Former Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o was recalled by Turkish side Antalyaspor yesterday after being dropped for allegedly accusing the club leadership of racism on social media.
Club chairman Ali Safak Ozturk said the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea star had been forgiven after expressing regret for the remarks. Antalyaspor will need all of the 35-year-old striker’s skill and experience to improve their current predicament, which sees them parked at the bottom of the Super Lig with just two points from six games.
Eto’o was included in the side to face Galatasaray in Istanbul last night, coming on as a substitute in the 29th minute. Antalyaspor took an early first-half lead and Eto’o had a goal disallowed.
But one goal from Galatasaray’s Selcuk Inan and two late strikes from former German international Lukas Podolski gave the hosts a 3-1 win. The big-spending club had hoped for far better when they signed Eto’o in June 2015 as the keystone of their bid to find national and even European success for the southern Mediterranean resort city.
After criticism of his own performance, Eto’o had written on his Instagram account last month that “some people do not feel respect for me because I am black.” This was seen by many as a dig at Antalyaspor chairman Ozturk and Eto’o was dropped from the team and told to train alone.
The chairman said that Eto’o had expressed regret over the posting and had insisted it was not aimed against the club leadership. “We have taken him back into the team again.”
He said that racism was a grave accusation and Eto’o needed to be more careful in the future. “These are very important issues not just for this player but players across the world,” he said, quoted by Turkish media.”We think our player will behave more carefully and make a contribution to the team.”
However the team’s latest defeat and risk of relegation will raise new questions over the future of Eto’o and Portuguese coach Jose Morais, a former assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

Inigo Martinez added
to Spain squad
Spain boss Julen Lopetegui added Real Sociedad defender Inigo Martinez to his squad for World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Albania yesterday.
Martinez will join the 23 players already selected on Friday due to “physical doubts over some of those already called up”, the Spanish Football Federation confirmed.
The Spain squad will meet in Madrid today ahead of their blockbuster clash with Italy in Turin on Thursday with only the winner of Group G guaranteed a place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Revenge will be on Spanish minds after Italy dumped the holders out of Euro 2016 at the last-16 stage in June. Spain then travel to face Albania on October 9.

Shades of grey have
Wales seeing red in Austria
Wales boss Chris Coleman is hoping his team’s World Cup qualifying hopes aren’t derailed in Austria on Thursday by being forced to play in their grey shirts rather than patriotic red.
Austria have worn a red strip at home for the last 12 years and are likely to stick with the colour when the sides meet in Vienna, leaving Wales to go for grey. Wales lost on the only two occasions they wore grey at Euro 2016 against England and Portugal in the semi-finals but they won four times in France in red when facing Slovakia, Russia, Northern Ireland and Belgium.
“I can tell you no-one wants to wear our grey kit, I will be happy if I never see that kit again,” Coleman said. “Red is the kit that we will always want to play in, we love being in the red. It is something you look at.”

Former Man Utd striker
Herd dies aged 82
Former Manchester United and Scotland striker David Herd has died at the age of 82, his old club announced yesterday.
Herd played a key role in United’s revival following the 1958 Munich air disaster and scored twice in their 3-1 win over Leicester in the 1963 FA Cup final.
He also helped United win the English league title in 1965 and 1967. Herd, who previously played for Arsenal, scored 145 goals for United. He left United for Stoke a month after they won the European Cup against Benfica in 1968, a success in which he played little part having suffered a broken leg the year before.
United and Stoke were involved in a Premier League match on Sunday, with players from both clubs wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to Herd. “Everybody at Manchester United is saddened to hear of the passing of David Herd,” the club posted on manutd.com.
“We can confirm that both United and Stoke will wear black armbands this afternoon to pay tribute to David Herd, who played for both clubs.”
Herd’s former United team-mate Paddy Crerand tweeted: “Sad news about my old team mate David Herd.
Great player made my ordinary passes into him great ones. Tremendous shot and strength.”