International Football
WHICH THREE TEAMS COULD NIGERIA DRAW AT WORLD CUP?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The 32 coaches whose teams made it among the 209 that went through the qualifying series must have heaved sigh of relief the moment their teams secured the qualification for Russia 2018.
Now other sets of worries come in. Before the thought of teams’ compositions, the thoughts are now focused on which teams are potential opponents.
The riddle will be solved at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow when the Final Draw ceremony will hold.
Some of the coaches are new comers to the grand event. One of such is Nigeria’s manager, Gernot Rohr. This is his first World Cup and will be attending the December 1 Draw thinking more of the Super Eagles’ potential opponents.
He carries a lot of burden. Sports Village Square recalls that in an interview he granted last month to French popular sports publications, L’Equipe, he told his interviewers that his target was to take Nigeria to the semi-finals, a point no African team had reached in the past 21 competitions.What goes on in Gernot Rohr’s mind as the World Cup Final Draw beckons?
Only Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana moved as far as quarterfinals in 1990, 2002 and 2010 respectively.
Realizing the lofty objective of reaching the semi-finals begins with getting favourable group draw.
Getting to the semi-finals is not a weird dream as the trio of Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana were within seconds of reaching the stage before mother luck went against them. Take Cameroon for instance in 1990.
Facing England, Cameroon almost caused upset. David Platt had put England ahead midway into the first half. Cameroon levelled up through an Emmanuel Kunde penalty kick. Before England realized what has happened, Cameroon had turned the form books upside down.
Eugene Ekeke put Cameroon ahead off a flick of a pass from ageless Roger Milla. Cameroon were at the brink of semi finals before two penalty kick awards to England changed the tide.
In 2002, Senegal stretched their quarterfinals opponents, Turkey, almost to a breaking point until after extra time when İlhan Mansız of Turkey broke the deadlock by scoring the match’s sole goal in the 94th minute.
Ghana were even more daring but unlucky. Missing a possible match winning penalty kick award and eventually crashed out to Uruguay in a penalty shootout.
With Nigeria expectedly in Pot 4, it means the Super Eagles will not draw opponents from the weaklings as sporting consideration was the sole determinant of the allocations to the pots.
It means Nigeria will not face any of Serbia, Australia, Japan, Panama, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. Being in Pot 4 means that Nigeria will be drawn into a group with one team from each of Pots 1, 2 and 3.
In Pot 3, the choice is limited as geographical consideration will ensure that Nigeria is not drawn with any of Tunisia, Egypt and Senegal. Therefore, the scope is narrowed down to Denmark, Iceland Costa Rica, Sweden and Iran.
Here, a repeat of past fixtures of Nigeria in the World Cup looms large. Nigeria faced Denmark at France ’98, Sweden in 2002 World Cup and Iran at Brazil 2014.
The two teams Nigeria had never faced in the World Cup finals are Iceland and Costa Rica, even though the then Green Eagles played a friendly match with Iceland in 1981.
In Pot 2, Nigeria has history of past encounters will seven of the eight teams. Croatia is the only team Nigeria had never met before. But drawing teams like England, Uruguay, Spain or Mexico could be challenging.
Not easy too are possible match up with Colombia or Peru. In Pot 1, the possibility of Nigeria playing the opening match exists if drawn with Russia.
That way, it will be fourth time an African team will be playing the opening match after that of Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and South Africa in 2010.
Incidentally, none of those African teams lost the opening games. Argentina is in Pot 1. A Nigeria versus Argentina match has been a recurring fixture in the World Cup since 1994. The only exception to such recurring fixture was France ’98 where Nigeria drew Paraguay.
The alternative South American team Nigeria could draw is Brazil. A typical group involving Nigeria often has a South American side, one or two European teams or an Asian opponent.
For regional consideration, if Nigeria draws either Uruguay or Colombia from Pot 2, a fixture with any of Brazil or Argentina will not be possible. But if Uruguay and Colombia do not fall into Nigeria’s group, then Argentina or Brazil will come knocking.
Hypothetically, Nigeria’s group will have Argentina/Brazil from Pot 1, any of England, Switzerland and Croatia from Pot 2 and from Pot 3, Iran/Costa Rica or any of the following European teams – Denmark, Iceland and Sweden.
The permutation continues until the draw of December 1.
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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