International Football
ALBANIAN CLUB, KF TIRANA SACKS NIGERIA’S COACH NDUBUISI EGBO
The first African coach to take a team to the European Champions League, Ndubuisi Egbo, remained upbeat despite losing his job at KF Tirana just four matches into the new Albanian season.
The Nigerian, 47, led the club to their first league title in a decade back in July; becoming the first African coach to lead a European team to a league title and qualification to the Uefa Champions League or any European competition.
KF Tirana said the decision had been “taken due to poor performances in the last matches” and also thanked Egbo for “his dedication and title success last season”.
Egbo remained philosophical following his dismissal after losing the last two matches.
“I would like to thank the club for the opportunity to serve, which helped me become the first African to win a European title and end up managing in the Uefa Champions League and the Europa League,” Egbo told BBC Africa Sport.
“I don’t have any regrets or disappointment because I gave the maximum and the team did likewise, so I remain grateful to God for what we achieved and accomplished together.
“To the fans for their incredible and overwhelming support towards me and the team, I am grateful.
“The players for their wonderful and positive spirit all through our campaign last season, I say kudos to them all.
“Both those who made big impact and those with little impact, all of them as a team made it to happen with faith in God almighty. For now there is no regrets but grateful to all.”
From player to coach
Egbo won the Albanian league, the cup and Super Cup in three years as a player with KF Tirana.
After holding the coaching job on an interim basis many times before, he was appointed partway through the season in late 2019, with Tirana eighth in the 10-team division.
But the former Super Eagles keeper, who is a duel Nigerian-Albanian national, realised the local media had labelled his old team a ‘sinking ship’ got to work and swiftly turned things around by bringing a new attitude to the club.
Results improved as he guided the team to a 16-game unbeaten run, stepped things up by winning 20 out of 23 matches which culminated in FK Tirana being crowned the Kategoria Superiore champions in the 100th year of the club’s formation.
“It doesn’t happen by mistake that we pulled together and surprised the journalists who had written the team off,” said Egbo, who was dismissed after two wins and two defeats this season.
“I know it’s impossible to erase the history we created. For me as the first Nigerian, African to win a title in Europe. Creating more history by taking my team to Europe’s top two continental competitions cannot be erased.
“I know there are great days ahead in life. Better is not good enough, I believe the best is yet to come.”
A former Nigeria international who first came into prominence in south-eastern Enugu with NITEL Vasco da Gama, Egbo played for two of the premier teams in Lagos in NEPA and Julius Berger, before moving to Egypt to join Al-Masry.
He spent three years in the North African country and won the FA Cup there in 1998.
At international level, he earned a handful of caps and was part of Nigeria’s squad to consecutive Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2000 and 2002.
-BBC
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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