International Football
It’s another Super Eagles’ anniversary
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
While this Monday 28 June brings back the sad memory of Super Eagles’ biggest World Cup flop, a 4-1 defeat by Denmark on this date at France ‘98, the team can also look back at its own anniversary as the Nigerian national football team became 72 years old at the weekend.
It was on 26 June 1949 that the team, then referred to as the ‘International Group’ was first composed when the Selection Committee of the then Nigeria Football Association, (NFA) announced the names of 17 of the 18 players that composed Nigeria’s first national team, which became the famed UK Tourists.
The 18th player, Okoronkwo Kanu whose surname was often anglicized as Kanoo was added five days later (2 July 1949)
Even though his choice was controversial as he was perceived to have passed his prime, he was the most learned of the lot and acted as the team secretary.
The Nigerian first ever national team was selected after the existing three regions – North, West and East as well as the then Lagos and Districts Football Association were asked to present the best players in their regions for inter-regional matches.
On June 26, 1949 the names of the players selected from those matches were announced as the first Nigerian national team composed to go on a goodwill tour of the United Kingdom. That was the beginning of what is now the Super Eagles.
Thirteen of the 18 players were from Lagos clubs. Two, Isaac Akioye and Olisa Chukwurah, were from the West. Two were from the East and one from the North.
Led by Captain Donald H. Holley, the NFA Chairman, the team travelled out of the country on August 16, 1949 and arrived Liverpool on Monday August 29. While on board of the Elder Dempster ship, MV Apapa, the players kept fit by running round the deck four times every morning and evening during the two-week voyage.
The tour by the Nigerian team to the UK was the first by any black or African country. It was later followed by those of Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1951, Uganda in 1956 and The Caribbean in 1959.
For their matches, the Nigerian team wore olive green jerseys atop white shorts. Symbolically, it is the olive green shirt that current Super Eagles have inadvertently adopted as their second strip.
While in the UK, the Nigerian team played nine matches against British amateur clubs. Those matches are however not regarded as official games. Nigeria’s first Grade A match was played on October 8, 1949 with Sierra Leone while the UK Tourists made a stopover in Freetown in their return voyage.
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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