International Football
Demand for Argentina soar…$1,000 for an Argentina jersey?
Newly crowned World Cup champions Argentina have not only scored big at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, but also in retail stores here as well.
La Albiceleste’s blue-and-white home jersey, worn by the players when they beat France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw in the final on Sunday night, is sold out in a number of online and physical stores here.
Some resellers are offering the jerseys at inflated prices ranging from the mid-hundreds to close to $5,000 at online marketplaces such as Carousell.
For example, a listing on Carousell, posted around 2am on Monday, offers a set comprising an Argentina home jersey, underwear, a pair of socks and pants for $4,989. Another listing, posted around 3pm on Monday, has a $1,000 price tag for a home jersey.
Checks by The Straits Times showed the Argentina replica home World Cup jersey sells for at least $95 while the authentic version worn by the players costs at least $190.
Adidas Singapore’s country manager Ruiyuan Chen said both jerseys, as well as the kids’ home jersey, have sold out in its web and physical stores.
As of Monday afternoon, there was still limited stock for its purple away jerseys at the Adidas Brand Centre Orchard store, online and selected sporting good retailers.
“With the Argentina team’s strong performances week-on-week and it being the final Fifa World Cup match in Lionel Messi’s footballing career, we’ve seen sustained high demand for Argentina jerseys throughout the tournament,” Chen added.
Sporting goods stores that ST spoke to at Peninsula Shopping Centre – a favourite haunt for sports memorabilia – on Monday said the home jerseys have been sold out since last week and they expect demand to increase in the next few months.
Kuljeev Johal, general manager at Crown Sports, said about 30 fans had inquired about the availability of the jerseys on Sunday.
“It’s normal after every World Cup to see demand for the jerseys of the two teams in the final. Jerseys for the team that win will be in demand for a good six months to a year,” he said.
Over at Champion Sports, its director Anil Kumar said at least five people had inquired about the home jerseys on Monday morning. While the store still has six to seven pieces of the away jersey, he expects them to sell out soon.
To meet the growing demand, the stores are restocking the jerseys, which are expected to arrive in early January.
Rajbir Chopra, sales director at Weston Corp, which has seven stores islandwide, said its new stocks will arrive in March.
Chopra said “consumers want a piece of history” as this was Messi’s last World Cup, adding that the new jerseys will have an additional star printed on them – to signify their third World Cup triumph on Sunday.
While France were the losing finalists in Doha, sales of their jersey have been strong.
A Nike spokesman said the item is currently sold out online and in stores.
-Straitstimes
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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