International Football
SUPER EAGLES IN EARLY MORNING WALK AT DNIPRO, UKRAINE
The Nigerian Super Eagles are set for their first post Africa Cup of Nations’ match as a rebuilding process begin ahead of qualifying ties for the 2022 World Cup and the 2012 Nations Cup tournament.
According to a media release from the Communication Department of the NFF, the Super Eagles have arrived in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine ahead of Tuesday’s international friendly with Ukraine.
It will be the first ever encounter of Nigeria and Ukraine at Grade A level. The two teams however met at the last Under 20 World Cup in Poland.
Sports Village Square gathered that there are 18 players at an early morning team walk that the Super Eagles had on Sunday.
The team is largely an experimental one as the technical crew attempts to plug holes picked in the last Africa Cup of Nations’ tournament.
According to the NFF, the Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr has fixed 5.30pm on Sunday for the team’s first training session, when all 22 players would be fully assembled in Ukraine’s third city.
At Sunday morning’s team walk were goalkeepers Francis Uzoho, Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Maduka Okoye, defenders William Ekong, Jamilu Collins, Leon Balogun and Bryan Idowu, midfielders Alex Iwobi, Joseph Aribo, Oghenekaro Etebo and Anderson Esiti, and forwards Joshua Maja, Samuel Kalu, Paul Onuachu, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, Emmanuel Dennis and Moses Simon.
Spain –based defender Chidozie Awaziem arrived the team’s hotel, ahead of defenders Olaoluwa Aina and Oluwasemilogo Ajayi, and Kelechi Iheanacho who were being expected at just after noon.
The training session will hold at FC Dnipro’s training ground at Dnipropetrovsk, within the Pridniprovsk housing estate.
Tuesday’s clash will take place at the 31,000 –capacity Dnipro Arena, home ground of top club FC Dnipro, and will kick off at 9.30pm Ukraine time (7.30pm in Nigeria).
It is the first assemblage of the three –time African champions since finishing third and with the bronze medals at the first –ever 24 –team Africa Cup of Nations staged by Egypt June/July this year.
For the Super Eagles, the game also serves as part of the preparation for November’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying duels with the Squirrels of Benin Republic and the Crocodiles of Lesotho.
Meanwhile, Turkish Airline management has promised to deliver to Dnipro before Tuesday the Nigeria team’s kit bags and luggage of six players that failed to arrive with the team from Istanbul on Saturday.
Team Administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor, told thenff.com: “Our kit bags did not arrive with us from Istanbul. The bags of six players also did not arrive, but we have alerted Turkish Airline and they have promised to deliver them to us in Dnipro between Sunday and Monday.”
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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