The Dutch player, who appeared in two League Cup games for the Gunners between 2007 and 2011, will start representing the Thunder Castles during the second half of season of the local top flight league from this weekend on wards.

The 29-year-old who was born to a Dutch mother and Moroccan father, began his career with Dutch side NEC Nijmegen before moving to England and later moved to the Emirates.

However, as he struggled to break into the first team, he was loaned out to Derby County and then Vitesse Arnhem.

In the 2011-12 season, Barazite who can play both as the forward and midfielder signed a contract with Austrian giants Austria Wien. He scored 12 goals in 34 matches, an impressive form that led to 4.5 million euro deal with France’s Ligue 1 between 2012-2014.

After 11 games with the French team, he was sent back to Austria Wien on loan in 2013 as the club finished the season with the Austrian Bundesliga for the first time in seven years.

In June 2014, the 188cm tall player returned home to play for FC Utrecht. During his four-year-term with the Dutch club, Barazite scored 16 goals from 75 matches. Between 2017-2018, he moved to play for Yeni Malatyaspor, a Super Lig in Turkey where he scored two goals from 15 matches.

Barazite then joined United Arab Emirate’s Al Jazira in 2018 and scored four goals in 11 games.

For the first game with Chon Buri on Sunday, Barazite will wear jersey No 39 representing Buriram.

The two-time defending champions are currently top of the table with 32 points, followed by Bangkok United (28).

Meanwhile, former national striker Teeratep Winothai of Bangkok United is joining Chon Buri on loan fpor the rest of the Thai season.

Ahmed Elmohamady prodded Egypt ahead on 25 minutes after a wicked Salah cross and the Liverpool star slammed in a second shortly before half-time to spark frenzied celebrations at a packed Cairo International Stadium.

Record seven-time champions Egypt rode their luck at times as DR Congo twice struck the crossbar in the first half but the Group A leaders held firm to join Nigeria as the first teams through to the knockout phase.

Egypt overcame the distraction of Amr Warda being banished from the squad earlier in the day over mounting sexual harassment allegations. The claims surfaced earlier this week on social media platforms. Multiple women posted screenshots and testimonies of Warda’s alleged lewd comments.

“I think the team is strong and the squad is strong but we are not happy to lose a member of our family,” said coach Javier Aguirre. “The team focused more on our match and played the 90 minutes in a serious manner. I don’t think the Egyptian team will be affected by the absence of anyone.”

Mexican Aguirre fielded the same side that defeated Zimbabwe 1-0, with centre-back Ahmed Hegazy sporting a mask after breaking his nose in the opening game of the tournament.

Salah was guilty of missing a hatful of chances in the curtain-raiser and this season’s Premier League joint top scorer again threatened inside five minutes here when an interception broke his way only for the Egyptian to skew wide under pressure.

After four days of small crowds, another capacity 75,000 crowd turned out to cheer on the hosts in the capital, but they were nearly silenced when Marcel Tisserand slammed against the bar at a corner.

– Salah takes over –

DR Congo came to Egypt as one of the most unpredictable qualifiers having finished third in 2015 only to make a timid quarter-final exit two years ago, and they fell behind for the second straight game as Elmohamady forced home after the ball fell kindly to him following an aerial challenge with Christian Luyindama.

Having created the opener with his vicious right-wing cross, Salah then stung the palms of Ley Matampi with a powerful 25-yard free-kick.

Egypt would be rescued by the woodwork once more though when a deep cross was nodded back across goal by Bokadi Bope and Jonathan Bolingi’s looping header bounced back off the bar.

With his side riding their luck, Salah rose to the occasion and settled Egyptian nerves two minutes before half-time with a typically brilliant finish.

Played into space down the right by Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan, Salah skipped inside Tisserand and ripped a crisp low drive inside Matampi’s near post to cue a volcanic eruption from the masses of delirious Egyptian supporters.

