Football
Reuters 18y

Soccer-Mido wins weighting game

By Tony Stevens

LONDON, Sept 7 - Egypt striker Mido feels
addressing his fitness problems helped him to secure his dream
move to Tottenham.

Mido spent 18 months on loan in London but the Premier
League sent him back to AS Roma in May because the striker
appeared to be struggling with his form by the end of the season
as his weight increased to around 82.5kg

But having trimmed down by 10 kg, the 23-year-old was lured
back to Tottenham last week and feels he has a lot to offer the
club.

"I've worked hard because it was important for me to lose
weight and now it's my job to keep fit because I got injured at
the end of last season and gained weight," said Mido.

"Nothing has changed in my training regime but I'm talking
to a Brazilian man who is one of the best physical trainers and
I hope I can get agreement for him to work with me for the next
year.

"His job will be to work with the medical staff at the club
to keep me fit and to work with my body closely.

"This man has the experience and I asked Spurs if I could
have him and I will pay for him, but I'm still working on an
agreement."

Mido's hopes of a permanent move to north London looked to
have taken a turn for the worse during the close season when not
only was he sent back to Italy, but Tottenham also signed
Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov.

The Egyptian, however, was not prepared to give up on his
dream move.

"Spurs wanted me and I wanted to come to Spurs, and even
though I had offers from other English clubs, I never changed my
mind," he said.

"I was close to joining Blackburn. I spoke to the manager
and the chairman and I have a lot of respect for them but I
always wanted to join Spurs."

^ Back to Top ^