International Football
Cape Verde Coach ‘Bubista’ plans to fire full cylinder at Super Eagles
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
While the Super Eagles were in action against Liberia on Friday afternoon in Lagos, Cape Verde national team at about the same time resumed training for the potentially crunchy match with Nigeria on Tuesday.
According to one of the leading newspapers in the chain of islands republic, Expresso das Ilhas, the training took place at the Adérito Sena Stadium.
It was the first training session for Tuesday’s match against Nigeria. www.sportsvillagesquare.com learnt from the publication that Tuesday’s match to be played at the Adérito Sena Stadium marks the return of the team nicknamed “Tubarões Azuis” (Blue Sharks) to São Vicente 20 years after the last official game.
Friday afternoon’s training, session was reportedly opened to the media and it started around 4pm local time, the possible kickoff time for Tuesday’s match.
The coach, Pedro Leitão, known in the football world as ‘Bubista’, remarked that he wanted the team at full strength to win the three points, after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with the Central African Republic.
“From the moment we finished the game in the Central African Republic, we started thinking about this game.
“Obviously we want to be as strong as possible to look for the three points. As we create opportunities with the Central African Republic, we are confident that we will also be able to create with Nigeria and any other team. We always enter the field with a spirit of victory”, he remarked.
Bubista hopes to have all players available on Tuesday.
In Friday’s training, the footballers were reportedly divided between training on the pitch to improve their physical condition or the work of recovery, taking into account that several of those called up played on Wednesday.
“It is also a day for us to start preparing for the game against Nigeria, to standardize our thinking so that, upon entering the field, we know what to do at each moment of the game, with team spirit and victory”, he pointed out.
One of the strikers, Ryan Mendes, was quoted as saying that the group was focused and hoped to get a victory in the team’s return to São Vicente, for an official game, two decades later.
“The group is excited and focused. We hope to play a good game and leave here with a victory for Cape Verde and for the people of São Vicente”, he remarked.
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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