Mohamed El Shenawy produced an excellent sprawling second-half save to claw out a Jacques Maghoma header, but despite an improvement on a horror first outing, DR Congo now know they must beat Zimbabwe in their final game in order to possibly advance as one of the four best third-place finishers.

“The feelings are mixed when you play such a match. Unfortunately we lost so the feeling is one of hurt, particularly for my players. They gave a lot and fought hard but didn’t get the result,” said DR Congo coach Florent Ibenge, whose side fell 2-0 to Uganda in their opening match.

“We’ve got one match left against Zimbabwe and we can hope for third place. We’re going to fight until the end.”

The other three major tournaments all match their seeding to the official world rankings but Wimbledon uses its own formula to dictate the order, combining ranking points with form in grass-court competitions.

It means Nadal will be seeded three and Federer two at the All England Club this year, despite their positions being the reverse in the rankings list.

“Wimbledon is the only tournament of the year that does it like this,” Nadal told Spanish television channel Movistar on Monday night.

“Obviously it would be better to be two than three but if they think I have to be three I will accept three and fight to win the matches I have to win.

“Having said that, the only thing that doesn’t seem right about this issue is that it is only Wimbledon that does it. If they all did it, it would seem more correct.

“It’s not only about my particular case. There have been many occasions when players have played well all year on all surfaces but Wimbledon does not respect the ranking they have earned.

“And for this reason they get more complicated draws.”

Nadal is yet to play an official match on grass this year while Federer warmed up for Wimbledon last week by winning his 10th title at the grass-court tournament in Halle.

Federer and top seed Novak Djokovic will be at opposite ends of the Wimbledon draw, separated until the final, but Nadal is guaranteed to have either Federer or Djokovic in his half, and could meet them in the semis.

“For me personally, it means if I am three, to get to the final, Djokovic or Federer will be in my half,” Nadal added.

“But that can only happen in the semi-finals and to get there I have to win five matches. Today I’m far away.”

Nadal claimed his 18th major title earlier this month by winning the French Open for a record-extending 12th time. He now sits behind only Federer’s 20 grand slam triumphs in the all-time list of male champions.

Breakdancing is the only of the quartet making its Olympic debut, with the other three due to appear for the first time at next year’s Tokyo Games.

Tuesday’s decision at the IOC session in Lausanne must still be rubber stamped by the IOC’s executive commission in December 2020.

“The four sports that Paris has proposed are all totally in line with Olympic Agenda 2020 because they contribute to making the programme more gender balanced and more urban, and offer the opportunity to connect with the younger generation,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement.

Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet welcomed the news.

“We decided that creativity would be at the heart of these Games which will be innovative,” he told a press conference, explaining the choice of the four sports.

Kerber made the semi-finals at the Mallorca Open last week to kick off her grass court season and will be hopeful of claiming her first title of the year in Eastbourne, where she has twice reached the final.

Her opponent Sam Stosur was one of a host of players playing two matches in the one day after rain interrupted Monday’s schedule.

The veteran Australian had seen off American Sofia Kenin in round one, but had no answer to Kerber’s power as the German fired 15 winners in a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

“It’s nice being back here, having another good match on grass before Wimbledon,” said Kerber.

“That’s why I’m here. I like to play here on grass, so I try to enjoy every match and every moment right now.”

Bertens was also in commanding form as the number three seed saw off Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-1.

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki won in straight sets too, beating Andrea Petkovic, 6-4, 6-4, to set up a rematch of last year’s final against Aryna Sabalenka.

Konta is keen to make an impression on home soil after reaching the semi-finals of the French Open.

The world number 19 was pushed all the way by Greece’s Maria Sakkari, but prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to set up a round three clash with Ons Jabeur.

Sixth seed Halep began her grass court campaign in style with a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of Su-Wei Hsieh and will be confident of further progress when she faces Slovakian qualifier Polona Hercog next.

