A fax has arrived at Spurs’ training ground inviting him to play in the

A fax has arrived at Spurs’ training ground inviting him to play in the forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Libya.”I’m happy to be back and still have a lot of things to do for my country because I’ve got a lot more experience than the guys over there and can help them a lot,” Mido says.His honesty is admirable but there is no denying the pattern. He arrives, creates a storm, scores a flurry of goals, has a falling out, often with a disciplinary coach, and moves on. “I played for many clubs and that’s a good thing and not a good thing,” Mido says. “It’s good because it means I have a lot of experience and it’s not good because every time you arrive at a club you have to take time to settle in, the way they play football and the way they live in that country.”He adds, defiantly: “But to be honest each club that I left it wasn’t my fault.” Maybe so. But there are also other grounds for hope that, this time, and at Tottenham, it may be different.First of all Mido has become a father.

He is married, to Yosra, and they have an eight-month son, Ali. “If you are a father you will know that when you have a son it changes your life,” he says with a smile. “It’s true that since I have become a father I’ve changed a lot of things of my way of living.” After all it’s hard to fit a baby-seat into a Ferrari. “It’s more responsibility because before I was living for myself and now I’m living for myself and my family and for my son,” Mido says. “I’m very proud to be a father at such a young age and it’s true that it has given me a lot of maturity.” It is a “better” life, he adds.There is also a greater sense of belonging with Spurs, as well.

He knew of – rather than knew – Martin Jol from his time in the Netherlands “He’s a very serious man,” Mido says. “He lives for football and gives everything he has to the team and to the club.”He is also, Mido says, “fair”. “I think the difference here is that I’m having a fair chance to prove my quality,” he says. “Even though there are another three good strikers I can accept the situation because I have a lot of respect for [Fr?ric] Kanout?nd [Robbie] Keane and [Jermain] Defoe. I know they are top-class, internationals, and can give the same level that I can to the team.

So I know that if I have to sit on the bench sometimes I accept it.”He adds: “It’s only football that controls the situation and that’s the difference between Tottenham and Roma. In Roma I did not start for one game in the competition and I wasn’t given a fair chance so that’s why I decided to leave.”Mido has found English football exhilarating. Scoring goals has also helped him to settle in “fast” while, from playing for Ajax, he understands the “real Dutch mentality” that Jol – ironically the favourite to succeed Koeman at Ajax – and Spurs’ sporting director Frank Arnesen are creating. It was also from his time in Belgium and Amsterdam that Mido learnt his impeccable English.There has been one down-side. During last weekend’s Premiership defeat at Southampton – another club interested in his services – he was racially abused by the home fans. The chants of “shoebomber” – referring to the post September 11 incident involving an Egyptian-born terrorist – were not lost on him He was left somewhat bemused. “For me it’s strange because I’m here to play football and it’s never happened to me in another country,” Mido shrugs.