International Football
I WARNED AGAINST FIELDING OKWARAJI ON THE DAY HE DIED, SAYS PAT EKEJI
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Former Nigerian international who also coached the national team, Pat Ekeji, has revealed that he cautioned against the fielding of Samuel Okwaraji on the day he died in 1989.
The all-round sports personality whose featured in all aspects of football as a player, coach, teacher at the National Institute of Sports, sports writer and later administrator, informed www.sportsvillagesquare.com that the death of Okwaraji was unfortunate, but he cautioned against the fielding of the player on that fateful August 12, 1989 match.
Okwaraji would have been 55 last Sunday and his birthday was marked by Google search engine placing his image on its home page.
“I queried the wisdom of fielding Okwaraji in that match as he happened to have been, from what I gathered, on a visit home since the soccer season in Europe was on break.
“Obviously his body was not yet tuned-in for sporadic movements to which he was introduced to under take in that match.
“It was either he was assigned the role of roving mid-field play without boundaries or he was sucked-in with the flow of the game that his cardiovascular function got over laboured because the system was yet in “holiday” phase.
“It was unlikely he had cardiovascular mal or sub-function as this would have been detected by his club’s medical team in Europe.”
Dr. Pat Ekeji who had handled the national team in 1985 and later rose to the pinnacle of Nigerian sports administration as Director General of the National Sports Commission recalled his earlier teachings.
“I used to teach the subject of the science of high performance training at the NIS when I was there and it was a core and compulsory subject Student that coaches must pass in order to acquire the basic coaching certificate – then Grade 3 Certification.
“I do not know what teaching goes on there today but I think too that some coaches do not take advice from the medical team. I know this. There is need more education in this field for our coaches and this one reason I keep advocating for the return of the NSC.
“The NIS today is like a “motherless” child. I doubt if it gets any attention at all. That sector is one of the four pillars of our sport development.”
Samuel Okwaraji slumped and died on the field in the 81st minute of Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying duel with Angola.
Unknown
that he had died while he was stretched out of the field, Okwaraji was later
substituted by Ademola Adesina.
Sadly, the match at the Lagos National Stadium was Okwaraji’s first at the arena and it was the last time he lived. He was the only Nigerian player that got cautioned that day by Togolese referee Hounnake-Koussai.
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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