We have to try to freshen up and get the energy levels back up." 

Conte will attempt to freshen up his side and having withdrawn Tiemoue Bakayoko in favour of Pedro, is likely to reshape his midfield after a lacklustre weekend display even if the manager declared himself happy with the Frenchman's display.

"Bakayoko was playing a good game but when you find 11 players behind the ball and you are losing 1-0, it's important to change something," said Conte. 

"Pedro has different characteristics to Bakayoko, he's better one-versus-one and he has good technical qualities. Bakayoko satisfied me with his performance." 

David Luiz was the only weekend absentee and the centre-back is again expected to be missing with a knee problem. 

Huddersfield winger Tom Ince believes life will be made very uncomfortable for Chelsea when they visit the John Smith's Stadium. 

The Terriers recorded a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Brighton on Saturday and have already beaten Manchester United at home. 

Ince reckons no team will fancy facing Huddersfield on their own patch in West Yorkshire now they have regained confidence, and that includes the defending Premier League champions. 

"I don't think Chelsea or anyone does," Ince said. 

"The way we get in people's faces, we stop people playing, we win our tackles, we win our battles, we make it difficult for teams. 

"Chelsea have got talent in abundance. We know we are going to be spells in the game where we won't be on top. 

"But we feel we can cause any team problems here. We beat United here - we deserved to beat them - and we ran City close." 

Huddersfield manager David Wagner will be without on-loan midfielder Kasey Palmer, who will be ineligible to face his parent club. 

Michael Hefele is still lacking fitness following a long-term Achilles injury while fellow defender Jon Stankovic is still out with a knee ligament injury.

Sport24

Manchester United and Manchester City players and staff were involved in a heated altercation in the Old Trafford tunnel which left Jose Mourinho covered in water and Mikel Arteta nursing a cut eyebrow, Goal understands.

City's players were celebrating their 2-1 victory at the home of their rivals when Mourinho, on his way to a post-match press conference, entered the visiting dressing room.

It is believed that the City players were playing music, cheering and singing after goals from David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi put them 11 points clear at the top of the table.

Sources indicate Mourinho took exception, believing the celebrations to be a lack of respect, and told Pep Guardiola's men to calm down with a comment in Portuguese that sparked an ugly reaction.

Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson is said to have confronted Mourinho, which led to a number of players and members of staff from both teams spilling out of their respective dressing rooms and into the tunnel, where they pushed and shoved each other.

United first-team coach Silvino Louro is believed to have been in the thick of the action, along with a handful of players from both sides, coaches and masseurs. Goal has learned that City coach Arteta received a cut eyebrow in the ruckus, while United striker Romelu Lukaku is believed to have been heavily involved.

Witnesses claim a number of bottles were thrown, with Mourinho left covered in water after the melee. 

Footage of the incident would have been captured by the Amazon Prime camera crew who have been filming a behind-the-scenes documentary of City's season at each game this season.

However, United denied the film-makers access to the dressing room and tunnel area in the build-up to the game, despite conversations between Ed Woodward, United's executive vice-chairman, and Ferran Soriano, City's CEO, in a bid to resolve the row.

The Amazon team have already recorded footage of City's raucous celebrations following their victory at Stamford Bridge in September.

That did not lead to any ugly scenes, but there was a tunnel row at Stamford Bridge following City's 2-1 defeat in April.

Guardiola, who is not thought to have been involved on Sunday, was one of the chief protagonists on that occasion, confronting a number of Chelsea players after coaches from both sides had initially sparked a bust-up.

Goal

Former Cameroon international Benjamin Massing, whose crunching tackles at the World Cup in 1990 earned him an infamous reputation, died aged 55 on Sunday, local media reported.

The defender’s scything body check on Claudio Caniggia in the opening game against Argentina in Milan was later dubbed the worst tackle in World Cup history.

It reinforced an unwanted reputation of defensive brutality that surrounded Cameroon’s unprecedented run to the quarter-finals of the tournament, going further than any African side had done before.

Massing was sent off in the opening game of the 1990 World Cup and sat out the next three, but returned to play against England in the last eight in Naples where he gave away a penalty for a tackle on Gary Lineker as Cameroon were beaten 3-2 in extra time.

Massing, who played in France at Creteil, won 34 caps for his country between 1986 and 1992. The cause of his death was not reported.

Reuters

Fortune is about to smile on Enyimba International Football Club of Aba,  courtesy of their recent signing of Super Eagles goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa from FC Ifeanyi Ubah.

The Peoples Elephant is expected to rake in over N80 million once the 2018 FIFA World Cup gets underway in Russia by June.

The windfall coming the way of the two time African Champions, is thanks to the world football ruling body’s over $209 million  largesse earmarked for clubs .

According to FIFA,football clubs who supply squad members to the next year’s mundial, can look forward to a massively increased payment of over $ 8,000 per player per day.

