Former bricklayer Charlie Austin continued his remarkable rise from the backwaters of part-time football as the Queens Park Rangers striker was named De-cember’s Premier League player of the month yesterday.
The 25-year-old Englishman outshone the division’s leading lights during the festive period and scored five goals in as many games for struggling QPR, including a hat-trick in a home win over West Brom.
Only Man. City’s Sergio Aguero and Chelsea’s Diego Costa have scored more than Austin’s 13 top-flight goals this season.
Honda power
Keisuke Honda converted a penalty to make amends for hitting the post three times as a wasteful Japan held on to beat Iraq 1-0 in their Asian Cup Group D match yesterday.
Honda made no mistake with his spot-kick, however, sending Iraqi goalkeeper Jalal Hassan the wrong way to score the only goal of the match in the 23rd minute at Lang Park.
The result elevated Japan to the top of the group on six points and needing only a point from their final match against Jordan to reach the quarter-finals.
Iraq and Jordan each have three points with Palestine on none, and all four teams still have a mathematical chance of advancing or being eliminated.
Jermain Defoe joins Sunderland
Former England striker Jermain Defoe returned to the Premier League when he signed for Sunderland yesterday, and could make his debut against his former club Tottenham today.
Defoe, who has signed a three-and-a-half year deal, had been training with the youth development squad at Spurs since returning to England from Toronto FC during the MLS close season.
Striker Jozy Altidore moves back to the MLS, signing for Toronto FC as part of the deal.
Ten clubs reportedly wanted to sign the 32-year-old who opted for Sunderland, managed by his former Tottenham team-mate Gus Poyet who was later assistant manager at Spurs while Defoe was a player there.
Hamburg’s Holtby breaks collarbone
Hamburg midfielder Lewis Holtby is facing a long spell on the sidelines after breaking his collarbone in a friendly en-counter on Thursday.
The 24-year-old, on loan from Premier League side Tottenham, has been ruled out for around 10 weeks after falling awkwardly on his shoulder during his side’s 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in Dubai.
He will undergo surgery before continuing his long recovery, which rules him out of some crucial fixtures in Hamburg’s battle to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga.
Higuain happy at Napoli – agent
Gonzalo Higuain’s brother and agent insists he has not spoken to Liverpool and claims the Argentina striker is happy at Napoli.
The Argentina international has been strongly linked with a move to Anfield in the winter transfer market. The arrival of Italian forward Manolo Gabbiadini to Napoli from Sampdoria last week has increased speculation of Higuain’s possible departure.
However, Nicolas Higuain said: “First of all, I have not spoken to any club because they have not contacted me and secondly, it would be disrespectful to Napoli.
“(Napoli president Aurelio) De Laurentiis is a great person, a man of honour and I couldn’t behave incorrectly. We’re not thinking about leaving Napoli.”
Ronaldo apology
Cristiano Ronaldo apologised to Real Madrid fans after his miraculous powers deserted him as the holders were knocked out of the King’s Cup by Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
Ronaldo showed off the third FIFA Ballon d’Or award he won this week to fans at the Bernabeu before kick-off as Real attempted to overturn a 2-0 deficit.
However, Fernando Torres struck twice for the visitors, with Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo levelling each time, and Atletico went through 4-2 on aggregate and will face Barcelona in the last eight.
“It’s impossible to be at 100 per cent in every game,” the Portugal forward told reporters.
“I am not from another planet but I apologise... maybe we could have done things better.”
Ginola paid £250,000 for FIFA campaign
David Ginola’s unlikely bid for the FIFA presidency was exposed as little more than a publicity stunt when a bookmaking firm said it had paid the former France winger 250,000 pounds to stand.
Ginola launched yesterday an almost certainly doomed attempt to oust Sepp Blatter as head of world soccer’s ruling body, assuming the role of the “fans’ champion” under the slogan of “Rebooting Football.”
“This campaign is all about transparency and we are paying David 250,000 pounds for the campaign,” a spokesman for Irish bookmaker Paddy Power said.
“It is his full-time job now and, hopefully, will be for the next four months.”