International Football
HECTIC SCHEDULE AS FIFA BEGINS NIGERIA’S FACILITIES INSPECTION FOR 2020 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The inspection of facilities that Nigeria have to offer for the hosting of the 2020 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup has began in earnest.
The five-man team expected to arrive Lagos Monday evening was expected to inspect the hotel facilities at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos on Monday evening.
Sports Village Square reliable gathered that the visiting officials are expected to spend the night at the hotel where they will have a pre-inspection briefing as well as another meeting on finance and budget.
The inspection of facilities commences on Tuesday after the FIFA team must have checked out of the Eko Hotels and Suites.
Tuesday’s activities will begin at the construction site of
the waterfront Onikan Arena. This is easily the oldest existing sporting arena
in Nigeria which origin dates back to 1936 as the then Association Ground.
It was renamed the King George V (KGV) on April 12, 1952 after it got a facelift to commemorate the coronation of the English Monarch. It was renamed Lagos City Stadium in 1963. The great Pele of Brazil is one of the legends that have graced the turf at Onikan.
The structure was pulled down on June 7,1973. The reconstructed stadium was commissioned on October 2, 1982 and renamed Onikan Stadium, which was again pulled down in 2018 and again renamed, Onikan Arena as reconstruction is nearing completion.
From Onikan, the Medical Group of the visiting FIFA team will go to St. Nicholas Hospital, which proposed as one of the referral medical outfits, if Nigeria gets the nod.
According to information gathered by www.sportsvillagesquare.com, the inspection team moves to Campos Square on the Lagos Island. This is one of the five training sites proposed.
The other proposed training sites are Eagle Club in Surulere, Teslim Balogun Stadium, the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium and the University of Lagos Sports Centre.
After the inspection, the FIFA team and the NFF men will pay a courtesy call on the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide O. Sanwo-Olu.
Thereafter, the team leaves for the domestic wing of the Murtala Airport for a trip to Benin. They are expected to pay a courtesy call on the Governor of Edo State at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.
Thereafter, the inspection begins with the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, which like the Onikan Arena in Lagos, is undergoing reconstruction.
Originally, it was the Ogbe Stadium, inaugurated on December 7, 1968 before the name changed to Ogbemudia on May 18, 2001 when it was re-commissioned.
It is being rebuilt in preparation for the next edition of the National Sports Festival.
Even though originally commissioned in 1968, it has its remote history in 1952 when Chief Gaius Obaseki, chairman of Benin Divisional Government gave out £1,000 for the building.
The Benin Divisional Council also provided additional £1,000 for annual maintenance. Actual construction began in January 1967.
From the stadium, the FIFA team will proceed to the University of Benin sports centre, which is designated as training site along with the Western Boys College.
The medical group will inspect the Central Hospital Benin. From here, the team heads for Asaba by air and will lodge at Best Western Hotel.
.
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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