International Football
ITALY’S RECORD WINNING RUN ENDS WITH BOSNIA DRAW IN NATIONS LEAGUE
Italy’s all-time record run of consecutive wins came to an end on Friday (Sept 4) with a 1-1 draw in their opening UEFA Nations League match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Roberto Mancini’s side had won their last 11 matches coming into the clash at the all-but empty Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, with their last fixture a 9-1 hammering of Armenia in their final qualifying match for the postponed Euro 2020.
Stefano Sensi levelled for the hosts midway through the second half after Bosnia forward Edin Dzeko had opened the scoring but the ‘Azzurri’ couldn’t find the finishing touch in the League A, Group 1 match to stretch their streak of wins beyond the coronavirus-enforced break in international football.
“We’re disappointed not to win, but there was no sharpness… our winning streak had to end sooner or later, and we’re glad it came with a draw and not a defeat,” said Mancini.
Italy came into the game missing Marco Verratti, Sandro Tonali and Federico Bernadeschi, while Mancini preferred Andrea Belotti to head the attack rather than European Golden Shoe winner Ciro Immobile.
Belotti had very little to work with as the hosts struggled to break down a stubborn if unadventurous Bosnia shorn of their star midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who tested positive for Covid-19 after signing for Barcelona from Juventus last month.
Under new coach Dusan Bajevic, the away side did little more than launch long passes for Dzeko, who plays in Italy with Roma. They didn’t register a single shot on target in the first half.
However after giving Italy a warning seconds after the break when Armin Hodzic clipped the post from a tight angle, the away side struck first through Dzeko.
The 34-year-old scored his 59h goal for his national team by lashing home after a 57th-minute corner which was allowed to be flicked on twice by a dozing Italy defence.
A stroke of luck put Italy back level 10 minutes later, with Stefano Sensi’s shot flying past Ibrahim Sehic thanks to a big deflection off the unfortunate Toni Sunjic.
The equaliser seemed to wake Italy up and Sehic had to be at his best to deny Alessandro Florenzi in the 71st minute when the Roma full-back burst through but couldn’t force his shot past the Konyaspor stopper.
Florenzi’s Roma teammate Nicolo Zaniolo came on for Federico Chiesa soon after and in the 75th minute came within inches of giving Italy the lead when he steered his header from a mishit Insigne shot just wide.
Italy next take on the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Monday after the Dutch beat Poland 1-0 in their match to top the group.
-AFP
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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