Suarez is the best striker in the world – Godin

Atletico Madrid and Uruguay defender Diego Godin declared compatriot Luis Suarez as the best striker in world football today.
Barcelona forward Suarez, who won the European Golden Shoe for his 40-goal haul in the last campaign, has played alongside Godin in the national team for years.

Russia’s Kuznetsova claims victory in WTA tourney

Svetlana Kuznetsova claimed her second titanic victory in a row when the Russian outlasted Karolina Pliskova 3-6 6-2 7-6(6) in a thrilling White Group encounter at the WTA Finals yesterday.
After battling toe-to-toe for two hours and 17 minutes, Kuznetsova collapsed in a heap on the court after sealing victory on her fourth match point with a backhand winner down the line to finally break the Czech’s resistance.
“With all the support of the crowd and my team, I couldn’t afford to let myself and everybody down so I had to fight,” twice grand slam winner Kuznetsova said.
“I haven’t been at my best in recent years but something changed this year… I enjoy my game, I enjoy the crowd and I feel blessed to be playing the best players in the world.”
Kuznetsova was the final qualifier for the elite eight-woman event when she defended her Kremlin Cup title on Saturday and the world No 9 has shown incredible staying power to first outlast

Clubs might’ve been more lenient with Allardyce – Glenn

Chief executive Martin Glenn has suggested Sam Allardyce might not have lost his job if the Football Association’s sole responsibility was the England team.
Allardyce’s spell as the national manager began in July and was over before the end of September following an investigation into corruption conducted by the Daily Telegraph.
The 62-year-old was filmed telling undercover reporters it was “not a problem” to bypass rules on third-party player ownership and claimed he knew of agents who were “doing it all the time.”
Following his departure, Allardyce said he “made a significant error of judgement,” but that “entrapment had won.”
Glenn, who was part of the decision-making process regarding Allardyce’s fate, insists the FA had

Nacho’s goal better than my Champions League final volley – Zidane

Zinedine Zidane has admitted that Nacho Fernandez’s goal in Real Madrid’s 7-1 rout of Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey was better than his legendary volley that won the club their ninth Champions League title.
The Frenchman opted to leave Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo back home and his fringe players did not disappoint when they put on a show away to Leon..
Madrid were 5-0 up when Nacho produced a superb scissor-kick off a James Rodriguez pass to

English fans ‘will welcome gay players’ – survey

Most sports fans in England, Wales and Scotland say they would be comfortable with their club signing a gay player, according to a BBC Radio 5 live survey.
It found 82% of supporters would have no issue with a gay player. However, 8% of football fans said they would stop watching their team. Last week, Football Association chairman Greg Clarke told MPs he was “cautious” of encouraging a player to come out because they may suffer “significant abuse” from fans.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live yesterday, Clarke said he stood by his “personal view” that “vile abuse” from a “small minority on the terraces” must be solved before any gay footballers “take that risk” to come out.
“If they want to take that risk I would respect them and support them,” said Clarke. “But we can’t promise to provide them at the moment with the required protection. We need to redouble our

David Moyes defiant despite Sunderland’s exit from EFL Cup

David Moyes insists Sunderland are close to turning the corner despite another defeat, this time at Southampton in the EFL Cup.
Sofiane Boufal’s wonder strike knocked the Black Cats, bottom of the Premier League without a win all season, out of the only competition that has provided a glimmer of hope on Wearside.
To add to Moyes’ misery, he was sent to the stands after disputing referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision not to award a last-gasp penalty when Maya Yoshida tripped Victor Anichebe in the area.
But the Sunderland boss said: “We didn’t deserve to lose that’s for sure. We were in the game, we had good chances and I thought the players performed well.
“Our luck’s at the moment out but it will change. The performances are getting better and that will lead to goals and to results. Our last couple of performances have merited more.”

Falcons threaten to boycott AWCON over outstanding match allowances, bonuses

There are reports that the Super Falcons may shun the 10th African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) scheduled to hold in Cameroun from November 19 to December 3.
The title holders are pitched in Group B together with arch-rivals Ghana, Mali and newcomers Kenya.
According to report, the players are not happy that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has not deemed it necessary to settle, as promised, their outstanding qualifying match allowances and bonuses.
“The players are unhappy that to date the NFF has only paid N10, 000 qualifying bonus to each of the players to enable them travel back to their respective homes after April’s successful qualifying match against the Teranga Lionesses of Senegal in Abuja.
“The NFF had cited financial challenges, promising to pay their bonuses and allowances soon but that’s yet to see the light of day.

Obisanya blames govt’s bias for poor state of Nigerian sports

Former National Table Tennis Coach, Babatunde Obisanya, has described as unfortunate the absence of Nigeria’s women’s team at the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) African Senior Championships holding in Agadir, Morocco.
The absence of the nation’s female team has been attributed to the Ministry of Sports’ refusal to fund the team. This development has taken the shine off the championship, which serves as 2017 and 2018 World Championships’ qualifier.
Speaking yesterday, Obisanya put the blame on the doorstep of the government, saying football has always been given undue advantage over other sports to the detriment of sports development in the country.
“What the government is doing to other sports when compared to the special interest given to football is unfortunate. The blame for our female team’s inability to travel to Morocco for this