International Football
CONTINENTAL FOOTBALL QUALIFIERS: AGAIN, NIGERIA FACE ANOTHER IVORIEN HURDLE
Thrice in a row, Cote d’Ivoire football teams have scuttled Nigerian teams’ advancement into global football tournaments. First, Cote d’Ivoire on Nigerian soil prevented the Super Falcons from getting into the final qualifying stages for the Tokyo 2020 women’s football tournament.
In Egypt, the Nigerian U-23 side was eliminated from the qualification for the men’s Olympic football tournament.
The U 20 team recently suffered the same fate as a late equalizer by Cote d’Ivoire in Benin Republic put Nigeria’s Flying Eagles’ qualification for the continental champions in danger.
Flying Eagles eventually crashed out. It is another WAFU-B u-17 tournament and the Nigerian side; the five-time world champions have Cote d’Ivoire as opposition.
Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire will file out for the first match of Group B of the West African Football Union (WAFU) B Tournament on Wednesday evening with both teams looking to pick up the three points at Lome’s Stade Municipal.
With the Group B having only three teams, just like the U-20 tournament in Benin Republic, and each team to play only two matches, it is a more difficult prospect and any team that loses its first game is on knife-edge and could be staring down the barrel of elimination from Day One.
Nigeria’s Head Coach Fatai Amoo is confident his rookies can step up to the billing with bookmakers believing the five-time world champions are favourites to take the lead in a pool that has two-time world champions Ghana as the other contenders.
“We know what we are in for – it is not going to be a stroll. This is a fierce competition going by the calibre of opponents we have to battle right from the group stage. However, if we must qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, we have to conquer all on our way to get there.
“Our focus is to get a good result from the first game and then consolidating as the tournament progresses. We are here for business; we will not under-rate any team or think there is a team that is too tough to conquer. Our objective on Wednesday is the three points at stake and then we take things from there.”
Three points on Wednesday would set the Eaglets on a good bounce at the tournament that always serves as qualifying competition for this year’s CAF U17 Cup of Nations taking place in the North African kingdom of Morocco.
It will also serve as a morale-booster ahead of the potentially explosive clash with arch rivals Ghana at the same venue on Saturday. Both countries have seven cadet world titles between them, and clashes between them at any level usually have an extra edge.
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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