Arsenal, United enjoy Boxing Day comebacks

Arsenal returned to the Premier League summit on Thursday after Theo Walcott scored twice as Arsene Wenger's side came from behind to win 3-1 at West Ham United.

Arsenal spurned several first-half chances at Upton Park and they were punished early in the second period when Carlton Cole put the hosts in front after Wojciech Szczesny spilled a shot from Kevin Nolan.

However, Walcott struck twice in three minutes to turn the game around, squeezing a low shot past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian in the 68th minute and then heading home a cross from substitute Lukas Podolski.

Podolski was making his first appearance since August after a hamstring injury and he marked his comeback with a goal in the 79th minute, drilling home from Olivier Giroud's lay-off.

Victory sent Arsenal three points above former leaders Liverpool, who visit fourth-place Manchester City later on Thursday, while West Ham slump to second-bottom.

Chelsea also leapfrogged Liverpool, moving up to second place by beating Swansea City 1-0 in one of the day's 10 traditional Boxing Day fixtures.

Belgian winger Eden Hazard scored the game's only goal in the 29th minute at Stamford Bridge, cutting in from the left in familiar fashion before letting fly with a low drive that squeezed beneath Gerhard Tremmel.

Everton's hopes of making further ground on the Champions League contenders were thwarted, however, as they crashed to a 1-0 defeat at home to bottom club Sunderland.

Ki Sung-yueng scored the game's only goal from the penalty spot in the 25th minute, after Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard was sent off for a foul on the South Korea international.

It was Sunderland's first away win since April and left Gus Poyet's men three points from safety.

Manchester United doggedly overturned a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 against Hull City at the KC Stadium and register their fifth consecutive win in all competitions.

Early goals from James Chester and David Meyler gave Hull a 2-0 lead, only for Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney to bring United level before half an hour had been played.

Rooney's goal, a sumptuous volley, was his 150th for the club in the top flight and he contributed to the winner in the 66th minute by pressuring Chester, a one-time United youth player, to put through his own goal.

"To be two down and come back to win is a great result," United manager David Moyes told the BBC.

"There's a long way to go in the league and we have to keep picking up points. I believe we can be in the mix and challenge whoever is near the top."

Newcastle United closed to within two points of the Champions League places by coming from behind to overwhelm nine-man Stoke City 5-1 at St James' Park.

Stoke took the lead through Oussama Assaidi, but they had Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson sent off, allowing Newcastle to prevail through a Loic Remy brace and goals from Yoan Gouffran, Yohan Cabaye and Papiss Cisse.

Tottenham Hotspur's new permanent head coach Tim Sherwood saw his side draw 1-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion, for whom Jonas Olsson cancelled out Christian Eriksen's 36th-minute free-kick.

Southampton, meanwhile, ended a run of six games without victory by winning 3-0 at Cardiff City through a Jay Rodriguez brace and a Rickie Lambert strike.

Scott Parker scored a stunning 87th-minute winner as Fulham won 2-1 at Norwich City, but they remain in the bottom three due to Crystal Palace's 1-0 win at Aston Villa, which lifted Tony Pulis's men out of the drop zone.

By By Tom WILLIAMS | AFP

World Cup draw: England placed in nightmare group for Brazil 2014

England have been handed a nightmare draw for next summer’s World Cup, being placed in Group D alongside Uruguay, Italy and Costa Rica.

Roy Hodgson’s men qualified as group winners, but went unseeded into today’s draw.

They avoided the likes of holders Spain, hosts Brazil and 2010 finalists Holland, but will play Italy in Manaus where there is 99% humidity.

The opening game of the World Cup will see hosts Brazil take on Croatia.

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  Group A: Brazil, Cameroon, Mexico, Croatia
  


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  Group B: Spain, Chile, Australia, Holland
  


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  Group C: Colombia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Greece
  


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  Group D: Uruguay, Italy, Costa Rica, England
  


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  Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, Honduras, France
  


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  Group F: Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, Bosnia
  


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  Group G: Germany, Ghana, USA, Portugal
  


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  Group H: Belgium, Algeria, South Korea, Russia
  

MORE: Six essential things to know about Uruguay

England National Team, World Cup 2014

10 of the Highest-Paid African Soccer Players of 2013

Over the last few decades, Africa has produced some world-class football players and can be rightly considered the soccer continent of the future. The last twenty years witnessed rich talent from Africa moving to clubs in Europe and showing superb skills in international football competitions. These players bring something special to European football, presenting an energy and flair that are uniquely African.

West Africa is the region that has produced the finest talents, with Cameroon and Nigeria featuring some of the legendary players of the 1990s. Roger Milla, Jay-Jay Okocha, and Samuel Osei-Kuffuor are names that football fans will never forget. In the early 2000s, the progress continued with Senegal offering the world some of the best football talents like international team captain Bouna Coundoul. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana came into the scene most recently, introducing young players like Abdul Razak and Christian Atsu.

Arsene Wenger, current manager of Arsenal, is a specialist when it comes to identifying young football talent. He has pointed out that West Africa is the region of the continent that has been offering exceptional soccer players. Historically speaking, Africa has provided the soccer world with stars such as Thomas Nkono, arguably one of the best African goalkeepers of all time and Hossam Hassan, one of the most capped African players with 169 international matches and 69 goals.

With the competitive nature of the sport and the amount of marketing that surrounds it, it’s not unusual that some of the highest paid footballers in the world are from Africa. The continent continues to surprise the world with football talent, and as the 2014 FIFA World Cup approaches, we may still be in for more surprises. Below is a list 10 of the highest-paid African soccer players this year.