Five-time world champions Nigeria will begin her quest for honours at this year’s Africa U17 Cup of Nations when they take on their Zambian counterparts in the Algerian city of Constantine on Sunday evening.

The Golden Eaglets flew into Constantine on Tuesday night, after MRI tests conducted on the 26 players in Algiers following their arrival in the North African country from Egypt.

Nigeria, two-time winners of the continental championship, have won the world titles in 1985 (China), 1993 (Japan), 2007 (Korea Republic), 2013 (United Arab Emirates) and 2015 (Chile).

The Confederation of African Football launched the U17 event as a tournament in Mali in 1995, with the Golden Eaglets finishing behind rivals Black Starlets of Ghana. The Eaglets did not qualify for the 1997 finals, and lost out in the group phase in Guinea in 1999.

Nigeria were champions of the 4^th CAF U17 Tournament in Seychelles in 2001, easily defeating Burkina Faso 3-0 in Victoria. The Golden Eaglets won again in Togo in 2015, and went on to win the FIFA World Cup in Korea Republic.

The last time the Golden Eaglets met Zambia at this level was in 2015 in Niger Republic, when Nigeria triumphed 3-1 in Niamey with two of the goals from Victor Osimhen, who would go on to become the record goalscorer at the FIFA U17 World Cup (with 10 goals) as Nigeria won a fifth global title in Chile later that year. Interestingly, Zambia’s goal was scored by Patson Daka, who would go on to dazzle at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations hosted and won by his country two years later.

For this 14^th edition of the Africa U17 Cup of Nations, the Eaglets will also play Morocco and South Africa in Group B. Hosts Algeria will tackle Senegal, Congo and Somalia in Group A, while Cameroon duel with Mali, Burkina Faso and South Sudan in Group C.

The four top-placed teams at the end of the tournament will fly Africa’s flag at this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup.

Tottenham’s fightback against Manchester United was driven by “anger” after last weekend’s “unacceptable” defeat, says forward Son Heung-min.

Tottenham lost their previous game 6-1 at Newcastle and trailed 2-0 on Thursday before pegging United back. 

Pedro Porro’s goal gave Spurs hope before Son completed the recovery with a 79th-minute equaliser.

“We wanted to give everything and that was the dressing room speech,” said Son.

The draw at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Ryan Mason’s first game back as interim manager was enough to lift Spurs above Liverpool and Aston Villa into fifth spot.

They sit six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United with five games left

Son added: “We couldn’t let the game go. We were really angry about it, we didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down at half-time. 

“The last week was unacceptable and we didn’t want to repeat that. We feel really, really sorry for the performance and result and today we wanted to bring a good energy.

“We really appreciated [the fans’] support and they were fighting with us.”

Former Tottenham player Mason, who also took interim charge when Jose Mourinho was dismissed in April 2021, said it was important for Spurs to build on the result after a torrid run that has led to three different managers in a month.

Cristian Stellini was put in charge following Antonio Conte’s departure but was sacked after the Newcastle thrashing on Sunday, with Mason taking over until the end of the season.

“It has been difficult after Sunday as the manner of the defeat wasn’t nice,” added Mason.

“The most important thing now and until end of the season is to act as a team. Small details can change results. The most important thing to me will always be together.

“To see a team that was fighting for each other, it’s important in football and probably the most important thing.”

Some thought 90% is enough – Ten Hag

Manchester United travelled to Spurs on the back of beating Brighton on penalties in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday and went 2-0 up following first-half goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford before failing to secure the win.

“The time is enough to recover,” said United manager Erik ten Hag. 

“Our players are in demand to be ready. Today we are not ready. Some thought 90% is enough. But we lose focus.

“That’s why we give goals away. We did not do our jobs in positioning.”

United have a six point advantage and two games in hand on Spurs and sixth-placed Aston Villa, who they host on Sunday.

“I know they are not robots and it is a tough schedule. But when you are playing for Manchester United, you have to give [everything] on every occasion,” added Ten Hag.

If they win and second-placed Lazio fail to beat Inter Milan at the San Siro, Napoli will win the title.

Runaway leaders Napoli’s match was meant to be on Saturday, before Lazio’s match at 11:30 BST on Sunday.

Officials in Naples had made the request as they had been worried about public order in the city

They were worried about the huge celebrations on Saturday if Napoli won their game – at the same time as a major comic book convention, which is expected to draw big crowds, is happening in the city.

There would have been a huge party again on Sunday if the title was secured.

Naples Prefect Claudio Palomba said on Thursday “the need arose to avoid events overlapping in order to help the police”.

“Had we kept the match on Saturday we would have had to double our resources and for that reason we have adopted a number of measures,” he added.

Napoli have only ever won the Serie A title twice before, both in the days of legend Diego Maradona – who their stadium is named after these days, in 1987 and 1990.

If they do win the title this weekend – they are 17 points clear of Lazio – it will be in record-breaking fashion. No side has ever been crowned Serie A winners with six games to go.

“I don’t like to celebrate in advance,” boss Luciano Spalletti said. “If we all do it together there will be twice as much joy.”

There won’t be any more arguing with line judges over calls at tennis tournaments on the ATP men’s tour as of 2025 — because there won’t be any more line judges at those events by then.

The London-based ATP announced Friday that it will use Electronic Line Calling Live — known as ELC Live — for all “out” calls in all matches beginning two years from now. Each match still will be overseen by a chair umpire, but the line judges who used to be entrusted with determining where shots landed will no longer be present on court.

It represents the next step toward relying on technology for line calls in a process that gained speed at the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, when ELC Live was first tried on the men’s tour. A spokesperson for the WTA women’s tour did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding any plans for electronic calls at its tournaments.

Line judges were used at fewer and fewer sites during the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020, including at the Australian Open and U.S. Open, Grand Slam tournaments that are not run by the ATP and thus do not need to adhere to the tour’s policies.

Electronic systems have been used mainly on hard courts and grass courts, but the ATP said its new policy will include every surface, including clay courts.

Some in the sport, including the French Open, where main-draw play begins on May 28, have resisted switching away from humans making calls because tennis balls leave marks in the clay  that can be used to determine where a shot hit the ground.

“This is a landmark moment for our sport, and not one we’ve reached without careful consideration. Tradition is core to tennis and line judges have played an important part in the game over the years,” ATP CEO Andrea Gaudenzi said.

“That said, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation and new technologies,” Gaudenzi added. “Our sport deserves the most accurate form of officiating.”