International Football
WHICH TEAM WILL NIGERIA FACE IN POT 1?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA, seven consecutive World Cup reporter.
The teams in Pot 1 are expected to present the most challenging encounter to other teams they faced.
With Nigeria in Pot 4, facing one of the eight teams in Pot 1 is inevitable. But if the poll conducted by Sports Village Square is anything to go by, hosts, Russia is the team most respondents feel Nigeria will have to face.
Thirty two percent of the respondents voted that Nigeria will be in Group A with Russia. Next is Nigeria’s usual World Cup opponents. Twenty seven of the respondents are of the opinion that Nigeria will again be drawn into the same group with Argentina.
Brazil is the least expected for Nigeria to meet. Only five percent of the respondents voted for Nigeria to be in the same group
However, Sports Village Square recalls that the quartet of Russia, Portugal, Belgium and Poland are the only Pot 1 teams never to have had previous encounters with the Super Eagles.
Nigeria had met Germany in a pre-World Cup 1998 friendly match in Cologne. It was at the match that Nigeria unveiled their 1998 kit made by Nike. Germany won the match 1-0.
Brazil met Nigeria in Abuja in 2003 while the South Americans were bracing up for a Cameroon challenge at the FIFA Confederations Cup in France.
Brazil won the match 3-0. Nigeria and Argentina had met eight times. The most recent being the last month encounter in Russia. France had met Nigeria twice. The first was a friendly match in Saint-Etienne in 2009. Nigeria shocked their hosts, 1-0. The last was the Round of 16 match in Brazil which Nigeria lost 0-2.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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