Harry Kane is proud of his leadership skills and dreams one day of captaining both boyhood club Tottenham and England.
Kane has become a key figure for Mauricio Pochettino’s side after scoring 51 Premier League goals since his breakthrough 2014-15 campaign.
“I’ve always been a leader, on and off the pitch. I don’t think a captain is just having the ability to shout on the pitch, or moan at someone,” Kane said.
“It comes with a whole package ... meeting with the fans and having that aura in the dressing room. I’ve managed to captain Spurs a couple of times. It would be a dream to captain Spurs full time and captain England.”
Ex-Ecuador boss handed jail sentence
An Ecuadorean court gave a 10-year jail sentence to former national football federation president Luis Chiriboga for corruption on Friday in another case stemming from the scandal at FIFA.
Chiriboga, 70, who ran the football federation for 18 years but has been under house arrest since late 2015, was convicted of money-laundering along with two others at the organisation.
He is one of about 40 football bosses, mainly Latin Americans, implicated in US-led investigations that have rocked FIFA.
Judge Miriam Escobar said about $6.1 million had passed illegally through Ecuador’s football federation.
Mexico pass on 2017 Libertadores
Mexico will not enter teams in the South American Copa Libertadores next year owing to a clash in the calendar, Liga MX president Enrique Bonilla said.
CONMEBOL decided this year to lengthen its elite club competition to almost the full calendar year whereas previously it has been played from February to July.
Mexico, from the CONCACAF region, have entered teams on invitation since 1998 and Bonilla said his country would work with CONMEBOL in an effort to try and return to the competition in 2018.
“On the 27th of September we were informed the competition calendar would be from February to November,” said Bonilla. “This clashes with the last phase of our Apertura championship.”
Guardiola denies late-night sex ban
Pep Guardiola has denied Manchester City’s players are banned from having sex after midnight.
Samir Nasri, playing on loan with Sevilla, has suggested Guardiola had told his squad to abstain from such intimate activity in the small hours. But the City boss has not only dismissed the Frenchman’s claims, but said he would even encourage more sex.
Guardiola said: “It’s impossible to play good football if you don’t make sex with your partner! I never did that (ban it) and I would never ban that. If you are doing it... better players!”
Costa’s commitment an example – Conte
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has heaped praise on Diego Costa, saying the striker was an example to all after he learned to control his aggression on the pitch and translate his combative nature into tireless performances.
The Brazil-born Spain striker Costa has done much to please Conte this season and tops the Premier League scoring charts with nine goals from 11 games.
“He’s an example for all,” Conte told British media.
“If he continues to score, I’ll be very happy. But I’ll be happier to see this commitment, this work rate during training and in games.
“It’s fantastic, I think, that Diego is improving a lot in a lot of aspects. For me, now, Diego is one of the best strikers in the world.”
Rodgers hails ‘brilliant’ Celtic
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his team’s defensive display after a seventh consecutive domestic clean sheet proved crucial at Kilmarnock on Friday.
Stuart Armstrong netted the only goal 90 seconds before the break at Rugby Park as Celtic strengthened their grip on top spot in the Premiership.
“You can see the solidity of the team, how we have been building that defensive philosophy.
“With the two-week break, having hardly had any of the players playing on astroturf, it was a brilliant result.
“Nights like this are very, very important, coming away when it’s absolutely freezing. We had to dig in towards the end.”
Pulis hits out at Christmas pile-up
West Brom boss Tony Pulis has criticised the make-up of the Christmas fixture list.
The Baggies manager wants to remain traditional but has questioned why the club have a nine-day break before launching into their festive programme.
“I find it strange. I’ve looked at it and you can’t believe there’s nine days without a game and then all of a sudden there’s three thrown in,” he said.
“I don’t know why they’ve done that but there we are. After the 17th we’ve got nine days off which is quite extraordinary for me.
“I just wonder why there isn’t a game in those nine days. Whether they don’t want to do it because it’s a black week before Christmas they say, for supporters coming to games. They’ll probably be spending their money shopping.”