International Football
Exclusive! Two players listed by Liberia are ineligible for Nigeria’s clash on Saturday
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
As the countdown continue to the Saturday World Cup qualifying match of Liberia Lone Star and the Super Eagles, www.sportsvillagesquare.com has discovered two ineligible players listed by Liberia for the potentially crunchy encounter.
In the 22-man list of the Liberians are two players who have had two yellow cards each in the ongoing World Cup qualifying series.
As per Article 15 paragraph 2 of Regulations FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition, the players have to miss the match with Nigeria.
The article reads: “If a player receives two cautions in two different matches, he will be automatically suspended from his team’s subsequent match.”
Abu Kamara, one of the foreign imports was cautioned in the 31st minute of their last World Cup qualifying match with Cape Verde.
It was the second yellow card the FC Makedonija of North Macedonia received in the series.
He had earlier been cautioned in the 1-0 win Liberia had against Central African Republic on 6 September. The referee of the match, Sékou Ahmed Touré gave Kamara a yellow card in the 45th minute of the match played in Douala.
Thus, making the caution received in the 10 October match with Cape Verde, the second one. He is to mandatorily miss the next match which is the encounter with Nigeria.
The same applies to Allen Njie, another midfielder. He was cautioned in the 55th minute of the 7 October match with Cape Verde in Accra.
He had earlier received a caution in the 3 September match with Nigeria in Lagos. He got the yellow card in te 43rd minute of the match.
Mandatorily, he was to miss the last match Liberia played in Cape Verde. However, he was not just fielded in that match, he was the captain.
Having featured in that match which Liberia lost 1-0, the result might still worsened for the team if the rule is applied in the strict sense of it.
Just as it happened to Nigeria in the 17 November 2018 match with Algeria, the result may be annulled and the match forfeited to Cape Verde with three goals to worsen the goal deficit the Liberians are having.
Alternatively, Allen Njie who plays for FC Aarau in Switzerland could be made to serve the match suspension on Saturday.
Article 15:4 of the competition’s regulations states: “Any suspension that cannot be served during this competition will be carried over to the representative team’s next official match.”
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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