International Football
After teams’ arrivals; all set for Aisha Buhari Cup
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Eko Hotels, the place of abode for the six teams featuring at the inaugural invitational international football fiesta, the Aisha Buhari Cup is already bubbling with activities.
By Monday, all the five invited teams that will join the hosts, Super Falcons of Nigeria, have arrived.
For the tournament, the teams are in two pools – A and B. Nigeria heads the Pool A which also have Morocco and Mali. They play their round robin series at the remodelled water front stadium, the Mobolaji Johnson Arena that was previously named Onikan Stadium.
The Pool 2, head by South Africa has Cameroon and Ghana. Their matches will be played at the renovated Agege Stadium in Lagos mainland.
www.sportsvillagesquare.com brings to you points of interests on the participating teams.
NIGERIA
- The host team and leading lights in women’s football in Africa became the first African side to play at the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in China in 1991 after defeating all their opponents home-and-away in the qualifying series.
- For many years, the Super Falcons remained undefeated by any African side. They had a 28 match unbeaten run from their debut match of 16 February 1991 to 10 December 2002.
- Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala and Perpetua Nwokcha are record winners of the African Woman Footballer of the Year Award having each won four times.
- Nigerian women have won the African Woman’s Footballer of the Year Award more that women from other countries. In 17 editions, Nigerian women won 11 times.
- Nigeria’s Super Falcons have won the African Women’s Championships more than any other team. In 13 editions, they won 11 times.
MOROCCO
- Morocco have featured at two editions of the Women African Women Championships .
- Moroccan women drew their first ever international match, 1-1 with South Africa on 5 July 1998.
- Morocco’s biggest defeat, 8-0, was inflicted by Nigeria’s Super Falcons on 17 October 1998 in Kaduna.
Mali
Mali’s women’s national played their first international match against Cote d’Ivoire on 9 August 2002. It ended 2-2.
Mali’s biggest win was a 8-0 defeat of Guinea in Conakry on 23 February 2008.
Mali’s biggest loss was a 8-0 defeat by Nigeria on 9 April 2015 in Abuja
SOUTH AFRICA
- South Africa’s Banyana Banyana have featured in two Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016.
- South Africa won their very first international match, 14-0 against Swaziland (now Eswatini) on 30 May 1993.
- South Africa’s biggest win, 14-0 was against Comoros on 31 July 2019.
- South Africa’s biggest loss was 13-0 to China on 7 September 2003.
- South Africa won the COSAFA Women’s Champions four times in a row; 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
- Banyana Banyana of South Africa made their AWCON debut in 1995 and are beaten finalists a number of times: 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018. They also have five players that have played over 100 games for their country.
Desire Oparanozie from Nigeria and Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa won the Golden Boot at the 2014 and 2018 AWCON finals respectively, with five goals each.
GHANA
- Ghana’s women’s national is named Black Queens has qualified for three FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in 1999, 2003 and 2007 as well as reaching the final of the Women AFCON Cup thrice, in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
- Ghana’s Gabrielle Onguene, Galle Enganamouit and Ajara Nchout have three FIFA World Cup goals to their names.
- Ghana’s Black Queens were the ones that broke the 28-match winning streak of Nigeria’s Super Falcons in Africa when they defeated Nigeria 1-0 in Warri during the 2002 African Women’s Championship in Warri on 10 December 2002.
- Ghana’s first international match was a 5-1 loss to Nigeria on 16 February 1991 in Lagos.
- Ghana’s biggest win was a 13-0 defeat of Guinea in Conakry on 11 July 2004.
Ghana’s biggest loss was a a 11-0 loss to Germany on 22 July 2016.
- CAMEROON
- Cameroon have been runners-up at the African Women Championship four times in 1991, 2004, 2014 and 2016, losing to fierce rivals Nigeria on all occasions.
- Cameroon’s first international match was a 2-0 loss to Nigeria on 15 June 1991.
- Cameroon’s biggest win is a 8-1 defeat of Mozambique on 13 September 2018.
- Cameroon’s biggest loss was a 6-0 loss to Nigeria on 27 October 1998 in Kaduna and to France 10 October 2018 in Paris.
- Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses beat Ecuador 6-0 at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup to become the first African side to score so many goals in a single match in the history of the global soccer fiesta.
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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