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Breaking! Five-times World Cup Finalist And Brazil Soccer Legend Mario Zagallo Dies At Age 92 –

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Breaking! Five-times World Cup Finalist And Brazil Soccer Legend Mario Zagallo Dies At Age 92 -

Mario Zagallo, who reached the World Cup final a record five times, winning four, as a player and then a coach with Brazil, has died. He was 92.

The first person to win the World Cup both as a player and a manager, Zagallo is for many Brazilian soccer fans a synonym of patriotism, grit and glory.

Brazilian soccer confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement in the early hours of Saturday confirming Zagallo’s death that Zagallo “is one of the biggest legends” of the sport.

“We offer solidarity to his family members and fans in this moment of grief for the departure of this great hero of our soccer,” Rodrigues said. Several Brazilian clubs where Zagallo played and coached also expressed their sorrow for his death.

Zagallo’s social media channels called him “a dedicated father, a loving grandfather, a caring father-in-law, a loyal friend, a victorious professional and a great human being.”

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“A gigantic hero. A patriot that leaves us a legacy of great achievements,” the text added, without giving more details about Zagallo’s death.

One of the most charismatic and superstitious figures in Brazilian football, he also was known for his fondness of the No. 13.

He said 13 was his lucky number because it carries the last two digits of his birth year: 1931. He always highlighted any link, however coincidental, between 13 and his football successes.

Zagallo played a role in nearly every major chapter in Brazilian football history, from its first World Cup title in 1958 to the tournament it hosted in 2014. Former Brazil coach Tite visited him to hear his advice before taking the team to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

He was Brazil’s forward when it won the World Cup in 1958 in Sweden and 1962 in Chile, and was one of the first players to act as a false winger, playing between midfielders and strikers.

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Zagallo stopped playing professionally in 1965 and began his coaching career with Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo the following year.

Named national team coach in 1970, just before the World Cup in Mexico, he inherited a squad that included Pelé, Jairzinho, Gerson, Roberto Rivellino and Tostão. Brazil crushed Italy 4-1 in the final, becoming the first three-time champion.

He also coached Brazil in 1974, but without Pelé, the team finished in fourth place.

Zagallo was assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Parreira when Brazil won the 1994 World Cup in the United States, again beating Italy in the final.

And he was back at the helm four years later for the World Cup in France, when Brazil lost 3-0 to the hosts in a final marked by striker Ronaldo’s unexplained convulsions before the game. Zagallo was criticized for letting Ronaldo play.

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“He was cleared to play by the doctors,” Zagallo said. “Anyone in my position would have done the same thing. I wasn’t going to be the one keeping him from playing in a World Cup final.”

His final coaching role with the national team was as Parreira’s assistant in 2006. Brazil was a pre-tournament favorite to win its sixth World Cup title in Germany. But the squad led by Ronaldinho, Kaká, Ronaldo and Adriano fell to France in the quarterfinals.

Zagallo was one of the few coaches who had successful coaching stints with all four traditional Rio clubs – Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama.

He began his career as a striker with Rio’s America and later also played for Flamengo and Botafogo, one of the few Brazilian clubs which rivaled Pele’s Santos in the 1960s.

Zagallo was hospitalized for more than a month in 2005 after undergoing stomach surgery.

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Four years earlier he was placed under medical care for an irregular heartbeat while coaching Flamengo.

He spent 12 days in a hospital just before the 2014 World Cup because of a back infection, released just in time to watch the opening match. He served in an ambassadorial role for that tournament.

Zagallo was hospitalized for 22 days in August of last year due to a urinary infection. Upon his return to his home in Rio, he was filmed in a wheelchair.

“We are stronger than ever!,” he said then in a posting on his social media channels, which ended in his career motto, “You will have to put up with me!”

-Associated Press

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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South Africa plans for ‘Mother-of-all-Battle’ in final Olympic qualifier with Nigeria –

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South Africa plans for ‘Mother-of-all-Battle’ in final Olympic qualifier with Nigeria -

Banyana Banyana game plan was to either beat the Super Falcons at home as they did two years ago in Lagos or earn a draw in Friday’s first leg match of Olympic qualifier in Abuja.

 

That did not happen as Rasheedat Ajibade’s penalty kick earned Nigeria an outright 1-0 win over South Africa – a first win since the Super Falcons’ 1-0 win in Limbe, Cameroon in 2016.

 

But according to an account in the South African Football Association website, “Banyana Banyana will have to give it all in the second leg.”

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It reported that Banyana Banyana came back from the first half break a much more improved side but failed to convert the few chances that came their way.

 

“Outstanding goalkeeper Kaylin Swart had to work overtime to deny the hosts from extending their lead.

“Despite creating numerous chances for an equaliser, the game ended 1-0 for the Super Falcons.”

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The two African giants will lock horns for the second leg on Tuesday at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria where coach Desiree Ellis’ charges will be hoping to overturn the deficit.

 

Coach Ellis believes they are still in the game and can turn things around in the second leg on Tuesday.

“Look, we said it was going to be a tight game but we are hopeful of overturning this result in the second leg.”

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“We are still in the game. We created a couple of chances, a penalty decided the match but the game is not over.

 

“I thought in the second half we raised our game a lot and created good chances and could have equalized.

 

“Maybe we could also have gotten a penalty at the end when Jermaine was fouled but I’m very proud of the team and we will take it back to Pretoria,” said Ellis.

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Nigeria’s Super Falcons on slippery path to Paris 2024 –

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Nigeria’s Super Falcons on slippery path to Paris 2024 -

Nigeria’s Super Falcons beat Banyana Banyana of South Africa 1-0 in their first leg of the final qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The return leg comes up on Tuesday in Pretoria.

The South Africans consider the result a good one going into the final qualifier.

Skipper of the side, Rasheedat Ajibade scored the lone goal from a penalty spot in the 43rd minute.

It is Nigeria’s first outright defeat of South Africa since 2018 when Nigeria excelled in an ensuing penalty shootout after a goalless draw in the final match of the Africa  Cup of Nations in Ghana.

In their next two matches.

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First, they pulled off a big upset beating Nigeria 4-2 to win the Aisha Buhari Cup in Lagos in September 2021 and followed up with another 2-1 win in a Group C match at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

 

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Tragedy hits South African football as international player is shot dead! –

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Tragedy hits South African football as international player is shot dead! -

Former South Africa junior international Luke Fleurs, who played for the country’s most popular club Kaizer Chiefs, has been killed in an attempted hijacking in Johannesburg, police officials confirmed on Thursday.

The 24-year-old was shot in the chest at a petrol station on Wednesday night and the assailants drove off in his vehicle.

“While waiting to be served by the petrol attendant, he was confronted by two armed males,” police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo told reporters, adding no arrests had yet been made.

Centre back Fleurs played every minute for South Africa at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, and that same year was called up to the senior team for World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia, though he did not make it off the bench and was uncapped.

“We woke up to the heartbreaking and devastating news of the passing of this young life. This is such a huge loss for his family, friends, his teammates and football in general. We are all grieving this young man’s passing,” South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan said in a statement.

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South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture, Zizi Kodwa said he was “saddened that yet another life has been cut short due to violent crime”.

Fleurs joined Chiefs from SuperSport United in October, having come through the Ubuntu Football Academy in Cape Town.

-Reuters

 

 

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