Elena Svitolina was the top ranked player to exit on Tuesday as the Ukranian fifth seed bowed out 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to Alize Cornet.

The Frenchwoman led by a set and a break before play was stopped on Monday, but Svitolina quickly broke back to level at 3-3 in the second and then saved a match point to break again and take it to a tie-break.

Cornet, however, bounced back to race through the tie-break 7-3.

Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko also rallied from losing the first set 6-1 to world number 9 Sloane Stephens to take the next two sets 6-0, 6-3.

Barcelona star Martens had earlier given the Dutch the lead in their last-16 tie at Roazhon Park with a brilliant backheel flick, but that contender for the most eye-catching goal of the tournament was cancelled out before the break as Yui Hasegawa equalised for Japan.

The Nadeshiko were the better team in the second half but were undone by yet another penalty in a World Cup dominated by spot-kicks, with Martens scoring after a Vivianne Miedema shot had struck the hand of captain Saki Kumagai from point-blank range.

The Netherlands, reigning European champions, go through to a quarter-final on Saturday against Italy, who defeated China 2-0 earlier in the day.

“It is history that we have made. We are really proud about that but we are not done yet here. We are really looking forward to the next game and we hope we can surprise more,” said Martens.

She accepted the penalty award at the end had been harsh on Japan, adding: “It’s not our decision, we are really happy with that and sometimes you need a bit of luck.”

After winning the 2011 World Cup and losing in the final four years ago, Japan go home, ending Asian interest in France already.

Seven of the eight quarter-finalists are from Europe, with holders the United States the only exception. The manner of Japan’s defeat here drew sympathy from the crowd, with loud jeers greeting the final whistle.

“It was a penalty, it struck my hand. Of course it is very hard to accept. I am sad but I know that that’s football,” admitted a tearful Kumagai.

The Netherlands had been the more impressive of these two teams in the group stage, backed by an army of travelling supporters decked out in orange.

They had far fewer fans backing them this time in Rennes, where the heatwave suffocating much of the rest of France has stayed away too.

Nevertheless, the Dutch began strongly and almost went in front inside the first five minutes as Miedema met a Martens cross from the left only to see her effort take a deflection off Aya Sameshima, hit the post and go behind.

– Touch of class –

Sarina Wiegman’s side were rewarded for their enterprising start with the opening goal via a touch of class by Martens in the 17th minute, her near-post flick from a Sherida Spitse corner going through the legs of Yuika Sugasawa and in.

Japan’s starting line-up included only four players who featured in the 2015 final defeat against the USA and Asako Takakura’s youthful side were now in danger of following the tournament’s other Asian representatives and going home.

However, their quick response to falling behind saw Sugasawa hit the post with a curling effort, and the Nadeshiko drew level two minutes before the interval.

The Netherlands were cut open as Mana Iwabuchi supplied Hasegawa, and she poked a first-time effort high into the net.

Japan built on that and were the better team after the break, with Dutch goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal making excellent saves to deny Emi Nakajima and substitute Yuka Momiki.

In between, 11 minutes from time, Hina Sugita broke forward from midfield into the box and cut inside to hit a shot on her left foot that cracked off the crossbar.

Their opponents were hanging on for extra time until Miedema sent her shot off the arm of Kumagai, leaving the Honduran referee with little option but to give a penalty, and Martens made no mistake to send the Dutch through.

The precocious 16-year-old talent made LET history as the youngest player to win twice on the tour, after carding a tournament record 22 under-par-266 to beat the up-and-coming German Esther Henseliet by five strokes.

When Atthaya won her maiden tittle at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club in Pattaya two years ago at just 14 years, four months and nine days old, she also made history then as the youngest golfer to win a main tour pro event.

However, the teenager has no plans turn pro soon. She is determined to at least defend her gold medal in December’s SEA Games in Manila. Only amateurs are allowed to compete in the golf competition of the regional sporting event.

