International Football
Festival of Champions, FIFA Confederations Cup Kicks Off
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Virtually every participant is a champion. It serves as a convergence of continental champions, World Cup holders and World Cup next hosts.
It is a dress rehearsal for the 2018 World Cup. It is the unfolding of what should be expected when Russia hosts the World Cup next year.
Eight teams from all the continents gather for the competition. In Group A are Russia, the hosts, New Zealand, Portugal and Mexico. Group B has Cameroon, Chile, Australia and Germany.
This edition has a different complexion from the previous ones. It is the first Confederations Cup to involve three teams from the same confederation, in this case UEFA. Each of the last four editions featured only two European sides.
The 10th edition of the Confederation Cup (eighth under the name as the first two editions were called Intercontinental Cup) kicks off on Saturday with Russia facing New Zealand in Saint Petersburg at 4pm, Nigerian time.
It is an encounter that brings to memory a similar encounter 35 years ago when the then Soviet Union beat New Zealand 3-0 at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
The odds weight heavily in favour of Russia who are appearing in the competition for the first time. No host team has lost its opening match since the 2001 edition when France beat Korea Republic 5-0.
Sports Village Square recalls that three out of nine Confederations Cup competitions have been won by the host nation, namely Mexico in 1999, France in 2003 and Brazil in 2015.
Since 2001, the home sides have recorded three wins and one draw in the last four editions. New Zealand are still looking for their first victory in the Confederations Cup.
In nine matches spanning three previous participations, they secured just one draw against Iraq in 2009, after losing eight in a row.
The All Whites netted their last goal on June 20, 2003, edging ahead against Colombia through Raf De Gregorio before ultimately losing 3-1. The Kiwis have since played four matches and a total of 423 minutes without finding the net.
TEAM FACTS
RUSSIA are making their bow in the tournament.
This is the first Confederations Cup to involve three teams from the same confederation, in this case UEFA.
Each of the last four editions featured only two European sides.
Three out of nine Confederations Cups have been won by the host nation, namely Mexico in 1999, France in 2003 and Brazil in 2015.
NEW ZEALAND are participating in their fourth Confederations Cup after the 1999, 2003 and 2009 editions, although they have never made it beyond the opening round.
Of the nine Confederations Cup fixtures they have contested, New Zealand lost the first eight before achieving a 0-0 draw with Iraq in their last group game at the 2009 tournament.
The All Whites qualified for the Confederations Cup on 11 June 2016, when they won the OFC Nations Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory over Papua New Guinea.
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
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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
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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
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