International Football
SAUDI ARABIA SACKS COACH, 9 DAYS TO WORLD CUP FINAL DRAW
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nine days to his featuring in the 2018 World Cup Final Draw, Edgardo Bauza, the Argentine coach of Saudi Arabia has been fired. He becomes the first of the anticipated 32 head coached to next year’s World Cup to be fired.
His sack is coming barely 24 hours after another hitherto World Cup bound, Ange Postecoglou of Australia resigned. Before the Wednesday sacking of Bauza, there had been dark clouds surrounding his future.
Last week, Sports Village Square carried a report sourced from Radio Rivadavia, Rosario, the Argentine home town of Lionel Messi where the now sacked coach denied speculations that he had abandoned his job with Saudi Arabia.
“We are preparing the best possible for the World Cup,” he clarified claiming that he continued in office and will go for the draw for the World Cup on December 1.
“I’m still the coach of Saudi Arabia, on the 29th we go to Russia for the draw, we are preparing the best for the World Cup, Radio Rivadavia reported him to have said.
“The news that had been sent to me came out in Argentina, I think it was a journalistic move, many things were said, we are planning and putting together everything that is going to come,” he said.
Bauza who is a former technical director of the Argentine team said that Saudi Arabia had “minimal chances” in the World Cup because being in the fourth pot will make the team face two top-level teams and admitted that he would not like to face Argentina.
But the initial speculations about his future with Saudi Arabia have now been confirmed. He took over the saddle barely two month ago when he replaced the Dutchman, Bert van Marwijk.
His short tenure with the Saudis had been of mixed fortunes. He coached Saudi Arabia in five friendly matches. The team won two and lost three matches. The Saudi FA is apparent not satisfied with his input.
. The former coach, van Marwijk helped the Saudi team called Green Falcons qualify for Russia 2018, which will be their fifth FIFA World Cup and first since Germany 2006.
Saudi Arabia will be attempting to surpass their greatest performance at the world finals, which came at USA 1994 when they reached the Round of 16, only to lose to Sweden 3-1.
Sacking of coaches after qualification for World Cup is not particularly a strange happening. Nigeria had in the past, 1998, 2002 and 2010 sacked the coaches that qualified the Super Eagles to those years’ editions of 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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