International Football
SUPER EAGLES LOST OUT COMPLETELY AT CAF AWARDS
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Apart from Asisat Oshoala who was named the African Woman Footballer of the Year and the Al Ahly Nigerian playmaker, Oluwafemi Ajayi better known as Junior Ajayi, Nigerians were relegated to the status of spectators as nine awards were rolled out at the 26th edition of CAF Awards in Accra on Thursday night.
Even Junior Ajayi did not win individual award as his category of nomination – the Footballer of the Year Based in Africa – had been scrapped. He however included in the Fans’ Finest XI as a mid fielder.
All the big names in the Super Eagles were glaring absentees as award after awards were being dished out. Even Victor Moses who was among the last five in contention for the African Footballer of the Year could not make the African XI.
The coach, Gernot Rohr who had an unbeaten run in the World Cup qualifier and also raised a team that humiliated the African champions, Cameroon, 4-0 in Uyo lost out in the Coach of the Year Award.
The winner was the Argentine coach of Egypt, Hector Cuper whose team became the second to qualify for the World Cup after that of Gernot Rohr. He however led Egypt to the runners-up position in the Africa Cup of Nations held earlier in the year under consideration.
The Nigerian U-20 Women’s team also lost to South Africa in the Women’s National Team of the Year while the Super Eagles lost to Egypt in the men’s category.
The Egyptians were the dominants at the awards ceremony winning the topmost award of African Footballer of the Year, the Coach of the Year as well as the national team of the year.
Two of their nationals also made the Finest XI team. The Egyptians may as well appropriate Nigeria’s Junior Ajayi who plays in the Egyptian league to bring to three, players of Egyptian connection in the 11-man squad.
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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