“I still want to play in the SEA Games, which is another great opportunity to serve the country,’’ said Atthaya, who won two gold medals from individual and team along with Manushchaya Zeemakorn and Thitipa Pakdeesettakul at the 2017 Games in Kuala Lumpur.

“It’s always an honour to represent the country, so I want to play for Thailand as long as I can,” added Atthaya. No matter how talented she is, she still regards herself too young to become a professional yet.

“I still have a lot more to learn. There are shots that I think I need to improve if I want to pursue a career in golf,” she added. “At this point I’m still in the process of adjusting my new swing. If successful, I believe I will eventually do well on the pro tour.”

Atthaya is tipped as the Kingdom’s next golf superstar, following in the footsteps of former world No 1 Ariya Jutanugarn.

In any event she may need to wait – she is still two years shy of turning 18, the minimum age for players on the US-based LPGA tour, the most prestigious circuit in women’s golf.

The 20-year-old Thai has chalked up three top-10 finishes in his past four Asian Development Tour (ADT) appearances, including a runner-up result on home soil in February.

With the 2019 ADT season reaching its turn, Kosuke will be launching another title assault at the US$54,000 event but will have his work cut out, with nearly all of the 20 ADT winners expected to converge at the Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club.

They include another Thai, Itthipat Buranatanyarat, who currently leads the Merit list, as well as former ADT Order of Merit winners Miguel Carballo of Argentina (2018) and Pannakorn Uthaipas of Thailand (2017).

Home favorite Ben Leong, the highest-ranked Malaysian in the field, will spearhead the local charge along with two-time Asian Tour winner Danny Chia, at the event which marks the ninth leg on the ADT schedule.

Kosuke, who is born to a Japanese father and Thai mother, remains confident that his first professional win is right around the corner and has set realistic expectations for himself this week.

“This season has been a pretty consistent one for me and I have had a couple of good finishes. I just want to focus on my game and not think too much about a win so that I don’t put too much pressure on myself. A win is right around the corner and I am just being as patient as possible,” he said.

Currently placed third on the ADT Order of Merit and playing in his rookie season since turning professional in October last year, Kosuke is aware that there is still a long way to go if he wants to remain inside the top-seven on the money list.

“I’m in a great position so far halfway through the ADT season, but we have many events left on the ADT so I have to keep pushing forward.

“The goal is to be in the top seven by the end of the year or somehow finish inside the top-60 on the Asian Tour,” added Kosuke, who came through Asian Tour Qualifying School in his very first attempt this year.

Other notable names in the field that features players from over 16 countries include Japanese duo Naoki Sekito and Shinichi Mizuno, Wang Wei-lun of Chinese Taipei, Korea’s Joohyung Kim as well as Thailand’s Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij.

The brightest young stars in martial arts came out to participate in action-packed bouts. After a series of compelling contests, Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg of Mongolia earned a six-figure ONE Championship contract after his spectacular knockout of opponent Hyun Jin Lee at ONE Warrior Series 6. Also, Xie Xiao Xiang, Michele Ferreira, Satomi Takano, Ji Yeon Seo, Myeong Gu Kim, and Jerry Olsim, each received a Warrior Bonus for their extraordinary performances.

Rich Franklin, CEO of ONE Warrior Series, stated: “This was our sixth and most exciting ONE Warrior Series event to date. As the competition continues to grow fierce, the bouts become better and better. This season, we’ve had a steady influx of top-notch talent walk through our doors. In the end, it was Shine who impressed the most and we feel he is ready for the bright lights of the ONE Championship Circle. Shine has shown a warrior spirit from day one in the organization and has been through some wars. He has definitely earned this contract. I look for him to do big things in ONE!”

Jonathan Fong, Director of ONE Warrior Series, stated: “This last event showcased the rising level of talent at ONE Warrior Series and Shine earning his ONE Championship contract was further evidence of that. The bouts were the most exciting and action-packed we have seen to date as all the martial artists showcased their best selves. With Shine following the footsteps of other OWS alumni, like Stamp Fairtex, I cannot wait to see who will step up next and look to make a run in ONE Championship!”

