International Football
MO SALAH SET TO RETAIN AFRICAN FOOTBALLERS’ CROWN
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
If precedence is anything to be considered, Egyptian football star, Mohamed Salah will be named the 2018 African Footballer of Year this Tuesday. He is expected to emerge top again in the same field of trio that contested for the 2017 edition.
The two other contestants are club mate in Liverpool, Sadio Mane of Senegal who will be right at home at the event and Arsenal and Gabon’s forward, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Past winners have always been the echoes of what European media announced. In December 2018, BBC announced Mohamed Salah as the organisation’s African Footballer of the Year.
As in the past, this is expected to get the endorsement of CAF electorate composed of CAF Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, and Coaches & Captains of the 54 Member Associations.
If he wins, he becomes the first North African to win back-to-back. West African players have achieved that feat in the past.
Samuel Eto’o did it from 2003 to 2005.
Yaya Toure of Cote d’Ivoire won in three straight years from 2011 to 2014.
PAST RESULTS
Year Position Player Team
1992 1st Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew Ghana/Marseille
1993 1st Rashidi Yekini Nigeria/V. Setubal
1994 1st Emmanuel Amuneke Nigeria/Sporting CP
2nd George Weah Liberia/PSG
3rd Rashidi Yekini Nigeria/Setubal
1995 1st George Weah Liberia/Milan
2nd Emmanuel Amuneke Nigeria/Sporting CP
3rd Daniel Amokachi Nigeria/Everton
1996 1st Nwankwo Kanu Nigeria/Inter
2nd George Weah Liberia/Milan
3rd Daniel Amokachi Nigeria/ Beşiktaş
1997 1st Victor Ikpeba Nigeria/Monaco
2nd Japhet N’Doram Chad/Monaco
3rd Taribo West Nigeria/Inter
1998 1st Mustapha Hadji Morocco/Deportivo
2nd Austin Okocha Nigeria/PSG
3rd Sunday Oliseh Nigeria/Ajax
1999 1st Nwankwo Kanu Nigeria/Arsena
2nd Samuel Kuffour Ghana/Bayern
3rd Ibrahima Bakayoko Cote d’Ivoire/Marseille
2000 1st Patrick M’Boma Cameroon/Parma
2nd Lauren Etamé-Mayer Cameroon/Mallorca
3rd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Mallorca
2001 1st El Hadji Diouf Senegal/Lens
2nd Samuel Kuffour Ghana/Bayern
3rd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Mallorca
2002 1st El Hadji Diouf Senegal/Liverpool
2nd Papa Bouba Diop Senegal/Lens
3rd Ahmed Hossam Mido Egypt/Ajax
2003 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Mallorca
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Marseille
3rd Austin Okocha Nigeria/Bolton
2004 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Barcelona
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
3rd Austin Okocha Nigeria/Bolton
2005 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Barcelona
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2006 1st Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2nd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Barcelona
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2007 1st Frederic Kanoute Mali/Sevilla
2nd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
3rd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2008 1st Emmanuel Adebayor Togo/Arsenal
2nd Mohamed Abou Trika Egypt/Ahly
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2009 1st Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2nd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Inter
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2010 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Inter
2nd Asamoah Gyan Ghana/Sunderland
3rd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2011 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Seydou Keita Mali/Barcelona
3rd Andre Ayew Ghana/Marseille
2012 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/S.Shenhua
3rd Alex Song Cameroon/Barcelona
2013 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Mikel Obi Nigeria/Chelsea
3rd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Galatasaray
2014 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
3rd Vincent Enyeama Nigeria/Lille
2015 1st Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
2nd Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
3rd Andre Ayew Ghana/Swansea
2016 1st Riyad Mahrez Algeria/Leicester City
2nd Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
3rd Sadio Mane Senegal/Liverpool
2017 1st Mohamed Salah Egypt/Liverpool
2nd Sadio Mane Senegal/Liverpool
3rd Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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