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Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has been released from the Netherlands international squad, as Arsene Wenger pleaded with the nation to give the attacker time to rest.

The on-form striker played for his country in their 0-0 draw with Switzerland on Friday night, but the Gunners’ boss was reluctant for his main man to feature against Germany on Tuesday due to a fear that the forward would become fatigued.

After speaking with Holland coach Bert van Marwijk however, it has been agreed that Van Persie will return to England and play no part in the friendly on Tuesday.

“Arsene asked me if I could leave Robin out of both games,” Van Marwijk told reporters.

“I had a good meeting with Wenger and we reached an agreement he would only play on Friday. After that we would send him back.

“I won’t use Robin against the Germans.

“Robin is at the limit according to various measurements – for that reason we have decided to give him a rest,” the national selector concluded.

Van Persie is currently the top goalscorer in the Premier League, and has been a key reason for Arsenal’s revival over the last six weeks.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Inter Milan stole a Champions League quarter-finals berth with a thrilling 3-2 win at Bayern Munich on Tuesday.The defending European champions played the way champions tend to when up against it, reeling in a 2-1 deficit at the break to secure their trip to the last eight on away goals.But it was heartbreak for Bayern, who won the first leg at the San Siro 1-0 and seemed to have exacted their revenge for last season’s loss in the Champions League final, only for Goran Pandev to strike a stunning winner in the 88th minute.With their domestic campaign lost to Borussia Dortmund and the DFB Cup gone, Bayern’s painful exit ensures manager Louis van Gaal will depart on a low note at season’s end.Inter could not have asked for a better start at the Allianz Arena than the one Samuel Eto’o handed them, the prolific Cameroon striker stealing through Bayern’s napping defence and sliding his shot underneath goalkeeper Thomas Kraft in just the fourth minute.But the early blow galvanised Bayern, who responded with a flurry of chances that should have given the hosts a comfortable advantage at the break.Inter custodian Julio Cesar, whose dreadful error gifted Bayern their winner at the San Siro, made another howler when he allowed Arjen Robben’s fierce effort to bounce off his chest and into the path of Mario Gomez.The dangerous striker ran back with the flighted ball and deftly lobbed it over Cesar’s head, restoring Bayern’s advantage in the 21st minute. Another Inter error, this time from defender Lucio, handed Bayern their second 10 minutes later.The Brazilian stopper got an inadvertent touch to Robben’s pass in search of Gomez, knocking the ball free for Thomas Mueller to chip a shot over the onrushing Cesar.Gomez produced the first threat on goal after the interval with a stinging volley that Cesar acrobatically knocked clear.The tie was cast wide moments later as Wesley Sneijder drew Inter within a goal of the last eight, skidding a long-range strike into the far corner following Eto’o’s assist.Inter pressed for the crucial away goal, leaving Bayern’s defence scrambling on several occasions as Sneijder and Eto’o went close.But in the end it was Macedonian striker Pandev who fired the Italian champions into the quarter-finals.The winning goal owed much to the good work of the omnipresent Eto’o, who stole his way around Holger Badstuber and whipped a pass into space for Pandev to slam the ball into the net.The goal prompted wild celebrations at the Inter touchline, with boss Leonardo overcome with joy as his resurrection of the Italian giants reaches greater heights.

All too often footballers are criticised for their lavish lifestyles, exalted statuses and ‘detachment from reality’. The frequently negative nature of newspaper stories concerning footballers’ private lives serve to reinforce public perceptions of the men worshipped as heroes. However, every so often, one will hear a truly touching story which proves that not all footballers are bad eggs. Having arrived in South Africa as a late replacement for injured England captain Rio Ferdinand, Spurs defender Michael Dawson has admirably used the trip to the World Cup as an opportunity to visit a South African orphan that he has been sponsoring.

The visit was born out of the association between Dawson’s club, Spurs, and SOS Children, the world’s largest orphan charity. Under the arrangement, the entirety of Spurs’ first team squad and management team currently sponsor an orphaned child in South Africa, China or Haiti. In addition to this, Spurs have funded the construction of an orphan house in Rustenberg (affectionately known as the ‘Tottenham Hotspur House’), with the development of said house financed by money raised through players’ fines.

