Football

Eriksen

Christian Eriksen took charge in the absence of Harry Kane as he scored twice in a straightforward 3-0 win at Swansea City, booking Tottenham's place in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Kane suffered ankle ligament injury against Bournemouth that could probably keep him out until April, but on the evidence of Spurs' display at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, they should be able to cope without him for the time being.

Mauricio Pochettino said in his pre-match news conference that lifting the trophy would not help breed a "winning culture" at Spurs, but their challenge was boosted 11 minutes into the game when the excellent Eriksen found the net in stunning fashion from just outside the area.

The duo of Leicester City of England’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfried Ndidi are expected to lead 13 other Super Eagles players into the national team camp in Wroclaw on Monday ahead of next Friday’s international friendly against Poland.

Also expected in camp on Monday, are Kenneth Omeruo, Leon Balogun, William Troost Ekong, Shehu Abdulahi.

Other Monday arrival include Chidozie Awaziem, Ahmed Musa, Brian Idowu, Junior Ajayi and Stephen Eze.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has come out to defend himself in the wake of his side’s shocking exit from the Champions League at the hands of Spanish club Sevilla on Tuesday.

The Reds Devils were shocked 2-1 at Old Trafford by the Spaniards after they previously held the visitors to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their round of 16 tie.

Ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup quarter-final clash against Brighton at Old Trafford, Mourinho insisted he is going nowhere, despite United fans reacting angrily to their last 16 exit, and mocked the club’s recent “football heritage” in defending himself.

“I say to the fans that the fans are the fans and have the right to their opinions and reactions but there is something that I used to call football heritage,” Mourinho said in his pre-match conference on Friday ahead of the Brighton game.

Iceland will face the Black Stars of Ghana in a tune-up game on June 7 at the Laugardalsvellir Stadium, Reykjavik.

The Iceland Football Federation confirmed the date and venue for the game on their official website on Friday.

The game will be Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men’s final friendly game before their opening match at the global soccer fiesta against Argentina on June 16.

The Nigerian Football Federation has renewed its partnership agreement with one of the country’s leading confectioneries, Cadbury PLC as official candy partners for a period of three years.

The official signing of the partnership agreement took place in Lagos on Friday.

In attendance at the event were the Managing Director of Cadbury, Amir Shamsi; ‎Brand Manager, Cadbury Candy, Mr Aruleba Olumide; President, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick and NFF second vice-president Shehu Dikko, as well as officials of Cadbury.

Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois has given the strongest indication yet that he will still be at Stanford Bridge next season, contrary to reports linking him with Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain. Speaking to Standard Sport after the club's exit from the Champions League, the shot stopper said  “I’m committed to Chelsea. I have a contract until next year and I will be here. I will do my best for it.