International Football
Will SUPER EAGLES MAKE IT A PERFECT FINISH?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Super Eagles of Nigeria’s encounter this Friday with Algeria may just hold greater importance than a mere formality fixture it paints. With qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup ticket already secured, the team plays for pride and to maintain records.
It has been 4,891 days since Nigeria last lost a World Cup qualifying match. Avoiding a defeat this Friday will stretch the record by over 700 days when the qualifiers for Qatar 2022 will commence.
Not only that, the Super Eagles would have extended their record World Cup qualify unbeaten streak to 35 matches.
In a match that captain of the team, Mikel Obi will hit a milestone 80 international matches, a win, or worse still, avoiding a defeat will not only once again in three consecutive World Cup qualification series give Nigeria a clean sheet, a tradition of avoiding a defeat in Nigeria’s captain’s 80th match will be maintained.
Only three other players attained the 80-match mark. They are the late Muda Lawal, Joseph Yobo and Vincent Enyeama, all at one time or the other, captains of Nigeria’s teams.
Muda Lawal ended his international career after 86 matches. His 80th match was a friendly match with Cote d’Ivoire on June 16, 1985. Nigeria pulled a goalless draw.
The next player to hit the 80-match mark was Joseph Yobo when Nigeria faced Madagascar in Antananarivo in an Africa Cup of Nations’ duel on September 3, 2011. Nigeria not only won the match 2-0, Joseph Yobo marked his 80th match with the opening goal of the game.
Next was Vincent Enyeama whose 80th cap was also an away match. A World Cup qualifying match in Nairobi in which he kept a clean sheet and Nigeria won the June 5, 2013 encounter 1-0.
Will Mikel’s 80th cap also be marked on a sweet note for Nigeria? The 100th cap matches had not been that sweet.
It was on the day that Yobo clocked 100th match that Nigeria crashed out of the World Cup just as Enyeama’s 100th cap celebration was spoilt in front of home crowd in Uyo when Uganda shocked Nigeria 0-1.
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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