International Football
NIGERIA BEGINS OLYMPIC GAMES QUALIFIERS WITH LIBYA
Current Olympic bronze medallist, Nigeria, will begin their qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Games with a game against Libya in March next year.
Libya, expected to be on duties this week gained a walkover in their scheduled encounters with Gambia. Nigeria on the other hand are seeded to begin campaign from the second round.
The Nigerian team set a record in Rio when the Mikel Obi-inspired team won the bronze medal, thus making Nigeria the first team to win the three available medals at the Olympic.
Nigeria won gold at Atlanta ’96, silver at Beijing 2008 before the bronze medal achievement two years ago.
Moments later, Brazil moments later won the gold to equal Nigeria’s feat having won the bronze medal at Beijing 2008 and silver at London 2012.
While Nigeria will wait till next year before starting off their qualifying campaign from the second round, Cameroon find themselves among minnows this week when the African qualifying series for Tokyo 2020 kicks off.
They will host Chad in Yaounde on Friday with the second leg of the first round holding in N’Djamena next Tuesday. Chad are among the weakest football nations in the continent, never making an international impact at national team or club levels.
A Cameroon team including Samuel Eto’o won the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games gold medal match against Spain on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
However, poor results in the past two African qualifying competitions have prevented the central Africans being among 13 countries given byes to the second round.
In a 2012 London Olympics qualifier, Cameroon lost on penalties to Tanzania, and were ousted by Sierra Leone on away goals in a 2016 Rio de Janeiro eliminator.
With the Chad fixtures taking place during an international window, Cameroon can pick young foreign-based professionals as the qualifiers are an under-23 competition.
Ghana, bronze medalists at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, are another country who must compete in the first round, facing fellow west Africans Togo in Kumasi and Lome.
Like Cameroon, the fall from grace of Ghana can be traced to early exits from the last two qualifying competitions.
They were shocked by Sudan in a 2012 eliminator and eliminated by Congo Brazzaville after a penalty shootout in the last edition.
Guinea were among the African contenders at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, but have not qualified since.
They set off on a journey they hope will lead to Japan by travelling to Nouakchott for a match against Mauritania, a rapidly improving football nation.
It was also a long time ago that Sudan made their sole appearance, at the 1972 Munich Games, and their 2020 campaign begins away to the Seychelles.
Mauritius, the other Indian Ocean island state competing, visit Kenya, and there are also a number of match-ups between neighbouring countries.
Violence-torn Somalia make a rare international appearance, but the security situation in capital Mogadishu means the home fixture against Ethiopia has been moved to Djibouti.
First legs are scheduled for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with the return matches on Sunday and Tuesday
International Football
German Thomas Tuchel becomes 3rd foreign manager for England
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has been named the new head coach of the England national team, the country’s Football Association said in a statement on Wednesday.
The German, who is England’s third foreign manager, after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello, will be assisted by Englishman Anthony Barry, the statement added.
“We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said.
Tuchel replaces Lee Carsley, England’s under-21 manager, who has been in temporary charge since the resignation of Gareth Southgate after England’s defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in July.
-Reuters
International Football
Factbox on England head coach Thomas Tuchel
German Thomas Tuchel has been appointed head coach of the England national team on Wednesday.
Born: Aug. 29, 1973 in Krumbach, Germany.
PLAYING CAREER
* Tuchel played for his local club TSV Krumbach, before moving to FC Augsburg’s academy at the age of 15.
* He never played for Augsburg’s senior side and joined German second division team Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992.
* After eight league appearances for Kickers, Tuchel moved to fourth-tier SSV Ulm.
* Tuchel made 69 league appearances for Ulm as a central defender before he was forced to retire in 1998 at the age of 25 due to a knee injury.
COACHING CAREER
* Tuchel began his coaching career with a youth team role at VfB Stuttgart in 2000, working with future Germany internationals Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber.
* He returned to Augsburg and took charge of their reserve team for the 2007-08 season.
* Tuchel was appointed Mainz 05 manager in 2009, replacing compatriot Juergen Klopp.
* He guided Mainz to Bundesliga stability during his five-year stint at the club, gaining plaudits for his team’s high energy, attacking style of play.
* Tuchel took over from Klopp as Borussia Dortmund coach in 2015.
* He led Dortmund to a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2017 German Cup final. He was sacked by Dortmund three days later.
* Tuchel joined Paris St Germain in 2018 on a two-year contract, replacing Unai Emery.
* He won two Ligue 1 titles, including a domestic quadruple in his second season, and guided the club to their first Champions League final, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
* Tuchel was sacked by PSG on Christmas Eve in 2020, despite the club finishing top of their Champions League group and sitting third in the Ligue 1 table.
* He was named Chelsea manager in January 2021 on an initial 18-month contract following the dismissal of Frank Lampard.
* Tuchel revived the team’s Premier League season and guided the London club to the Champions League final, where they beat Manchester City. Chelsea also won the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
* Chelsea sacked Tuchel in September 2022 following a shock 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League group game.
* Bayern Munich appointed Tuchel to succeed Julian Nagelsmann in March last year.
* Bayern decided to let Tuchel go at the end of the 2023-24 season despite a contract until 2025. Tuchel steered Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022-23, but they finished the last campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
* Tuchel will become England’s third foreign manager after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.
* Tuchel will take over the team in January ahead of the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
-Reuters
International Football
Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
Players boycott Libyan national team
-
AFCON6 days ago
Billiat’s penalty seals Zimbabwe’s 1-0 win over Namibia
-
AFCON1 week ago
Facts & Figures as AFCON 2025 qualifiers enter Matchday 3
-
AFCON1 week ago
AFCON 2025 in Morocco: Everything you need to know
-
AFCON6 days ago
Libya’s captain, Faisal Al-Badri alleges poor treatment in Nigeria
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
CAF compels Kwasi Appiah to step down from Ghana FA
-
AFCON2 days ago
BREAKING! CAF wades into the Libya-Nigeria Airport episode
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
Fastest World Cup final scorer is dead!