Speaking of the scheme, legendary Spurs defender Gary Mabbutt said, “I’ve been lucky enough to go and see the Spurs House in Rustenburg. It was an incredible experience, very humbling and the work they do at SOS is amazing. The players and management team have all got involved and we’d love supporters to do the same.”

With nearly 150million orphaned children worldwide, the work of Spurs and their staff has certainly helped to bring welcome attention to a worthy and needy cause. Given the global attraction of English football, Premier League players enjoy hero status across the world, and it is refreshing to see Spurs’ players make good use of their positions of power.

Although most Premier League clubs will involve themselves in charitable work, it would be great to see other clubs follow Spurs’ initiative and support charity in similarly enterprising ways.

Find out more about SOS Children at http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/

Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/zarifrasul

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Manchester United winger Nani has targeted a win in the derby against Manchester City, and hopes to continue his good track record against the Etihad Stadium outfit.

The Portuguese trickster has put in a number of excellent performances against Roberto Mancini’s team over the last number of seasons, and with City flying high this term, hopes to heap misery on them come Sunday at Old Trafford.

“I scored a good goal against City last season when we beat them at Old Trafford and I feel confident I will score against them again,” the wideman told Mirror Football.

“City have a fantastic team, with fantastic players. They play a lot of good stuff, so it will be difficult to play against them.

“But we should not forget – we are Manchester United. When we play at home, it’s very difficult to beat us and we will try to do our best to win the game again.

“All players want to play in these games and my confidence is high. I feel comfortable in these sort of games. I like the pressure these games bring.

“I’ve been working hard and waiting for these big games because I believe I have the quality and mentality to play in them,” he concluded.

City are two points ahead of United at the top of the Premier League standings ahead of the fixture, with both also winning in Europe in midweek.

