International Football
FLASHBACK: WHEN MESSI’S HOMETOWN TURNED BATTLE GROUND FOR ARGENTINA, BRAZIL
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The famous football legend, Lionel Messi is from Rosario, the battleground of an epic football confrontation between Argentina and Brazil on this date 18 June 1978 during the World Cup.
The 0–0 draw helped Argentina reach their second World Cup final and their first World Cup title.
There have always been intense football rivalry between the two countries and it spilled into a Maradona-Pele rivalry as football followers tried to ascertain who the best footballer was.
In the World Cup match played 42 years ago today, it was a tense goalless and virtually violent outing. So, both went into the last round of matches with three points each.
Then manipulations apparently began to unfold. The Group B of the second round was essentially a battle between Argentina and Brazil, and it was resolved in controversial circumstances.
In the first round of group games, Brazil beat Peru 3–0 while Argentina saw off Poland 2–0. Brazil and Argentina then played out a tense and violent goalless draw – also known as “A Batalha de Rosário” (“The Battle of Rosario”), so both teams went into the last round of matches with three points.
Argentina had an advantage that their match against Peru kicked off several hours after Brazil’s match with Poland. Brazil won their match 3–1, so Argentina could know that they had to beat Peru by four clear goals to go through to the final.
Argentina managed it with what some saw as a suspicious degree of ease. Trailing 2–0 at half time, Peru simply collapsed in the second half, and Argentina eventually won 6–0.
Rumours suggested that Peru might have been illicitly induced to lose because their goalkeeper, Ramon Quiroga was born in Argentina.
So, Brazil, were denied a final place by Argentina’s 6–0 win over Peru. In the third place match, Brazil beat Italy 2-1, to become the only team in the tournament that did not lose any game.
That prompted the Brazilian coach, Claudio Coutinho to dub the squad, the “moral champions”.
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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