Jermain Defoe spoke of his pride at overtaking Teddy Sheringham in the Tottenham record books after scoring a hat-trick in Thursday’s Europa Lea-gue demolition of Maribor.
Defoe scored all three goals in the 3-1 win which puts Spurs within one victory of qualifying from Group J with one match to spare.
The hat-trick, his first in a Spurs shirt since February 2010, means he now has 126 goals for the north London club – two more than Sheringham.
“That’s special as Teddy was a player I watched as a kid,” Defoe said.
“He was a great player for club and country. It was amazing to score a hat-trick. As a forward you get judged on scoring goals.”
Cardozo wanted by Serie A duo
Serie A rivals Juventus and Fio-rentina are showing interest in Benfica striker Oscar Cardozo, according to reports in the Spanish media yesterday.
AS reported the Paraguay international is being tracked by the Serie A pair but they will have to fork out some €20m to get their man in the next transfer window.
Fiorentina are seeking to strengthen their forward line as they rely too heavily on Stevan Jovetic for goals.
Juve have been looking for a quality striker since the summer and may turn to Cardozo if their bid to sign Fernando Llorente from Athletic Bilbao fails.
Wenger settles for compromise
Arsene Wenger admitted he was not entirely happy with Jack Wilshere’s international call-up.
Hodgson wasted no time in bringing Wilshere back into the squad, selecting him for next week’s friendly in Sweden, despite the midfielder only just having returned from a long injury lay-off.
The Arsenal boss revealed he had been given assurances by Hodgson over the player’s fitness management.
Wenger said: “I have no choice. If they call him up, they call him up. I have good relations with Roy Hodgson.
“We spoke about the situation, he knows my feeling and I know his feeling... so we cut a good compromise.”
Croatian fans get four months in jail
Three Croatian supporters of football club Dinamo Zagreb, who were arrested in the French capital after clashes with Paris Saint-Germain fans, were sentenced by a French court to four months in prison.
The court also fined three PSG supporters between 800 and 1,000 euros each over the brawl on the eve of the two sides’ Champions League game in Paris.
The scuffles on Monday ended with 24 people being arrested, and with one Croat supporter seriously injured, according to police, who intervened near the Place de la Bastille and restored calm shortly before midnight.
M’Vila banned until July 2014
Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila is unlikely to feature at the World Cup in 2014 after being suspended from international duty for two years by the French Football Federation (FFF).
M’Vila is banned from representing “any national team” until July 2014 after five France U-21 players broke a curfew to visit a Parisian nightclub just days before a Euro Champion-ships play-off meeting against Norway in October.
A FFF statement confirmed that M’Baye Niang, Antoine Griezmann, Chris Mavinga and Wissam Ben Yedder have all received the same sanction, but until December 31, 2013.
Enke’s widow launches hotline
Today marks the third anniversary of Robert Enke’s suicide after battling depression for years and his widow has launched a hotline for athletes suffering from similar problems.
Enke was Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper when he took his life on November 10, 2009, aged 32, having made eight appearances for Joachim Loew’s national team.
Set up in his memory, The Robert Enke Foundation, with his widow Teresa as chairperson, now supports projects to educate the public about depression.
Three years on from his death, there is evidence Enke’s suicide has softened attitudes in German football towards dep-ression and other psychological illnesses.
DC United through
Rookie Nick DeLeon scored in the 88th minute to lift DC United to a 1-0 victory over New York Red Bulls and into the Eastern Conference finals of Major League Soccer’s play-offs on Thursday.
DC United advanced 2-1 on aggregate after drawing 1-1 on Saturday in the opening leg of the semi-final tie.
“It’s unbelievable,” DeLeon said after delivering the winner in a match postponed from Wednesday because of heavy snow in the New York-New Jersey area.
DC United will face Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference final.