International Football
AS NEYMAR HITS 100TH CAP MARK, SINGAPORE IS HIS ‘LUCKY’ HUNTING GROUND
Singapore was where Brazil superstar Neymar restarted his international career after a heart-breaking injury at the 2014 World Cup on home soil.
That October, he scored all four goals as the Selecao beat Japan 4-0 before he went on to win La Liga, the King’s Cup and the Champions League with Barcelona that season.
The 27-year-old considers the Republic his lucky ground, and hopes Singapore will provide one more turning point in his career as he guns for another spectacular showing when the Selecao play Senegal at the National Stadium tonight as part of the Brazil Global Tour.
At the pre-match press conference, Neymar, who is expected to start up front alongside Roberto Firmino and Gabriel Jesus, said: “I expect to score more and that Singapore will give me luck again.”
Towards the end of last season, he was beset with problems. The Brazilian clashed with fans at Paris Saint-Germain as speculation mounted of a possible return to his former club Barcelona, was accused of rape and then suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of the Copa America which Brazil won.
For someone touted to replace Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the world’s best footballer, his star looked on the wane.
But like he has done a few times before, Neymar is dusting himself off and knuckling down as he bids to bring more glory to club and country.
“I have been playing for the national team for almost 10 years and I have a lot of responsibility and carry a lot of pressure. I don’t hide any of this and if you look at my 10 years, I have developed a good chapter here.
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In his first five Ligue One games this season, he has scored four times, three of them match-winners. With all his goals scored after the 70th minute, it suggests he is switched on once again.
He said: “Unfortunately these last two years, I had two serious injuries and the recovery took so long.
“I prepared my mind to return to action but it was a really long summer for me. I prepared myself for every circumstance. I was prepared to leave or stay in Paris. I knew I needed to prepare myself. And now I have started this season in a really good way.
“Yeah, I believe that I can be the best in the world, and help Brazil be the best in the world.”
As with most talismanic players, when Neymar is on song, his teams are incredibly hard to beat.
Yesterday, when Selecao legend Bebeto presented him with a Brazil jersey bearing the number 100 and a golden plaque to commemorate him reaching a century of national team appearances tonight, Neymar was reflective even though he can look back at an amazing statistic: He has scored 61 international goals with Brazil losing only once when he has found the back of the net.
“There were disappointments, defeats, I made a lot of mistakes,” said Neymar, who is Brazil’s seventh-most capped player and third-highest goal scorer.
“I have been playing for the national team for almost 10 years and I have a lot of responsibility and carry a lot of pressure.
“I don’t hide any of this and if you look at my 10 years, I have developed a good chapter here. I had my time when I was a junior player and now, I am one of the most important players in the world.
“This is not a lack of humility. I think no one here is jealous about that and it was the same with me. I wasn’t jealous about this kind of players when I was a young player.
“If you are persistent, you believe in the battle, you can be victorious in the end. I’m very happy to reach the 100-cap mark.”
It was not all joy in the Brazil camp, though, as Reuters reported that coach Tite was unhappy over not being able to train at the National Stadium a day before the match
-The Straits Times
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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