Born and raised in Mongolia, fast-rising martial arts talent Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg has been competing since 2010. He is a multiple-time national champion in kickboxing, sanda, and boxing. Zoltsetseg also represented Mongolia in boxing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Known for his tremendous knockout power, Zoltsetseg made his ONE Warrior Series debut in 2018, stopping Akuri Ronda of Japan in just under a minute with strikes. At ONE Warrior Series 6, Zoltsetseg again put forth another spectacular performance, finishing opponent Hyun Jin Lee in just over a minute of action. The win earned Zoltsetseg a six-figure ONE Championship contract.

Episodes of Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series can be found on ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/OneFCMMA.

The event, held at UPPERCASE @ APW Bangsar, gave select media a chance to interact with ONE Championship athletes, some of whom are competing at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY, which takes place 12 July at the Axiata Arena.

In attendance were former ONE World Title challengers Ev “E.T.” Ting and Agilan “Alligator” Thani, Saiful “The Vampire” Merican, siblings Gianni and Keanu Subba, Muhammad “Jungle Cat” Aiman,Mohammed “Jordan Boy” bin Mahmoud, Jihin “Shadow Cat” Radzuan, retired ONE Championship athlete Ann “Athena” Osman and special guest Peter Davis.

Ev Ting, ONE Athlete, who will be competing against Daichi Abe at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY  stated: “Throughout my career, the support Malaysian fans have given me has been invaluable. I am so proud to represent our beautiful country on the biggest global stage of martial arts competition. Malaysia has some of the best martial arts talent in the world, and I take great pride in being counted among them. Each time I step into the ONE Circle, I bring that same pride with me onto the battlefield. I will always do my best to bring glory and honor to Malaysia, to New Zealand, and to the sport of martial arts. I will do my best to champion martial arts and its values in every battlefield.”

Saiful Merican, ONE Athlete, who will be facing Mohammed bin Mahmoud at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY stated: “I was born and raised as a true Malaysian. Malaysia is my home and I will do my best to represent my country to the best of my abilities. I may be taking on a fellow Malaysian in my next fight, but we are going to put on an absolute show for all the fans out there. I think by the end of the night, people are going to know what true Malaysian warriors are all about.”

Mohammed bin Mahmoud, ONE Athlete, who will be up against Saiful Merican at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY stated: “When I go out there and perform, I go all out. I give it my everything because the Malaysian fans deserve it. I wouldn’t be here without the fans, and I owe a lot to them. My next fight is going to be an all-Malaysian spectacle and fans will surely not want to miss it. My time on the ONE Championship stage has been incredible for my career and I’m getting better everyday. My ultimate goal in my career is to become a World Champion and make my country proud.”

Jihin Radzuan, ONE Athlete, who will be contesting Jomary Torres at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY stated: “It’s one thing to represent women’s mixed martial arts in Asia, but to do the same for Malaysia, it’s a huge responsibility. All throughout the country, there are young girls who have big dreams — whether that’s in martial arts or in another field altogether. My goal is to inspire all the fans to chase their dreams because nothing is impossible when you pour your heart and soul into it. I’m looking forward to my match with Filipino’s Jomary Torres and I will do my best to emerge victorious.”

Agilan Thani, victorious against Yoshihiro Akiyama at ONE: LEGENDARY QUEST, stated: “It was a great experience competing in China and against such a legendary martial artist such as [Yoshihiro] Akiyama. Now, I have to keep my head down and work even harder for my upcoming contests in ONE Championship. I hope to slowly make my way back up the charts and hopefully contend for the ONE World Title again soon. I know I have a long road ahead of me, but I’m confident I’ve developed my skills and gained the experience necessary to make another run at the championship.”