International Football
Kylian Mbappe steps out of Lionel Messi’s shadow
Cameroon born French player, Kylian Mbappe may not have emulated his hero, Pele as back-to-back winner of the World Cup, he was a hero in the 2022 World Cup final with Argentina.
That was a match that will not easily fade from memory. Had France won, it would have been the first time in 60 years that a defending champion achived success.
Brazil in 1962 were the last successful defending champions.
All the same, Mbappe’s s great show in Sunday’s final match leaves many to desire as the young France striker continues his blossom career after the duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo finally fades out.
Having been on the losing side in PSG’s final match of the UEFA Champions’ League to Bayern Munich three season ago, Sunday night at the Lusail stadium in Doha was another opportunity after a wonderful into the final match.
Lionel Messi and Neymar lighting up Ligue 1, the forward hasn’t been the club’s main superstar in the way he wanted to be and hasn’t been pleased with the role he’s been forced to play to facilitate the South American duo.
Things have been different with France though. Didier Deschamps has given him the status he wants on and off the pitch, and that had brought the best out of him in Qatar – prior to the final, he’d looked happier and better than ever.
Going up against Messi in football’s biggest game, Mbappe had the chance to firmly step out of his teammate’s shadow and cement his status as the world’s best, and while he may have ended up on the losing side, boy did he take it.
As has been the case at their club, Messi hogged the spotlight that Mbappe so craves heading into the final, with the fact that it was the Argentine’s last chance to win a World Cup overshadowing the fact that the Frenchman could win his second at the age of 23.
That remained the case when the ball get rolling with him having just five touches before the 35-year-old gave his team the lead from the penalty spot.
He then got on the ball just four more times before former teammate Angel Di Maria made it 2-0, giving the South American team a comfortable lead that they fully deserved.
Along with being in the shadow of Messi and Neymar, another thing that has upset Mbappe at PSG has been the fact that he’s been used as a lone striker rather than being given a role allowing him more creative freedom.
Given that, things went from bad to worse for him when Didier Deschamps made him Les Blues’ centre forward before the first half was over, taking off Olivier Giroud. The match that every player dreams of playing in was fast becoming a nightmare.
It looked more and more like that would be the story of his second World Cup final as the second half went on. And then he decided to write a new one.
He gave his country a glimmer of hope when he made it 2-1 from the spot with 10 minutes remaining and turned that glimmer into so much more with a moment of magic a minute later.
What says just as much about how obscenely good he is as his stunning finish is the fact that you could see it coming as soon as the ball fell to him on the edge of the box. There are precious few players that wouldn’t surprise you by scoring such a goal, and he’s already one of them.
Unfortunately for him, another plays for Argentina, and Messi looked to have broken French hearts when he got his second of the game, scoring what looked set to be arguably the most significant goal of all time.
Once again though, Mbappe had other ideas, staying remarkably cool when handed another penalty.
He then made it three from three when he stepped up to take the first in the shootout that followed. His job was done, and he now had to rely on his team-mates.
They couldn’t come through, with the two that followed him failing to score, but that didn’t take anything away from his own heroics.
On the biggest of stages, he went toe to toe with the greatest player of all time and was every bit as good, at the ripe old age of 23.
Messi is magnificent, but so too is Mbappe, and he’s only getting started.
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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