By Gareth McKnight

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Spartak Moscow came from behind to beat Basel while Twente returned from Russia with a win as the Europa League’s round of 32 got underway.Spartak Moscow needed a late strike from Jano Ananidze to earn a 3-2 win in the first leg of their tie against the reigning Switzerland champions, with the Georgian teenager completing an unlikely revival after his side went into the half-time break 2-0 down.Strikers Alexander Frei and Marco Streller had put the Swiss side on track for victory at St Jakob Park in Basel, but the hosts were denied by second-half goals from Dmitri Kombarov and Artem Dzyuba and substitute Ananidze’s heroics.Late goals from winger Sidney Sam all but booked Bayer Leverkusen’s last 16 spot in their 4-0 win over Metalist.The Bundesliga’s second-placed club went ahead in the 22nd minute in Ukraine via Eren Derdiyok before Gonzalo Rondon Castro doubled their lead after 72 minutes.Metalist – third in the Ukrainian Premier League – might still have held out some hope of recovery in the second leg before Sam struck an injury time brace to give Leverkusen a formidable lead in the tie.FC Twente scored two late goals of their own to secure a handy buffer over Rubin Kazan heading to their second leg of their tie, with the Eredivisie champions returning from their tricky trip to Russia with a 2-0 victory.Twente went ahead in the 77th minute when Luuk de Jong headed home a Theo Janssen cross, with Peter Wisgerhof tapping home the rebound from de Jong’s shot after 88 minutes to ice the result.Ajax secured a 3-0 away win over Anderlecht in Brussels to take a commanding lead into their second leg.Toby Alderweireld gave the visitors the lead in the 32nd minute, but the Belgian club had the ideal chance to equalise when referee Gianluca Rocchi pointed to the spot.But Polish defender Marcin Wasilewski failed to convert the 55th-minute chance, and Ajax made them pay by doubling their lead four minutes later through highly rated Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen.Morocco striker Mounir El Hamdaoui topped off the victory with a goal in the 68th minute.Benfica fought back late in their first leg to gain the ascendancy over Stuttgart with a 2-1 victory at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica.The Bundesliga strugglers took the lead in the 21st minute when former Werder Bremen midfielder Martin Harnik found the back of the net with his superb lob over Benfica goalkeeper Roberto.But a brace from Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo – one goal of which came from a neat turn-and-finish – helped the Portuguese side take the lead into their second leg in Germany.Lech Poznan defied a snowy pitch to inflict a 1-0 defeat on Sporting Braga at Stadion Miejski in Poland.Artoms Rudnevs got behind the Portuguese club’s defence to slide the winner through the snow and Brazilian goalkeeper Artur’s legs.Dynamo Kiev thrashed Turkish opponents Besiktas 4-1 in Istanbul to set up their tie for the taking.Ognjen Vukojevic put the Ukrainian club in front in the 27th minute, but Besiktas equalised ten minutes later via Portugal winger Ricardo Quaresma. Former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko put the visitors ahead five minutes after the break, and Atanda Yussuf made it 3-1 after 56 minutes.Oleg Husyev converted a 90th-minute penalty to give his side another valuable goal, with Quaresma compounding his side’s woes through his dismissal for a second yellow card.Paris Saint-Germain scored late to steal a 2-2 draw against Belarusian club BATE Borisov in Minsk.The hosts led in the 16th minute when Renan found the back of the net, but Mevlut Erdinc equalised on the half-hour mark.Borisov’s Mikhail Gordeychuk looked to have stolen victory with his 81st-minute goal, but veteran striker Peguy Luyindula netted with one minute of normal time remaining to give the French club the edge on away goals heading into the final leg.Spanish club Villarreal held Napoli to a scoreless draw at the Stadio San Paolo, but not before Salvatore Aronica was sent off in the 90th minute for the Italian side.Chilean midfielder Matias Fernandez headed home late to deny Rangers victory at Ibrox, cancelling out Steven Whittaker’s opener for the Scots and ensuring the match finished 1-1.Liverpool held Sparta Prague to a 0-0 stalemate at Generali Arena.Young Boys fought back from an early deficit to record a 2-1 victory over Zenit St Petersburg at Stade de Suisse.Nicolas Lombaerts put the visitors ahead on 20 minutes and the Russian club maintained their lead to the break.But the Swiss side fought back almost immediately after half-time, with Senad Lulic restoring parity in the 46th minute.The match was destined for a draw until Zambian striker Emmanuel Mayuka scored a 90th-minute winner to give Young Boys the edge heading into the second leg.Czech Tomas Necid scored the only goal in CSKA Moscow’s 1-0 victory over PAOK.Fredy Guarin stabbed home an 85th-minute winner in Porto’s 2-1 triumph over Sevilla at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Spain.PSV Eindhoven turned their tie with Lille on its head with two late goals at the Stadium Nord Lille Metropole to force a 2-2 draw.Lille led 2-0 after 31 minutes, but goals in quick succession from Wilfred Bouma (83rd minute) and Ola Toivonen (84th) saw the Dutch side rescue the game.

Former Scunthorpe United striker Martin Paterson has penned a three-year contract with Burnley.

The 23-year-old still had two years left on his previous Clarets deal left but will now stay at Turf Moor until 2013.

The Northern Ireland international moved to Burnley from Scunthorpe two years ago for £1million since when he has found the net 23 times in 83 appearances for the club.

Clarets boss Brian Laws moved quickly to tie Paterson down to a long-term deal after selling Steven Fletcher to Wolves on Thursday and is also resigned to losing veteran forward Robbie Blake this summer.

The Burnley manager said:"It's absolutely marvellous to see the likes of Martin signing a new, improved contract.

"We feel he is a major player and the fact he is extending his contract now shows he has ambition to help this club back into the Premier League.

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"It is a reward for the season he had. Even though he was injured for a good part, Martin certainly made an impact and we want him to be here and nowhere else."

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Manchester City maintained their impressive start to the season with a hard fought victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Second half goals from Mario Balotelli and James Milner ensured a 2-0 victory against a resilient Everton side who made it tough for Roberto Mancini’s men. You can understand the nervousness of the home crowd, given the Toffees have won on their last four visits, but their patience was rewarded when the impressive Balotelli’s deflected shot made its way past Tim Howard.

The visitors certainly played their part; however their lack of potency in the final third was clearly evident and they were unable to breach the City backline. David Moyes was clearly upset with some of the decisions awarded by Howard Webb; but it wasn’t Everton’s day compounded by injury to Tim Cahill.

The breaking of the deadlock galvanised City and they went close on numerous occasions to double his advantage before James Milner finally sealed the win finishing off a wonderful pass from the impressive David Silva.

