International Football
As football events of Olympics kicks off, US women eye revenge over familiar foes, Sweden
United States captain Becky Sauerbrunn said the pain of their 2016 Olympic quarter-final loss to Sweden was driving her on ahead of the opening game between the two countries at the Tokyo Games.
Sauerbrunn was part of the team beaten on penalties by Sweden five years ago in Brazil, a loss that snapped a run of three successive Olympic titles for the US.
“I think what happened in 2016 was one of the worst results the senior national team has had in an international tournament,” Sauerbrunn told a news conference on Tuesday (July 20).
“For me it lit a fire going into 2019 and 2020… and going into this. It’s rich that we get to play them (Sweden) in our first game.”
Wednesday’s match at Tokyo Stadium will be the ninth meeting between the two nations at the World Cup or Olympics, making Sweden the Americans’ most frequent foe at a major tournament.
“Sweden in general is just a great squad so I’m excited we get to see them again,” said Sauerbrunn, set to win her 189th international cap.
“They’ve got dynamic forwards. I’m just really looking forward to the battle. They’re special players, (Stina) Blackstenius, (Sofia) Jakobsson, (Lina) Hurtig…”
The US have won four of six gold medals since the introduction of women’s football to the Olympic programme in 1996, and also finished runners-up to Norway in 2000.
Megan Rapinoe is arguably the most recognisable member of a 22-player squad that also includes Alex Morgan, who gave birth to her first child in May of last year.
Coach Vlatko Andonovski has won 22 of 23 games since replacing Jill Ellis in October 2019. The US have conceded just four goals in that time, with Sweden accounting for three of them.
The Skopje-born Andonovski began his tenure with a 3-2 victory over the Swedes in Columbus, while the most recent encounter resulted in a 1-1 draw in Stockholm in April when Rapinoe equalised with a late penalty.
“I think our team is very fortunate to have played as many games as we have,” said the 36-year-old Sauerbrunn, a two-time World Cup champion and 2012 Olympic gold medallist.
“It’s hard to replicate a game scenario. It has allowed us to form chemistry and work on tactics and dig down into those details that are so important.
“(But) going into a tournament you never know what’s going to happen.”
After dumping the US out in Brazil, Sweden scraped past the hosts in another shootout to reach the final before losing 2-1 to Germany.
Sweden’s run to the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup secured their ticket to Tokyo, where they will be led by the vastly experienced Caroline Seger, the nation’s all-time record holder with 215 international appearances.
“The US brings the best when they need to be the best,” said Seger. “It’s going to be a very tough game for us tomorrow but we’re going to be prepared.”
Sweden have held their own against the US in recent times, with seven of the past eight clashes decided by one goal or fewer.
“I just know that all the games we’ve played against them we’ve been very good,” said Seger.
“We know we have to be prepared for those games and step up to a level that is very high. It’s going to be very intense.”
Australia take on New Zealand in the other game in Group G, with the top two from each of the three sections advancing to the quarter-finals along with two third-placed sides.
Reigning champions Germany failed to qualify for the tournament, while Japan return as hosts after missing out on the 2016 edition.
Britain will field a team comprised primarily of England players, with European champions and World Cup finalists the Netherlands making their Olympic debut.
Chile and Zambia are also participating for the first time, as China, Brazil and 2016 bronze medallists Canada complete the 12-team competition.
-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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