International Football
SUPER EAGLES BEGIN WORLD CUP DRESS REHEARSAL
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The two November fixtures of the Super Eagles are more or less part of the team’s dress rehearsals for the Russia 2018 World Cup finals having last month picked the qualification ticket. The team assembles in Morocco from Monday in preparation for the tie with Algeria on Friday.
The match may not be of any significance to the World Cup, but it offers Gernot Rohr, the Super Eagles’ manager an opportunity to begin to shape his team for an expectedly challenging World Cup duels. The draw of the final competition will hold in 26 days time.
It is that time that the real three group stage opponents of the Super Eagles will emerge. If tradition is anything to go bye, the Super Eagles will draw one opponent from one of the five qualified teams from South America.
Apart from 1998, in the other four occasions that the Super Eagles qualified, Argentina had been a recurring decimal. In 1998, the South American opposition Nigeria drew was Paraguay. Playing Argentina in a friendly encounter after this Friday’s competitive duel with Algeria is therefore a good testing opportunity for a South American opposition in preparation for the World Cup.
The Super Eagles may also draw opposition from Asia whose style of play could be compared with that of a typical North African team. The dead rubber World Cup qualifying match with Algeria therefore has its usefulness in this regard.
That points to the importance of the match with Algeria apart from offering an opportunity for the Super Eagles to extend their unbeaten streak to 35 which will remain the second longest in the world after that of Spain’s 59.
Besides the encounters with Algeria and Argentina, the Super Eagles will need friendly matches with European countries to have a measure of what to expect as Nigeria will certainly draw a European team at the World Cup.
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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