International Football
FIFA BANNED-JACK WARNER THRILLED OVER US’ WORLD CUP ELIMINATION
Former longest serving FIFA executive committee member who later became the vice president, Jack Warner is celebrating the ouster of the United States’ team from the World Cup 2018.
It was the charges of corruption levied against the Trinidad and Tobago businessman that triggered off chains of events leading to the disgraceful exit of Warner from FIFA.
He was subsequently banned for life from football.
“I wanted to party,” Warner said in a Trinidad radio interview, which was reported by the Trinidad Express newspaper website. “I have not been in better spirits.
“”This is the happiest day of my life.” Warner, a former president of North American regional football group CONCACAF, was charged with wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering in a major US scandal that led to changes at FIFA and his being banned in September of last year.
So when the US squad lost 2-1 at Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday and were undone when Panama and Honduras took victories to pass them on the final table, Warner had a feeling of payback.
Warner said the Americans “reduced football in CONCACAF to a nightmare. They have used their government to help to dismember FIFA in a way that is unimaginable. And last night on the field of play Trinidad and Tobago reduced them to their knees.
“For me personally, it has reduced the US to a laughing stock… As far as I am concerned this is the beginning of the end for US football. Nobody in CONCACAF likes the US.”
Warner said he knew there was celebration in the United States at his downfall from football and he took pleasure in seeing the USA’s disappointing flop, the Americans missing out on their first World Cup since 1986.
“Last September 27 when the judge ruled against Jack Warner there was a party in the US, they were quite happy,” Warner said.
“Knowing that this has happened I wanted to go out and party as they partied last September when a judge ruled against me. I wanted to party. This was my personal feeling.”
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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