International Football
THE FINAL HOUR FOR FINAL DRAW IS HERE
BY KUNLE SOLAJA, seven consecutive World Cup reporter.
This Friday the 32 teams for the 2018 World Cup will know their group stage opponents and would then begin to plan strategies of crossing the group stage into round of 16, then the quarter finals, the semi finals and then the ultimate challenge for the prized World Cup trophy.
A journey that began on March 12, 2015 with six qualifiers in the Asian Zone gets to an anti-climax as the 32 teams that survived the preliminary competition wait the pairing of teams to contest for the most coveted sport prize – the FIFA World Cup.
At the 1961-built State Kremlin in the famous Red Square, which is considered the heart of Russia, on the land of a medieval fortress, the 32 teams will get to know how their fates will be shaped when the World Cup kicks off next year June.
The ceremony is potentially colourful with a galaxy of stars already set. Sports Village Square gathered from FIFA that 1,400 guests are expected. The number of delegates expected is put at 260 while the FIFA team to the 21st World Cup FIFA Draw is put at 150 that of the Local Organising Committee is 450 and there will be 465 volunteers helping out.
The whole event is to last precisely an hour. Owing to the global nature of the event as it is going to be televised worldwide, 18 professional interpreters have been engaged to translate the content of the event into five languages – English, German, Spanish, French and Russian.
At the end of the anticipated fun-filled programme, the 32 teams would have been split into eight groups of four for the first round matches. Russia, the host, is the only team which group is known. It will head Group A as A1.
In the beginning, there will be four pots of eight teams from where the countries will be drawn.
Russia will be in Group A and will draw oppositions from the other 31 teams outside the other seven seeded countries in Pot 1.
The other seeded countries, which selections is based on the October monthly ranking, not November as may have been expected, are Germany; Brazil; Portugal; Argentina; Belgium; Poland and France.
In essence, the Super Eagles will face one of the eight seeded teams. Followers of the Super Eagles will wish that the team should draw either Poland or Belgium.
If past draws are anything to go by, Nigeria will either draw a South American team and two European sides or a team each from South America, Europe and either Asia or North America. Will Nigeria draw Argentina again? The possibility looms large.
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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