International Football
NIGERIA’S SUPER FALCONS MANAGER, DENNERBY PROMISES BEST EVER WORLD CUP SQUAD
Head Coach of the Super Falcons, Thomas Dennerby has revealed that the target for the Super Falcons at the 8thFIFA Women’s World Cup finals in France this summer is to surpass the performance of every Nigerian team that has been at the championship previously.
Speaking during a parley with the media at the team’s camp, Pennsylvania Avenue Hotel, Utako, the Swede insisted that having surpassed the target he set for the team at the 2018 Women Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana by winning the title, he also hopes the team will excel at in France
“When I arrived in Nigeria, I said that first we needed to qualify for the World Cup at the AFCON, and then try to win it, and we eventually did both. For France, when you set a target, you have to be honest and set a target that everyone can meet. So far, the only target we have set is that we want to be the very best Nigerian team that has even been to the World Cup. That is our target”.
Dennerby lauded the Nigeria Football Federation for organising various pre-World Cup camps for the nine-time African champions in preparation for the France 2019 World Cup in June and also shared his experience from the camps.
“I am really happy that the NFF helped us with the camps and the tournaments. We have had China camp, we had Cyprus camp, we go to Spain next week and we also have the final camp in Austria. One experience from our game against Belgium in Cyprus is that we will not play a lower defence line.”
He however noted that it is too early to determine how many home –based professionals will be in the World Cup team. “It is hard to say because it is still three and half months away.”
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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