Should Ezenwa make the Super Eagles train to Russia, Enyimba is guaranteed to share in the booty from FIFA as compensation for releasing their players to represent their national teams at the 2018 World Cup.

As the only home based player in the Gernot Rohr team, Ezenwa who is also the captain of CHAN Eagles, will benefit from participating in Russia.

Starting from June 1, 2018, which is two weeks before the opening match between host Russia and Saudi Arabia, the payment clock will start ticking for Enyimba and will stop the day after Super Eagles’ elimination from the tournament.

In 2014, Bayern Munich ,the leading Club in world champions Germany’s squad , were the highest recipient earning $1,734,367 ahead of Spain’s Real Madrid who got over $40,000 for coming second at the championship  hosted by Brazil. A total of 736 players will play at the world cup in Russia.

Sun

Alexander Povetkin has welcomed a fight against Anthony Joshua and could pursue a mandatory title shot at Britain's world heavyweight champion in 2018.

The Russian faces Christian Hammer in his home country next Friday, which could be classified as a final eliminator for Joshua's WBA 'super' title.

Povetkin can also target WBO champion Joseph Parker as victory would boost his ranking with that governing body, but admits he wants to share the ring with Joshua in the near future.

Asked if he will earn a world title shot in his next fight, Povetkin told Sky Sports: "I hope so."

Discussing Joshua, he added: "I want to fight the best in the world, and Anthony Joshua is by far one of the best heavyweights in the world.

"I always go into the ring with confidence to win."

Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Joshua could be ordered to face Povetkin and has already discussed this possibility with the 38-year-old's promotional team.

"Alexander Povetkin is fighting Christian Hammer which could be the final eliminator to be Joshua's mandatory," said Hearn, who is due to hold talks with WBA president Gilberto Mendoza this month.

"We have spoken about Joshua vs Povetkin, and the likelihood of that.

"We have a really good relationship with World of Boxing, who are his promoters.

"They have a situation where they can fight a final eliminator to be the mandatory for Joshua, or for the WBO, so they are making that decision now."

Povetkin has suffered just one defeat in 33 fights, a points loss to Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, and is refusing to look too far ahead at a potential fight with Joshua.

"Now I have the closest fight with Chris Hammer and I'm concentrating on the next fight," he said.

"For any fight, it will not be easy. In the heavyweight division, one blow can solve everything. I'm tuned into battle.”

Sky sport

Jürgen Klopp has warned Everton they will have more to contend with than Liverpool’s outstanding attacking quartet on Sunday as he attempts to equal a Merseyside derby record.

Liverpool are unbeaten in 14 matches against their local rivals and can equal a club record of 15 consecutive derbies without defeat, set in the 1970s, against Sam Allardyce’s team at Anfield. Everton’s dire return there fuels Liverpool optimism – they have not won across Stanley Park since 1999 – but it is the devastating form of Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané that has given Klopp’s team impressive momentum going into the game.

The four scored in the 7-0 Champions League rout of Spartak Moscow on Wednesday and have scored 46 goals between them in all competitions this season, 11 more than the entire Everton team, but Klopp insists there is far more to his side than a mesmerising attack.

“I have no problem with nicknames like the Fab Four but it’s disrespectful to all the other players,” the Liverpool manager said. “We played a fantastic game at West Ham and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was involved. We didn’t have Adam Lallana so far and I think he would fit fantastically in each boy group or band in this world. We also have Daniel Sturridge and Dom Solanke.

“For sure we had to show a reaction after Tottenham [Liverpool’s last defeat]. We have played really good football this season without always using the situation. In the last few weeks it’s been something like 66 shots and 33 goals. Before that we had the same number of chances and didn’t score. We didn’t have to change a lot but we had to change a few decisive things and the main thing was defending as a team. It is our job to make sure you don’t discuss our defence all the time. There are 500 situations in a game but we were always talking about one or two.

“For the world the best thing was how we finished the game [against Spartak] but for me it was that we were 1-0 up but still compact. That is how we have to be. It was a job we had to do.”

Klopp is the only manager in Liverpool’s history to win his first three derbies and, although he insists there is “no secret” to how an Allardyce team will play, he claimed Everton would be a tougher proposition than Spartak Moscow under their latest manager.

“This is a derby at its best and I like it,” he said. “There’s a lot of respect between the clubs and I really like that. In the game we try everything to win it but around the games we live in one city and there’s enough space for supporters of both clubs. I meet a lot of Everton supporters, all day, and I have no problem with that but in the game I want to see only us at our best.”

Klopp confirmed Alberto Moreno requires a second assessment of the ankle injury suffered against Spartak, amid concerns the left-back could be sidelined until the new year with damaged tendons.

“So far it could be everything,” the manager said. “I cannot say much about it. It’s a very rare thing. So far the specialists aren’t sure but if it’s a week or a little bit longer we have to wait for that. There’s a little damage around the tendons.”

The Guardian