International Football
Australia edge Peru on penalties to claim World Cup spot
Australia’s dancing substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne saved the last penalty to clinch a place at this year’s World Cup in Qatar as they edged Peru 5-4 in a shootout following a 0-0 draw after extra time in an inter-continental playoff on Monday.
Redmayne danced across the goal-line before diving to the right to stop a penalty from Alex Valera and hand Australia a deserved victory at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Redmayne had been brought on three minutes from the end of the game for the shootout and became an instant hero with his antics on the line as he looked to distract the rival kickers.
He danced up and down, wiggling his hips and throwing his arms about in a throwback to the clowning antics of Liverpool’s Bruce Grobbelaar when they won the European Cup in 1984.
It was enough for Luis Advincila to fire his effort against the post and then Valera to have his effort saved as Australia qualified for a fifth successive World Cup and a sixth in total.
They will play in World Cup Group D with holders France, Denmark and Tunisia. The finals run from Nov. 21-Dec. 18.
“I am just so proud of the players,” said Australia coach Graham Arnold. “Really no one knows what these boys have been through to get here, it was so hard, the whole campaign. The way they stuck at it, the way they committed themselves, brilliant.”
Australia’s Martin Boyle had missed their first penalty but they converted the next five to silence the thousands of Peru fans who had travelled for the game and provided noisy support but saw their team conjure up few opportunities
Instead, a workmanlike Australia dominated the early exchanges, with winger Boyle twice cutting through the Peruvian defence to provide teasing crosses.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with limited efforts on goal until the 80th minute when Australia suddenly had three good opportunities to win the match.
Ajdin Hrustic’s tame free kick was easily saved by Peru captain Pedro Gallese and five minutes later Aziz Behich broke through two tackles and suddenly found himself in front of goal but narrowly missed as he tried to curl his shot into the net.
Then a run down the left by Australia substitute Awer Mabil saw him slip the ball into the path of Hrustic but he did not get enough power on his shot and Gallese saved again.
Nine minutes into extra time Australia’s Mathew Ryan was finally tested by a stinging shot from Edison Flores that the goalkeeper saved.
Flores then headed against the post as the South Americans found an extra gear in the closing stages but they were still unable to settle the result after two hours of play, setting the stage for Redmayne to emerge as a hero.
Peru coach Ricardo Gareca said: “We had the expectation to make it, we were close but unfortunately it was not the case.
“We are flooded with pain. We gave our utmost. They emptied their tanks and we feel deceived we are out of the World Cup. We wanted to avoid the penalty shootout.”
The single game playoff between the fifth-placed finishers in Asian and South American qualifying determined the 31st place at this year’s World Cup.
On Tuesday, the last place at the finals will be decided when Costa Rica and New Zealand clash in their inter-continental playoff, also at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
-Reuters
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
How time flies! It’s 32 years since Okocha’s debut for Super Eagles
Spain’s drumbeat falls silent as superfan Manolo ‘el del Bombo’ dies at 76
Fourteen-year-old Senegalese footballer dies after cardiac arrest during match in France
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- OBITUARY1 week ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- feature1 week ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu
- U-20 FOOTBALL3 days ago
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles set to begin 8th African title chase
- CAF Champions League1 week ago
Al Ahly, Sundowns brace for Cairo showdown with final spot on the line
- NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL19 hours ago
It will be the best of the best as Ogun State fine-tunes operations for the 22nd National Sports Festival
- DIPLOMACY3 days ago
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI meets with members of the Sahel States Alliance