International Football
NIGERIA’S SPORTS VETERANS MEET OVER SUPER EAGLES
With Nigeria’s Russia 2018 World Cup opponents emerging this Friday night, the Association of Sports Veterans of Nigeria has planned a meeting for Tuesday December 5 to chart out plans that will see the Super Eagles scaling higher heights.
According to the president of the association, Chief Jonathan Ogufere who was a past president of West Africa Football Union (WAFU), the meeting will hold at 10am at his office 24 Ijaoye Street, Jibowu-Yaba, Lagos.
The best the Super Eagles have attained in the previous five World Cup appearances was getting to the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014. But in the comparison, countries like Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 have moved as far as the quarter finals.
Nigeria has an ambition of scaling beyond the previous height, aiming to get to the semi-finals. Chief Ogufere, who had been a member of the previous regimes of the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) in the 1980s explained that doing better than the past involves sitting down to review the past in order to project for the future.
Chief Ogufere explained further that since the Association of Sports Veterans is not just for football, it hopes to deliberate on what Nigeria must do to also perform well at the 2018 Commonwealth Games which comes up about eight weeks to the FIFA World Cup.
He pointed out that some years ago; the Nigerian team was always a force to reckon with at the Commonwealth Games. “There is the need to find out where and how we got it wrong so that we can be on course again for greater glory”.
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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