The result puts City top of the table temporarily and the professional performance clearly pleased Roberto Mancini at the final whistle.

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Alan Pardew is set to put his emergency search for a striker on hold for 90 minutes against Arsenal.

The Newcastle United boss, still stunned from losing top-scorer Andy Carroll, was rocked further this week after Shola Ameobi was ruled out until April with a broken cheekbone.

And with the transfer window now closed for business, Pardew can’t deal with the 35 million pounds picked up for Carroll’s move to Liverpool until the end of the season.

Instead, he has been forced to scour the free-agent list, which includes former Arsenal starlet Jeremie Aliadiere.

Pardew said: “I’m looking to boost the squad and there are a couple of names.”

“Maybe they aren’t ones who will make an impact from the start, but they can contribute something from the bench.”

Pardew, however, insists his side’s mental state is good enough to take on the Gunners.

He added: “There’s still a good feeling here.”

“I looked at some paper reports and they said we were looking dejected on the pitch because of Andy’s departure.”

“That’s ridiculous. He’s out injured and wouldn’t be playing even if he was here.”

“He hadn’t played in the four games before that and there has been a good feeling on the pitch.”

Newcastle have also announced that the game with Arsenal is heading for a near-53,000 sell out.

And Pardew added: “Every match is very important for us, but there is no problem with the resolve and the quality in this group. We have no doubt about what we can achieve.”

“I haven’t had to lead them. They are a good, strong group and know that in football there are situations and times of adversity.”

“There are also times when you have to pull together, and I don’t think that’s going to be an issue on Saturday – not at all.”

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“We were obviously disappointed with the result at Fulham, so we’ve done a lot of work to prepare ourselves for Arsenal.”

“It’s a terrific game and will probably be a sell out, or close to it, so it will be a cracking atmosphere.”

“We’re really looking forward to it.”

Pardew is likely to play young striker Nile Ranger in place of injured Ameobi for the big clash on Tyneside, while midfielder Chieck Tiote returns from a ban will go straight into the starting line-up.

The Red Knights group have confirmed that they are not about to launch a formal bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family.

It had been thought that the group were on the verge of making an offer but the Glazers issued a statement last week confirming that they had no intention of selling the club.

The American owners also revealed that they had rejected a £1.5billion bid from a Far East consortium for United.

A statement released on behalf of the group read:"The Red Knights remain committed to pursuing their efforts to try to help bring ownership of Manchester United to its supporters, and under a structure with materially less debt.

"As we have maintained however since news of our ambitions first emerged in March, we will only attempt to purchase the club at a sensible price, consistent with the long-term interests of the club.

"Persistent speculation in the media of inflated valuation aspirations has made our goals less attainable, as potential investors have strongly reinforced our views that we should not move forward at a price uneconomic for the future of the club.

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"We understand that many supporters were hoping that we might be in a position to make a bid before the season ticket renewal deadline.

"However, our approach is best served by long-term interests of all. We have never taken a stance on season ticket renewals, it is a personal choice for all supporters. We have spent some considerable time assessing the value of the club."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Tottenham host Watford on Monday night as they look to get back to their best and lock up a third place finish – but should Harry Kane start?

It feels strange even asking the question, should Tottenham bench Harry Kane?

The unthinkable has become a real possibility for Spurs though, as the 24 year-old striker has struggled for form after hurrying back from an ankle injury.

After an unfortunate ankle injury in the win at Bournemouth, there were real fears that Kane could miss the rest of the season.

The England international rushed back after the international break though, returning in the Easter Sunday win at Chelsea.

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Fans were delighted and impressed by his commitment to get back on the pitch, but are now wondering whether it’s hindered the young striker, as he has not looked anywhere near his best in losses against Manchester City and Manchester United.

Of course, it could just be that Kane is seeing less of the ball in games against the big teams, but he certainly looks a step slower than he did before the injury.

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Fans have been discussing whether he should get a rest on Monday night against Watford, and the majority of fans think so, with 56 per cent voting to give the 24 year-old a break.

Heung-Min Son, who has 18 goals in all competitions, would probably be the man to start in his place, and you can see the full poll results for yourself below…