International Football
WAFU CUP: VENGEANCE-SEEKING SUPER EAGLES TACKLE TOGO’S SPARROW HAWKS AGAIN
Exactly a week after Togo’s Sparrow Hawks upset the formbooks by inflicting a 4-1 defeat on Nigeria in the African Nations Championships, both teams meet again in another setting.
The Super Eagles B are primed to face the Sparrow Hawks of Togo on Sunday in both teams’ first match at the WAFU Cup of Nations in Thies, Senegal and Nigeria’s Head Coach is upbeat about the opportunity provided by a second meet within one week.
Coach Imama Amapakabo, who spoke to thenff.com at the team’s Le Saly Hotel base in Saly-Mbour, said the opportunity to meet the Togolese is cherished as it gives the opportunity to properly test his team’s level of improvement.
He said: “There’s nothing like revenge in football. My belief is that no two games that can be the same; once one game is over, it is gone.
“And so meeting Togo again is not really a case of getting the opportunity to revenge but an opportunity to check what lessons learnt from the previous encounter with that team.
“I can confidently say that we have learnt our lesson from what happened in Lome and that will definitely reflect in how we handle tomorrow’s (Sunday) game.
“Now we know them a lot better and they equally know us better than they did. The good thing is that we are meeting on a neutral ground and this gives both teams opportunity to play without any inhibition.”
Nigeria’s home-based senior players arrived in Saly via Dakar on Thursday for the 2nd WAFU-FOX Cup of Nations, which began in the Senegalese city of Thies on Saturday.
The updated fixtures put Nigeria against Togo with kick off fixed for 7pm (6pm Nigerian time) at the Stade Lat Dior Thies.
Eagles suffered a 4-1 lashing by the Hawks in a 2020 African Nations Championship qualifying match in Lome last Sunday.
Nigerians expect the tables to turn and that is what is on offer from Amapakabo and the team captained by Mfon Udoh.
“We go into every game with the mindset to win and this will not be any different. We are a lot better than we were last week as a team.
“We are better physically and psychologically. I believe the players are in a better state of mind too to handle whatever comes up on the pitch.”
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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